[surfergirl]

First off, I hate hate hate asking questions on a public forum that may be construed as "dumb" or a "waste of time". So please be gentle, gentlemen. I know not so much about tires, though I read lohchief's post here on tires and the numbering system I just don't understand. :|

Getting to the point then: the PMC tires just feel...tiny and slim. There are only a couple of things that make me miss my Jeep, and this is one of them. Perhaps it's the Oregon girl in me creeping into my so cal reality, but I just feel like a storm or a bad driver near-miss could have my baby slide off the road with these little tires on this thing.

My question is what tires can I get that are more beefy without ruining the ride? I deal mostly with normal streets and the freeway, though that isn't to say that I don't go off grid when I can. I don't carry a ton of weight on the reg but I will as I put together the camper (still in progress).

Can you guys help with tire tread or even rim size (not afraid to change that but again, IDK much about how that works) that would be possible changes for my baby? Anyone done a tire/rim change that you love?

Thanks!

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

I checked a major wheel/tire up-fitter and got no results other than the origional size.
Try calling them.
http://www.tirerack.com/content/tirerack/desktop/en/homepage.html
I suspect your concerns are unfounded but may people change wheels and tire sizes. Federal rules or litigation seem to be clamping down on this practice. Relax and drive, you’ll be fine.

 

[Zyzzyx]

If a BMW i3 can handle hard evasive maneuvers on wee little 155 width tires, the PMC should do just fine on 'standard' 215 width tires. The 215/55-16 tires are basically what I have on my Chevy Volt at 215/55-17. I can rail that thing into a turn and not worry about much. No, its not a Lotus Elise for handling, but it does well. I would expect body roll to be more of an issue with the PMC, something that wider and stickier tires is only likely to make worse. Even so, I would expect the PMC to handle on-road emergency maneuvers better than a Jeep (thinking Wrangler body style).

As RD mentioned, there's not much variety of tire for the stock PMC size. If you're worried about handling in storms, just don't let your tires wear down to nothing. (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=157) For handling in water and such its mostly tread depth, and partly tread pattern, that will keep you going where you want to go.

 

[Charged021]

The only place where the stock tires will let you down is in any kind of mud or loose dirt road, they are not fun and will leave you stuck.
For a daily driver/commuter they are more than acceptable. When I first got my first PMC I had a few highway onramp/offramp/cloverleaf pulls, it holds it own just fine even when you beat on it.
As far as Jeeps go, only the wrangler and trail hawk models have the large tires, every other model has typical commuter tires on it, such as the ones on the PMC.

 

[fireball]

^^ This summarize it. You must be missing the way the jeep handles. I, too, stick with stock size street tires and they handles just fine in every move, even on a short gravel road here.

 

[surfergirl]

Thanks, guys! As always, much appreciation for the feedback.

 

[ScottPromaster]

i just switched out the conti's for some Pirelli's , and what a difference.

 

[Red88jeep]

More tire?

At times I feel my van could 'use more tire', it's really just an illusion. This is a mid size vehicle, not a large car or truck so more is not always better. The tires actually have plenty of performance for street use amongst traffic and pedestrians. The Promaster City comes with 215/55R 16 XL tires. The XL means 'extra load' or weight capacity over the regular tires. The width of the tire translates to almost 8.5 inches wide. The sidewall is about 4.7 inches high from the tread to the rim. While it may look small in today's world of huge 18 and 20 inch wheels and 35 inch tall tires, it really is not that small. It just looks that way. These tires have pretty good capability for grip right out of the box. They are not high performance sticky Velcro grip or off road type traction tires, they have more then adequate grip for the van. In my case, I would rather my tires mush out and slide vs grip so much that the van lifts the wheels off the ground and enters a roll over situation. I can deal with slides. Roll overs are very quick and hard to catch and stop once they start. Roll overs on the street are not fun. Save that for the world of racing and off road play. (And yes, even with today's roll stability computer control, these things still happen.) Now that I have had my van for almost 4 months, I have pushed the performance a bit a few times to see what is there. The tires have not run out of capability at any level I have pushed to so far. The chassis has lower performance limits than the tires do. The traction and roll stability computers start to intervene before the tires run out of capability. This is with a lightly loaded van. Have not really carried any weight yet.

 

[jwbarlow]

Tyres

One of my concerns as I researched prior to purchase, was how the PMC would deal with the snow, ice, and mountain combinations here in New Hampshire, and what tire options would be available. I found several related threads northern EU and UK Fiat Doblo Forums. Although, I couldn't follow most the Norway forum, the Scots and Brits I could read all the posts; most of those drivers stayed with the same size and wintertime went to a snow "tyre" of the same size if they lived in the north and mountainous areas, carried chains if they had to deal with particular bad stretches of road for work.
I've driven all over New England for about 20 years during the worst weather NE has to offer, with the best in 4WD and AWD, as my job required it, but for normal driving, with the engine weight over FWD, a "normal" person should be fine.
My first winter with the PMC is about to begin. I will have a go with the Conties and see if I need to escalate to snow tires.

 

[lohchief]

First off, I hate hate hate asking questions on a public forum that may be construed as "dumb" or a "waste of time". So please be gentle, gentlemen. I know not so much about tires, though I read lohchief's post here on tires and the numbering system I just don't understand. :|

Getting to the point then: the PMC tires just feel...tiny and slim. There are only a couple of things that make me miss my Jeep, and this is one of them. Perhaps it's the Oregon girl in me creeping into my so cal reality, but I just feel like a storm or a bad driver near-miss could have my baby slide off the road with these little tires on this thing.

My question is what tires can I get that are more beefy without ruining the ride? I deal mostly with normal streets and the freeway, though that isn't to say that I don't go off grid when I can. I don't carry a ton of weight on the reg but I will as I put together the camper (still in progress).

Can you guys help with tire tread or even rim size (not afraid to change that but again, IDK much about how that works) that would be possible changes for my baby? Anyone done a tire/rim change that you love?

Thanks!

Go here Surfer girl.They have the lowest prices,(including delivery) I have found for us west coasters. http://tirecrawler.com/

As far as these stock tires,they aren't bad,but could be better.You see,we all get tires rated XL,extra load.These are standard not only on the cargo vans,but our wagons too.The upsize I will do in the future will be 225's,not the 215's that we have.10 mm's wider,but not taller.I'm partial to Cooper tires,and I will end up getting the CS5's.They are touring tires and are all around better quality,and handling then the stock tires.BUT...that is my choice for replacement tires.They have many brands to chose from.Type in your van info on the opening screen,it will come up with the stock size and all the choices therein.Then you can go to just selecting your own size tire that you want,IF you want to go a little wider,but not taller.Easy peasy ;}>

 

[surfergirl]

Wow - thanks everyone! This is good info and I appreciate greatly your time.

 

[lohchief]

Wow - thanks everyone! This is good info and I appreciate greatly your time.

Let us know what you decide on,okay?

These are the ones I will get: http://tirecrawler.com/tire/cooper/cs5-ultra-touring/90000020263/