2004 Quest SL: Tires

As you probably know, there is only one tire, the Goodyear LS2, that comes in the OEM tire size (225/65R16) for the Quest SL. These are performance tires that are relatively expensive and only last about 35K miles on average (2 years for me).

While I was at the dealer for some warranty work, I asked them to provide an estimate for new rubber all around. They actually told me that I should not use the OEM tire and provided me a quote to put on a slightly different size tire (215/65R16) from Toyo. These are a slightly smaller diameter tire (27.0" compared to the original 27.5" diameter Goodyears) and are also a bit narrower (8.5" compared to 8.9").

My question to all you tire experts is how significantly will the smaller diameter tire impact the odometer? I am not concerned about the speedometer since the actual speed is slightly lower than what is showing up on the speedometer. Although, if I am going to sell this van in the future I do not want the mileage inflated too much over the actual. I do realize that the impact on the odometer is impacted by many variables including average speed, distance, treadwear, etc but I would love to just have a ballpark. Most of the driving is done by my wife carting the kids around town with the occasional 2-4 hour trip at highway speeds. I am hoping that the impact is nominal and I am being paranoid for nothing.

Thanks in advance for your help.

1 or 2 miles an hour at most. I can't see it being more. Do you or a friend have a handheld GPS that displays mph. That's a good way to tell. Get a before tire swap and after tire swap reading.

I'm surprised that they recommended that size tire. Most places will recommend 235/60 -16. Before you buy the tires, go to a good tire shop and talk to them about changing sizes. Also there is a website: www.1010tires.com (click on "tire size calculator" on the left) that allows you to compare alternate size tires. It will alert you if you are outside the recommended parameters. Put in the OEM size and under alternate sizes use: 235/60 and 215/65. I think the 235/60 is closer to the OEM specs and there are tons of choices including tires from Toyo.

Thanks to you both.

That calculator at www1010tires.com is exactly what I was looking for to help answer my question.

dtownfb: I believe that the 215/65's will actually suit me a little bit better since I live in an area that receives a lot of snow in the winter. The 235/60's are much wider which makes life in the snow a bit more difficult. I agree that the 235/60's are slightly closer in diameter to the OEMs but I am willing to sacrifice a small diameter difference for better tires in the snow. If I was in a warmer climate I would definitely do the 235/60's.

Thanks again.

That makes sense. Not toomuch snow where I am. If we do get a snowstorm, everything is shut down anyway.

Good luck.

I realize that this is a bit late, but someone else could benefit from it.

I am not concerned about the speedometer since the actual speed is slightly lower than what is showing up on the speedometer

So what you are saying is that it is already inflating your speed AND odometer miles! Going to a shorter tire will only make it worse. And this relationship is linear, going from 27.5” tire to a 27.0 will inflate your miles by 3.6%. Over an average lifespan of a minivan tire (60k miles) it would be 2200 miles, which is not a huge deal unless you are 2k miles over the warranty and need to have a major repair performed :).

The 235/60's are much wider which makes life in the snow a bit more difficult.

Well, it is just as much wider than 225s, than 215s are narrower ;) (I am not sure if that made sense :) ). If width if your concern, check into the actual TREAD width specification, you will find not all 225 tires are the same. Different manufacturers have different ideas of what that actually means, so you might be to find a 235 tire which is close to 225 made by GY. I have even seen a significant variations between different models with-in the same brand!

Personally, I do not consider that a major difference in width. And a particular tread design will be a bigger contributor to snow weather handling than “10mm” on the rated width!

What did you end up going with?

Actually the tire size issue for the 16 inch tire Quest is moot point anymore as Yokohama now makes a 225/65-16" tire for the Quest: Avid TRZ. It's a highly rated tire. So now at least you have another choice in the OEM size tires.

Actually the tire size issue for the 16 inch tire Quest is moot point anymore as Yokohama now makes a 225/65-16" tire for the Quest: Avid TRZ. It's a highly rated tire. So now at least you have another choice in the OEM size tires.

Thanks for the tip on Avids. Tirerack has LS-2 tires for $137, while Avids are $93! I am going to call some of the local places to see if they will match Tirerack's price :).