What tyres for my 18's... (sizes & brands)

[Neve'o]

Now I know there are a million threads discussing tyre sizes and I have spent the best part of a week reading through them and trying to decide what I want!

I need new tyres for my 18's, currently the tyres fitted are completely the wrong size due being fitted to an astra G.

Now I'm thinking I want 235/40/18 but I'm not 100% sure, the other size I'm considering is 225/45/18. My alloys are Irmscher which are 8J with et37 offset.

What tyre size are you running?

What brand of tyre should I consider? I'm thinking middle of the road, maybe Nexen N6000? Not too cheap and not too expensive!

Should I bother with XL tyres as sometimes they are available for certain brands etc?

I will be lowering the vec around 35/40mm in the future too if it makes a difference, the 18's will generally only get used for the summer months.

[coldo]

I have changed the tread on my 18's.

Previously I have been running 225/40/18's and using different brands. Falkin 912's have been my prefered brand although Godyear asymmetric 2 are also excelent. I have also used a couple of budgets (Wanali and Yingling) which were terrible.

I have at the weekend change for new tyres on the car and have decided to take the plunge with a different size.

I am now runing 235/40/18's Falkin 914's (just out as a replacment for the 912's) and so far they seem excelent... although I have only done 200 miles on them int he dry so it's a bit hard to tell lol....

I decided to change to 235/40's as this is the size the Vectra is listed for with XP alloys etc. There is much debate on the site about wither 225 or 235 are nessesary and from what I could take from it was the 235 will offer a closer match to the cercumfarance of the standard 16's my car came with ensuring the speedo is "more" accurate. That said I also chaged the wheel size using my dodgy-com system to match the new wheel's (18's) being on my car!

[coldo]

Oh I should add I am running Penta alloys on mine from a Astra H. These are 7.5J and come with 225's as standard. The 225's should fit the 8j's but will need a bit more stretching. the 235's are a better match to j8's I belive.

[chewy71]

stock size for the 18's (on my XP2 multispke) are 225/45/18 - tyres are very much a personal choice and also what your budget allows. Kumho are fabulous with stunning wet grip - but I only get 12k out of a pair of fronts and 16k out of the rear.... at £120 each, expensive travel!

I've stuck my neck out and fitted some Nexen N8000 on the rear, so seeing how they fare. (£82 each fitted)

[coldo]

stock size for the 18's (on my XP2 multispke) are 225/45/18

I stand corrented then lol... I thought XP andXP2 alloys were all 235/40/18's.

Spot on however... Tyres are always a personal choice.

[chewy71]

XP Alloys are 19" snowflake and run 235/35/19 (I think) and XP2 are 18" multispoke and run 225/45/18

[Neve'o]

Ok, so I'm going for 235/40/18, now to decide what tyre to get, think I will set myself a price limit and then try to find something half decent for that price.

[coldo]

do some checking ont he tyre your considering... Just google the tyre type, size and the word reviews and you will get loads of infromation.

I personaly find camskills and blackcircles the cheapest places to buy tyres from.

[triple595]

I got a quote from black circles but rang my local firm and paid less fitted than what bc were quoting

[coldo]

Result....