The previous owner of my car shod it with RS-As. Why he thought it needed $211 tires and $49.95 collision repair, I'll never know, but this is my question.

I despise low-profile performance tires. I followed the link in the tire-size sticky here, and the biggest tire offered is only .2 inches bigger than the RS-A. I know normal-profile tires will fit in the wheel wells, because that's what came on the LS and LT.

Has anyone else put higher-profile tires on their SS, and if so, what did you get?

 

Are you saying that the 235/50/18 is too low-profile of a tire for you?

Because I really feel like it's a pretty decent size. I don't know if I could want to sacrifice anymore of the width just to get a higher sidewall.

If you want to keep the 235 but go higher on the sidewall, you will run into rubbing issues in the rear. Especially with something in the trunk, or passengers in the backseats.

 

The skinnier the tire and the more sidewall you have the worse the handling will be.... Not sure why you would want to go this route....

 

I can't imagine any way the handling could get significantly worse.

Yes, I think the tire (and all low-profile tires) are ugly as hell. They also look as if they have a treadlife measured in minutes, which is proving to be true on the right rear. Then there's the problem of having ground effects which are supposed to make the car look lowered, being counteracted by wheels which make it look lifted.

If I could get a response out of anyone on here selling the diamond-cut 16's, I probably would've gone that way already. My Aurora, my Grand Prix, and my 96 Monte all handled better than this beast on 16's.

 

I would just switch to 16s then if you really don't like the 18s. I wouldn't go for a different tire on the stock rim. Just pick up 4 new rims + tires for cheap off tirerack or something.

My father did the same on his 06 SS because he was going through a set of tires a year and it was getting too pricey.

I bought him 4 of these for Christmas a few years ago: Sport Edition F11 Silver Painted

 

X2 on just changing wheel size if you don't like lower profile tires. There's only so much meat you can add starting off with a 18" wheel.

The upside is 16"s are plentiful on junkyard w body cars, and since the modern trend is towards bigger wheels, you shouldn't have a hard time offloading your current 18"s for a few hundred bucks if they're in good shape.

I am surprised your tire life is so bad on the rear tire though. I had the stock re050a tires on my grand prix for like 45k miles before I replaced them (mostly due to cracking, but the fronts were getting on the low side). Those are a pretty low tread wear tire too. Are you auto crossing the car or anything? Alignment ok?

 

Is there a problem with the diamond-cut 16's that I've never heard of? If not, why would I choose aftermarket wheels over actual Monte Carlo SS wheels that are moch more attractive?

 

I was just giving an example of new since you said you couldn't find the diamond cuts, or get response from sellers.

Most times, the used market can be annoying and I just buy new. But nothing wrong with the diamond cut ones.

 

I like the diamond wheels too, great factory style wheels. I found sites like this one that sold them:
Replacement Factory OEM Aluminum Alloy Wheels

But in the end, I decided I could spend about the same amount of money and buy some really nice aftermarket wheels that looked as good or better.
And on my Grand Am, I am using Grand Prix Torque Spoke Wheels (felt stock wheels from a different car worked in that situation).

Let's of great options out there in both factory and aftermarket. All depends on what your taste is.

 

Thought it was interesting that a similar topic came up recently on the local vette forums.

There seems to be a new trend towards smaller wheels lately. We've now got about 10 people that have switched over to a 15" over the stock 19 or 20" rear wheel. Certainly hurts the handling and responsiveness but they seem to be able to hook a lot better on the street with big power. Tires are sure a lot cheaper too!