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Sidewall

225/45R18

225 mm across the tread, a sidewall 45% of that — 101 mm — on a 18-inch rim. That puts the whole wheel at 26.0 inches tall.

101 mm sidewall660 mm · 26.0"
Sidewall
3.99"
101 mm
Overall
26.0"
659.7 mm
Circumference
81.6"
2.073 m
Revs per mile
777
per minute at 60 mph

What it needs to sit on

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It mounts on a rim between 6" and 8.5" wide, and the tread follows the rim: roughly 5 mm of section width for every half-inch, so about 213 mm across at the narrow end and 238 mm at the wide one. Written the way lift kits and wheel wells are, it is a 26.0×8.9R18 — tall by wide, in inches.

What goes wrong on this size

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61 drivers have filed a complaint. 2 of them ended in a crash, hurting 4 people. Nobody died.

50 of them name what let go, and it is most often blister. Hankook is named more than any other brand.

What let goComplaints
blister19
blowout16
road hazard6
tread separation5
puncture3
crack1
not stated11

Where the wheel is named, 43 of 50 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
205/50R1826.1" +0.4 %+1.3 mm60.2 mphside by side
245/40R1825.7" -1.0 %-3.3 mm59.4 mphside by side
215/45R1825.6" -1.4 %-4.5 mm59.2 mphside by side
235/45R1826.3" +1.4 %+4.5 mm60.8 mphside by side
215/50R1826.5" +1.9 %+6.3 mm61.1 mphside by side
235/40R1825.4" -2.2 %-7.3 mm58.7 mphside by side
205/45R1825.3" -2.7 %-9.0 mm58.4 mphside by side
245/45R1826.7" +2.7 %+9.0 mm61.6 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.


255/35R1989 mm sidewall — 12% less
255/45R17115 mm sidewall — 13% more
195/45R1988 mm sidewall — 13% less
205/55R17113 mm sidewall — 11% more
225/40R1990 mm sidewall — 11% less
225/50R17113 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 KInERGy GT (OE)740A
Hankook veNtus S1 noble2 (OE)700A
Bridgestone TURANZA LS100560A
CONTINENTAL ContiProContact540AA
CONTINENTAL ProContact GX540A
CONTINENTAL ProContact RX540A
CONTINENTAL ProContact TX540A
Granada GRANADA Touring HP520A
Americus Sport HP500A
Hankook veNtus S1 Noble2500AA
Michelin Primacy MXM4500A
Summit Mach 3 R701500A

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
205/50R1830.1 mph50.2 mph70.3 mph10,038
245/40R1829.7 mph49.5 mph69.3 mph9,901
215/45R1829.6 mph49.3 mph69.0 mph9,864
235/45R1830.4 mph50.7 mph71.0 mph10,136
215/50R1830.6 mph50.9 mph71.3 mph10,189