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[AndyR83]

I recently drove through a construction site and damaged my two front wheels and tires (cosmetic wheel damage, and bubbles in the sidewalls of the tires.) I was going to just replace them with the same tires I have now, but the guy in the shop told me that the tires are stretched a bit and don't offer much protection to the wheels. My current wheels are VMR v710 19x8.5 ET35 fronts and 19x10 ET38 rears with Hankook Ventus V12 235/35/19's up front and 265/30/19's in the rear.

I need two new front tires for sure. I could just slap two new Ventus V12's on there, but I'm curious if I can do a bit better and stay in the sub-$200 price range per tire. I obviously don't want to have mismatched tires, so if I bought something other than the Hankooks, I would buy a full set of four. Is there any truth to what this guy is telling me about the tire size causing some stretch? Should I keep the same tire and just pick an alternate size? If so, what tire size would eliminate that stretch? The car is a daily driver that is often driven in a "spirited" fashion, but it has never seen a track (and likely never will.) I am looking for a purely summer/performance tire.

Thanks!

[hawaiianeze]

Your tire sizes are perfectly fine, if you really wanted you could go to 275/30/19 in the rear if you want less "stretch"

[AndyR83]

Any other thoughts? since posting this thread, I looked at my rear tires too. I think it's safe to say all 4 need to be replaced. Any recommendations in the under-$200-per-tire range?

Thanks!

[VMRWheels]

First off, sorry to hear that your wheels and tires got damaged! Those are our recommended specs, and they are not considered stretched by any means. The Hankooks are known for running slightly narrower than some brands, and they also are known for having very soft sidewalls. I ran a set of Hankook Ventus V12s myself and experienced bubbling on my tires too, although I really loved those tires aside from that.

If you do decide to run different tires, I would suggest running four new tires, all of the same brand/model. That way the handling characteristics will be the same between the front and rear. Something to look for would be whether they have reinforced sidewalls or not. A nice summer tire would be the Michelin Pilot Super Sport, or Continental DW.