[GaryH]

There is a "notice" in the owners manual that says "If your vehicle has P245/45R18 tires, they are classified as low-profile tires. Low-profile tires are more susceptible to damage from road hazards or curb impact than standard profile tires". So what is the advantage of low-profile tires other than maybe looks? My Toyota Highlander has 225/65R17 tires. Not as wide as the Sky but both tires appear to have about the same outside diameter. Also, lets look at ratings:
Treadware Traction Temperature
My Sky 260 A A
My Toyota 500 A A
My Honda 560 A B
My Old Pickup 440 A A

Why such a low treadware rating on the Sky tires? Is this a softer rubber that gives better handling?

 

[SKY Spy]

In short YES!!! The lower the number, the softer the rubber and the quicker the tire will wear out!!!

Regards,

:willy: BA :willy:

 

[GaryH]

What about the low profile? What's the advantage, if any?

 

[CdnSkyGuy]

What about the low profile? What's the advantage, if any?

It is purely eye candy...feel free to put a tall ugly ass tire on yours...I'll keep the low pros

 

[GaryH]

It is purely eye candy...feel free to put a tall ugly ass tire on yours...I'll keep the low pros

I was just asking if there were any advantages other than looks.

 

[GMguy]

Low profile tires were designed for performance and only performance
and are exclusively found on cars with sport handling suspensions. The shorter
sidewall means the tires don't twist as much. To see this for yourself, push against the side of the car and see how much resistance the tires offer. Do this for both low profile and regular tires. You'll notice that regular tires allow you to push the car quite a bit, while the low profiles don't. In a corner, the low profiles will take a line and hold it . They also are not as comfortable and transmit bumps into the cockpit. Saturn's suspension is not as stiff as the Solstice, so
the low profiles on the Saturn should not be as punishing. Low profiles cost
more than regular tires.

 

[GaryH]

Thanks GMguy. That makes sense. The lower the profile the less twisting and moving a tire can do on the rim.

 

[azzhauler]

To see this 'phenomenom' in action, watch this. Pretty neat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O0b90G8Yhg

 

[Rick Tinley Park]

To see this 'phenomenom' in action, watch this. Pretty neat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O0b90G8Yhg

THAT was amazing! Thanks for that link!:thumbs:

 

[blueskygal]

Very cool link - helped me to visualize a concept that's been ambiguous and hard for me to understand. Thanks for the post.

 

[KappaMan]

Low profile tires tend to have better handling because of the shorter sidewall height.

Many times, people just look at the aspect ratio to determine what "low profile" means. 45 is considered low profile, but it is by no means "really low".


The sidewall height is the key here. The size of your tire is a P245/45 R18.

Throw away the "P" and the "R18" and look at the 245/45.

245 is called the section width of the tire. It is in millimeters.

The /45 is the aspect ratio - it is in percent.

the sidewall height is 245mm X 45% or 110.25mm. This is the distance from the rim to the ground when the tire is JUST touching the ground (not compressed from the weight of the car).

110.25 is not really a low profile tire, but for something the size of an 18" wheel, it is borderline enough to consider it low profile.

A P245/40 R18 is definitely a low profile tire. So is a P245/35 R18. The really short sidewall height is great for handling but will increase the chances you'll do damage to your rims if you hit a pothole.

 

[REDSKY]

crapped the bed!

There is a "notice" in the owners manual that says "If your vehicle has P245/45R18 tires, they are classified as low-profile tires. Low-profile tires are more susceptible to damage from road hazards or curb impact than standard profile tires". So what is the advantage of low-profile tires other than maybe looks? My Toyota Highlander has 225/65R17 tires. Not as wide as the Sky but both tires appear to have about the same outside diameter. Also, lets look at ratings:
Treadware Traction Temperature
My Sky 260 A A
My Toyota 500 A A
My Honda 560 A B
My Old Pickup 440 A A

Why such a low treadware rating on the Sky tires? Is this a softer rubber that gives better handling?

Hey....Ck out SKYHI07's NEW POST ABOUT exactly what you are talking about!

BOTH HIS FRONT TIRES CRAPPED THE BED!

Ck out his THREAD!

