These low-profile tires ...

[Mike_TX]

Just had the fun of replacing a front tire on my GT2, with only 3900 miles on it. Got away for 'only' $313. And I was afraid I was going to have to replace the wheel, too, but it was damaged far less than I first thought.

All thanks to a pothole. (And no, I don't have wheel and tire coverage ... I've bought it before and never ever used it, so I waived it this time. Ugh.)

I did learn that wheels that are even pretty badly damaged can be usually repaired by my dealer's wheel repair company. $125 and they say it's usually an overnight turnaround. That's not bad at all, and they say the wheels come back looking like new. Something to remember, because those wheels are expensive.

The moral of the story is to buy the wheel and tire insurance when you buy this car or any other one that has such ridiculously low-profile tires. These suckers put the wheels about 2" off the pavement, and it doesn't take much to tear up a tire or a wheel.

Oh, and thank you, Kia Roadside Service. It was in the 30's and raining lightly, and I couldn't get the stock jack to engage the jacking point under the car to change the tire myself. 40-minute wait, but worth it.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I don't have the wheel/tire insurance coverage either. And I drive with my "radar" way out there. Since getting this car, 100% attention when behind the wheel is on DRIVING. The very first focus is the road directly ahead, which I try to keep maximized by maintaining distance to the vehicle in front. I don't do much night driving, so that hazard (not seeing the pothole or debris until too late) is minimized. So far, so good: but as the saying goes, "You never see the one that gets you."

 

[TheBusch]

I had stock 19's on my Accord with low profiles, there are more potholes on my daily commute than in all of Texas has haha, never had a problem. Do you have 19's or 18's?

I've actually only ever had to replace a tire once because of a pothole incident, but that was a cheap tire. Another time broke a cheap 20" rim with rubber band tires on, but the tires survived.

 

[GregS]

In Australia, you can make a claim against the local council, or state who are responsible for maintaining the roads, take a photo of the pothole and the wheel, and the repair bill. I hear that there is a pretty high success rate, but with the usual public service wait.

That's how your insurance company recovers its money, or do you believe they just write it off

 

[CeramicGT001]

Just had the fun of replacing a front tire on my GT2, with only 3900 miles on it. Got away for 'only' $313. And I was afraid I was going to have to replace the wheel, too, but it was damaged far less than I first thought.

All thanks to a pothole. (And no, I don't have wheel and tire coverage ... I've bought it before and never ever used it, so I waived it this time. Ugh.)

I did learn that wheels that are even pretty badly damaged can be usually repaired by my dealer's wheel repair company. $125 and they say it's usually an overnight turnaround. That's not bad at all, and they say the wheels come back looking like new. Something to remember, because those wheels are expensive.

The moral of the story is to buy the wheel and tire insurance when you buy this car or any other one that has such ridiculously low-profile tires. These suckers put the wheels about 2" off the pavement, and it doesn't take much to tear up a tire or a wheel.

Oh, and thank you, Kia Roadside Service. It was in the 30's and raining lightly, and I couldn't get the stock jack to engage the jacking point under the car to change the tire myself. 40-minute wait, but worth it.

I had the same thing happen, hit a piece of wood on the highway at ~80mph (it was dark + morning commute) tire went flat instantly and had to pullover on the shoulder of a 4 lane highway.

I was wearing a nice suit so I didn’t even bother trying to change it, just called a tow. Had to wait an hour because all of the tow places weren’t open yet. Luckily my wheel wasn’t damaged just the tire.

 

[oddball]

Yup. I tore three front right tires in the first year on potholes here in DFW. I had never used tire coverage before, so also didn't have it on the car. Yippee.
Just another reason for my move to 18" wheels.

 

[DrMario86]

Next door in LA we have some good ones as well. I was the 3rd flat in 12hrs and the construction contractor ignored us so had to get insurance involved.

 

[Kamauxx]

My S5 runs on 20s with skinny 30 series rubber (265/30/20). I flew out to Kansas City to buy it and while driving back had to merge over uneven asphalt. In doing so, the two right wheels were damaged and the right front tire had huge chunks ripped out of it, with less than 500 miles on them/the car.

Each wheel is supposedly $2k. I bought the wheel/tire insurance but haven't used it yet since they require me to leave the car.

Has anyone tried to use their tire/wheel care $ to buy aftermarket wheels? If I go aftermarket I figure it'll save the insurance company some money and make the car more unique in the process.

 

[Ahillathehun]

I hate rubberband tires and have been wondering if I could put meatier ones on the stick wheels for this very reason. If not, I may buy 18s

 

[MerlintheMad]

I hate rubberband tires and have been wondering if I could put meatier ones on the stick wheels for this very reason. If not, I may buy 18s

You shouldn't mess with the OD. So, smallest wheel that will clear the brakes, and largest sidewall that keeps the OD within a percent or two of the OE wheel/tire setup.

 

[Ahillathehun]

You shouldn't mess with the OD. So, smallest wheel that will clear the brakes, and largest sidewall that keeps the OD within a percent or two of the OE wheel/tire setup.

Good to know.. ill keep that in mind.

 

[Volfy]

I find the trend toward ever larger rims troubling. If you look up Tire Rack for the actual weight, 19" are heavier than the equivalent 18". This applies to both wheels and tires. 20" is even heavier. What is worse is that most of that added weight is near the circumference of the wheel/tire assembly. That is added rotation inertia that will take more power to accelerate and decelerate.

Lower profile tires do resist tire deformation from lateral acceleration, but only up to a certain point. Back 25-30yrs ago, 50 and 55 was considering very low profile. These days, 30 and 35 are not all that uncommon. Unless you are running on billiard table smooth race track, the very low profile tires don't have enough compliance to smooth over road surface undulations. This not only increases your risk of tire blow out and rim damage, it could also prevent the tires from conforming to irregular road surface and result in less contact (read grip) with the road, over rougher pavement.

If I get serious in SCCA Solo (AutoX), I might get a set of 19's and still be able to run in stock class. Otherwise, for general road use, I'm staying with 18's.