I realize that the Avalon is not considered a sports sedan. However, even the touring edition of the Avalon has the 215's. For the "sporty" model, don't you think they should be a little wider to help in cornering and provide better road feel? Again, i'm not really trying to turn the Avalon into a sports sedan. I just think that it looks awkward with such skinny tires. I think 225's would have looked much better as standard equipment, and I can't imagine gas mileage would suffer tremendously or even at all as a result.

 

Per MMarshall's comment about wide tires in snow/rain...

What are you supposed to do in wet weather with fat tires?

Where is the most effective balance achieved?

If Porsche puts 285s or 305s on their car, wouldn't they tell you NOT to drive it in the rain/snow?

The hydroplane problem must only get worse with SUPER wide 355+ tires???

 

Tread compounds, of course, make a difference, but in general, rain / snow conditions do not mix well with low, fat tires...for reasons which I explained earlier. Some Owners' Manuals even have disclaimers to this effect, like the Subaru Sti, which states that the STi's original rubber, even with AWD, was designed for dry high-performance conditions and that for winter, snow tires are best. You mention Porsches.....even on the Porsche AWD models, you still sometimes need a set of good rain or snow tires for lousy conditions. This is one reason.....among many others.....why many sports-car owners in the Snow Belt either put on rain or snow tires during the cooler months or just park it in the garage until spring. ( many of them own second vehicles or winter-beaters anyway ). Snow tires are generally available now in many low-profile sizes to fit sports cars, which are generally better in snow than factory rubber ( and get in line early because they sell out FAST every autumn ) but still high-profiles are best in winter. It is just one of the trade-offs you currently make if you want a dry-weather screamer.
Tire engineers are testing new rubber / silicone compounds and new tread patterns trying to perfect a new class of high-performance all-season tires that will, to some extent, combine the performance of dry-weather high-performance tires with the adaptability of all-season tires....but this is proving to be a difficult task and they have not beeen perfected yet.

I know this may not be a perfect solution for you, but I hope this explanation helps.

 

OK, were talking 10mm of 'extra' tire here.......which is 1 cm! I doubt that will make much (if any difference).

 

Of course it makes a difference. 1 cm is 1 cm. No, 1 cm will not turn the Avalon into an aggressive-looking BMW-beater, but it would balance it out a bit more. Like I said, 225's would be "better". I would have put 235's on the Avalon.

 

I'll take the Toyota engineers word for it on this.......I'm sure they had that option, but they decided the 215's made more sense.

Yes 1 cm is 1 cm, but not earth shattering (especially on an Avalon) so why bother. I saw several Avalon owners just today driving (2 new 2005's to boot!....1 XLE & 1 Touring). I think they were around during WWII & neither driver looked too concerned about their factory tire sizes Final. But feel free to upgrade.

Funny thing, the upgraded rating for an 18" size is 215 50 18 & no recommendations for 19".