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Ok I put on the 17" Motegi wheels on the ALL4 CMS. Looks great! Nice and light weight 23lbs. See pic.
Put on General Gmax-05 225/55/17. Nice light tires 24lbs. Sidewalls could be stiffer... a whole lot stiffer. The car is scary* at above 60 degrees. Yes under 50 degrees it handles great! (Tires stiffen up) but when I noticed the handling was better in the cold weather... well... any suggestions?
*It was so scary that I'm considering putting the 18" Turbofan ROF back on. Still need to change the shocks.
If the car came with 18’s, you should stay with 18’s. Perhaps the fact that it is AWD calls for larger wheels. You might consider lighter weight 18 inch wheels, if lowering the car’s weight is your goal.
Sunbird, what is your goal with the 17” wheels and tires? 4 season driving? Performance driving? A lighter weight touring tire (Gmax) will have a softer (and thinner , less stiff sidewall).
If the car came with 18’s, you should stay with 18’s. Perhaps the fact that it is AWD calls for larger wheels. You might consider lighter weight 18 inch wheels, if lowering the car’s weight is your goal.
Kat
Countryman All4S come with both 18" and 17".
I love the performance around the twistys but the roads can be rough sometimes (have to travel on dirt roads). So I switched from the 18" to 17" and added a little more hight 225/45 to 225/55 and a little more padding protection from pot holes.
Sunbird, what is your goal with the 17” wheels and tires? 4 season driving? Performance driving? A lighter weight touring tire (Gmax) will have a softer (and thinner , less stiff sidewall).
4 season yes
padding from rough roads yes 225/45 >>> 225/55
a little more height yes
I figured the Gmax would be softer but...this is like scary over 60 degrees temperature. LIke mushy. Loses grip. Even added more air (42 front/ 38 rear).
I didn't think it would start feeling like my '88 toyota 4runner
The wheels are great!
The tires kinda mush.
Would like it to be more performance but still have to deal with the road situation.
It could be the width of the tire you got. I’m running 215/55/17 on mine and it handles good. Slightly narrower then yours. I live on dirt roads as well and I think my next set of tire are going to be all terrain. https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tir...-trail/p/80713
should fit good based on other people’s post.
Let me address the elephant in the room. Is it possible that the tires are simply crap? Definitely going to be softer feeling anyway since they're not run-flat but possibly exacerbated by the compromises inherent in the tire's construction and design. Many manufacturers will stand behind their tires with some kind of satisfaction warranty, something like 30 days. Maybe it's time to call your dealer and see if he can flip you over to something more befitting the handling characteristics of your car.
Hi Eric.Stewart! I was wondering the same thing about elephants... are the Gmax-05 just kinda soggy? TireRack videos just loves them for handling... I'm used to Michelin Pilot Sports on my E46. General return warranty is 45 days...which are almost up. I did as Y8s suggested and added more pressure, 42lbs front and 37lbs rear. Still feels soggy but a little better. Still does not handle as well as the 225/45/18 stock turbos an GoodYear Efficient Grips.
1qwkmini thought that maybe it really is the shocks.
I found Complete Set Front and Rear Bilstein 4600 Heavy Duty (B6)$672.00 set
I did want to change out the sway bar too. Will do that and see what's up. Then I'll know if its the elephant.
Oh yeah and thanks for the complement on the wheels!
Hi Eric.Stewart! I was wondering the same thing about elephants... are the Gmax-05 just kinda soggy? TireRack videos just loves them for handling... I'm used to Michelin Pilot Sports on my E46. General return warranty is 45 days...which are almost up. I did as Y8s suggested and added more pressure, 42lbs front and 37lbs rear. Still feels soggy but a little better. Still does not handle as well as the 225/45/18 stock turbos an GoodYear Efficient Grips.
1qwkmini thought that maybe it really is the shocks.
I found Complete Set Front and Rear Bilstein 4600 Heavy Duty (B6)$672.00 set
I did want to change out the sway bar too. Will do that and see what's up. Then I'll know if its the elephant.
Oh yeah and thanks for the complement on the wheels!
If suddenly your car feels soggy at all 4 corners after changing the tires, then it's unlikely that your shocks all suddenly went bad. :-)
I had those tires predecessors (The G-Max AS-03) and they were good-wearing tires but hardly as good handling a tire as the Michelins on your E46 would have been. If you can bring these back, then do so. The service desk at your tire place will be a bit surprised but if they're warrantied then too bad, they'll take them back. Yes, pressure difference will change the feel of a tire incrementally but if the tires' sidewalls are squibby then the increase in tire pressure isn't going to cure it. It might even cause excess wear in the centre of the tires.
If suddenly your car feels soggy at all 4 corners after changing the tires, then it's unlikely that your shocks all suddenly went bad. :-)
I had those tires predecessors (The G-Max AS-03) and they were good-wearing tires but hardly as good handling a tire as the Michelins on your E46 would have been. If you can bring these back, then do so. The service desk at your tire place will be a bit surprised but if they're warrantied then too bad, they'll take them back. Yes, pressure difference will change the feel of a tire incrementally but if the tires' sidewalls are squibby then the increase in tire pressure isn't going to cure it. It might even cause excess wear in the centre of the tires.
"SQUIBBY" yeah that's the word! A corner I would normally take at 65 mph is now scary at 45 mph... the front of the car dives and the rear of the car pitches and skips. I couldn't figure out why people were using 17" rims with the higher sidewall tires on this car... and was wondering if others were feeling "Squibby" on 17" with higher sidewalls?. The 225/45/18 Goodyear EG ROF felt so much more secure even in the rain, even at 45F degrees (it was predictable) and at 70F degrees. Squibby...yup that's it.
I love my 17"/7 Motegi's. It would be sad to have to sell them. I didn't get the 18" version because it was an 8inch width wheel.
Gmax-05 tires feel good if I was driving a corolla at the speed limit all the time. Why they are sold as "performance" and shown on BMWs (TireRack) is beyond me. Nice tire...just not for this car.
The shocks are still bad. The car does the boat thing rolling side to side. There's a road that it feels like this even with the 225/45/18 GY ROF...
How about the BFGoodrich g-Force Comp2 a/s? They say they have a stiffer sidewall than the Generals gmax-05. Maybe there wouldn't be so much skip-bounce too.
I'm used to Michelin Pilot Sports on my E46. General return warranty is 45 days...which are almost up. I did as Y8s suggested and added more pressure, 42lbs front and 37lbs rear. Still feels soggy but a little better. Still does not handle as well as the 225/45/18 stock turbos an GoodYear Efficient Grips.