Alohas

 

[MCW Sky]

Trucks

http://www.generaltire.com/generato...neraluniversity/tire_talk/low_profile_en.html

Link above talks about truck tires but might include some useful info.

For the very low profile - I think the average consumer is more concerened about looks - but generally speaking the shorter the sidewall the stiffer it is - so better for conerning performance. Might also be a factor in things like rolling resistance.

Treadwear should be entirely separate - and has more to do with the compounds used in the tread. The softer the compound the better the traction but the shorter the life - just look at race car tires - designed for maximum traction and depending on the application replaced as often as multiple times during a single race. and in NASCAR for F1 type events you can sometimes hear the announcers talking about which car has newer tires and is therefore getting around the track an extra fraction of a second faster.

A couple years ago I was watching a motorcycle race - started out on a wet track - rain stopped, but track wet - most teams started the race on intermediate tires - one team started on tires desinged for dry. Everyone with intermediate tires got gradually slower as the track dried, the guy with the dry tires gor progressively faster. Sadly for him, although it looked like he was on his way to the win, with only a handful of laps remaining he got a bit wide, hit the marbles, and slide off the track. He did come back later that day to win a later race on the same track. After he won - one of his cre members ran out and applied a Number 1 sticker over his actual racing number 2 for his victory lap.

 

[SkyBos]

So let me get this right.

We get tires that are likely to crap out quickly, and we don't get a spare?

 

[belletire]

So let me get this right.

We get tires that are likely to crap out quickly, and we don't get a spare?

Yep :yesnod:

 

[SkyBos]

You know I love the Sky.

But it has to be the most impractical car in history. The (alleged) trunk, no spare tire, the top, the cupholders, the game of twister you play to get to some of the controls.

The greatest testament to the incredible popularity of this design is--all this stuff doesn't matter. Its pretty amazing when you think about it.

 

[Rick Tinley Park]

You know I love the Sky.

But it has to be the most impractical car in history. The (alleged) trunk, no spare tire, the top, the cupholders, the game of twister you play to get to some of the controls.

The greatest testament to the incredible popularity of this design is--all this stuff doesn't matter. Its pretty amazing when you think about it.

Add to that ---- BEFORE YOU ORDERED IT you most likely knew about all of that.... But you ordered it anyway!

For me none of it matters as I was not looking for practicality

 

[KappaMan]

So let me get this right.

We get tires that are likely to crap out quickly, and we don't get a spare?

You don't get a spare - true.

Tires likely to crap out quickly? HARDLY!

Look at the load rating of the tire = 96!!!!!

What does a 3100 lbs 50% weight distribution car REALLY need? Try around 89 - 90. That's what the Z4 has. The CORVETTE has a load rating of 88, fur crimony's sake.

What does this mean? It means these tires will likely wear like iron if we don't drive like complete maniacs. The tires are WAY overrated for the load they operate at.

The trunk stuff - mostly blown out of proportion. Neat that Mazda's marketing has even gotten to people on THIS forum - actual OWNERS that know better :lol: .

It is MOST DEFINITELY possible to pack for 2 for a weekend getaway in a SKY, but with the top up, yes. I've found in the past that >1 1/2 hours with top down on a sunny warm day is REALLY fatiguing - and HELL if your wife has long hair that she doesn't like to ponytail, EVEN if you have windscreens and sideglass up and all... So, when I'm headed to a hotel - it will nearly always be top up driving there and home. Top down when tooling around AT my destination (and my luggage is in the hotel room or cottage).

Can you go on a 2000 mile trip? Heck no... but neither can you do so in a S2000, a Z4, or a Miata/MX-5 without the same headaches...

Bottom line - ya learn how it works. People have been taking weekend trips on motorcycles LONG before the SKY/Solstice came out.

 

[snaponbob]

Hey....Ck out SKYHI07's NEW POST ABOUT exactly what you are talking about!

BOTH HIS FRONT TIRES CRAPPED THE BED!

Ck out his THREAD!

Alohas

Where is that thread?

 

[cerberus]

Where is that thread?

There's the thread,
http://www.skyroadster.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5961
but there's gotta be more to this than the "low profile" part.
I wouldn't expect any more problems with these tires on this car than any with reasonably normal use.