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Sidewall

215/45R18

215 mm across the tread, a sidewall 45% of that — 97 mm — on a 18-inch rim. That puts the whole wheel at 25.6 inches tall.

96.8 mm sidewall651 mm · 25.6"
Sidewall
3.81"
97 mm
Overall
25.6"
650.7 mm
Circumference
80.5"
2.044 m
Revs per mile
787
per minute at 60 mph

What it needs to sit on

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It mounts on a rim between 6" and 8" wide, and the tread follows the rim: roughly 5 mm of section width for every half-inch, so about 205 mm across at the narrow end and 225 mm at the wide one. Written the way lift kits and wheel wells are, it is a 25.6×8.5R18 — tall by wide, in inches.

What goes wrong on this size

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5 drivers have filed a complaint. 0 of them ended in a crash, and nobody was hurt. Nobody died.

4 of them name what let go, and it is most often tread separation. Dunlop is named more than any other brand.

What let goComplaints
tread separation2
road hazard2
not stated1

Where the wheel is named, 2 of 2 were on the front — the end that steers.

What fits instead

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Same 18-inch rim, height within 3%. Past that the speedometer starts lying and things begin to rub.


SizeHeightRide heightSpeedo reads 60, you doCompare
195/50R1825.7" +0.2 %+0.8 mm60.1 mphside by side
235/40R1825.4" -0.8 %-2.8 mm59.5 mphside by side
205/45R1825.3" -1.4 %-4.5 mm59.2 mphside by side
225/45R1826.0" +1.4 %+4.5 mm60.8 mphside by side
205/50R1826.1" +1.8 %+5.8 mm61.1 mphside by side
225/40R1825.1" -2.1 %-6.8 mm58.8 mphside by side
195/45R1824.9" -2.8 %-9.0 mm58.3 mphside by side
235/45R1826.3" +2.8 %+9.0 mm61.7 mphside by side

Same height, different rim

Bigger rim, same overall height. Sharper steering, harsher ride, and far less rubber between your wheel and the next pothole.


245/45R17110 mm sidewall — 14% more
185/60R17111 mm sidewall — 15% more
245/35R1986 mm sidewall — 11% less
235/35R1982 mm sidewall — 15% less
215/40R1986 mm sidewall — 11% less
215/50R17108 mm sidewall — 11% more

Tires graded in this size

Longest-lasting tread first. The grade is set by the maker and checked by regulators.


TireTreadwearWet grip
HanKOOK iON ST AS SUV720A
HanKOOK Kinergy XP (OE)560A
Hankook veNtus Prime3 (OE)500AA
Goodride SA07460A
Hankook Ventus Prime4 (OE)420A
Hankook veNtus S1 evo3 (OE)420A
Dunlop SP SPORT 5000360B
Dunlop SP SPORT 5000M360A
Falken AZENIS FK510A300B
Tornel PROXES A40300B
Western Auto ADVAN Sport180AA

If you fit something taller

A taller tire covers more ground per turn, so the needle reads low and the odometer counts short. Over ten thousand miles on the dial, the last column is what you really drove.


Fitted insteadReads 30Reads 50Reads 70Real miles per 10,000 shown
195/50R1830.1 mph50.1 mph70.2 mph10,023
235/40R1829.7 mph49.6 mph69.4 mph9,915
205/45R1829.6 mph49.3 mph69.0 mph9,862
225/45R1830.4 mph50.7 mph71.0 mph10,138
205/50R1830.5 mph50.9 mph71.2 mph10,177