R95 JCW wheels & 215/40 18 Conti's a good choice?
 

i can't believe I'm admitting this, but after about three years of having my favorite JCW R95 (star spoke) wheels in my garage (bought second hand from ebay) I am FINALLY putting them on my car!!

See, I had gotten the wheels with the idea that when I ditched the factory runflats on my 2005 MCS convertible, I'd buy non-runflats, mount them to these rims, and away I'd go....Then came that one unfortunate Saturday afternoon, while on a REME Mini run up in Redding CA (several hours from home) when I hit a rock and blew out the right rear tire! :mad: I was stuck buying 4 new non-runflats for the 17 inch stock wheels in order to drive home ("Best laid plans....")

i just could not bring myself to buy yet another set of 4 new tires, just to enjoy the 18 inch rims. And, since I wasn't 100% positive I'd love them once they were on the car, I didn't want to just sell off my stock rims just yet.

Now, enough time has passed, and I am ready to plunk down tire $ once again.

What tire to buy was the next question - I have ordered these from Tire Rack:

215/40ZR18 XL Continental ExtremeContact DWS Blackwall

I have stock springs, don't drive in the snow (worst weather is rain/fog), and commute 2 hours a day on the freeway....

I fell in love with the Conti Sport Touring tires when I had my old Audi A4 - I got over 50K on them and they were fantastic!!

Did I do OK with this tire size and choice?

Thanks,
Melanie

Why, when only one tyre blew, did you buy a set of 4 ?!!?!?? Why didnt you just buy one??

Ive heard good things about Falken F452 tyres with a 40 profile - Ive sold my R95s now but they are what I was going to go for beforehand....

It was late on a Saturday. it was 30 minutes before the only tire store that was still open closed (until Monday AM), they didn't have the RF in stock, and I was 5 hours from home and had to work the next morning!!!

Not exactly a situation in which there was a lot of choice... I was over the barrel, as they say.

Damn annoying that :( I would have just got a cheap single tyre and used it for the journey home, then got it sorted properly when home the next day etc - could have sold on the nearly brand new tyre to get some of the money back on it too...

I see you have the XL behind the size. I recently got a set of all seasons to run in the winter and got some 205/55/16s for some stock wheels, but while later trying to figure out why the ride is still so rough, I was told the XL denotes a rather stiff and thick sidewall.

Well, the deed is done! After speaking with someone at Tire Rack who checked with Alex for me, it was recommended that I go with the 215/35 18 instead of the 215/40 18 size, or else I might run into a wheel well rub issue...

I had them installed today! The installation place was only about 3 miles from where I live, so its too soon to tell much. They may be a bit firmer than my old 215/40 17 Bridgestone tires, but I could also be imagining it.
I'll know a bit more (perhaps) after my typical day, which involves 100 miles (RT) on the freeway. For now, I am hanging on to the 17 inch wheels/tires just in case I change my mind later...

In any case, while I realize that wheel-love is a highly individual thing, I LOVE how my new ones look!!!

My (old) 17 inch wheels:

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/5454/miniwheels1.jpg


My new 18 inch wheels:

http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/1341/miniwheels3.jpg