What tires will fit on these wheels, tire size question Options

[brandomc]

Hi, i have read some other posts saying that i can replace my 165 15 tires with 195 65 r15's. I was wondering if anyone has the same wheels as me with the 195 tire size. Mine already seem close to the wheel arch lip in the rear. But there is still enough clearance to fit my fingers between. I attatched a pic of my car. Which wheels are these? Should the 195's fit and not rub. Thanks
Brandon

[RJMII]

Those are Rivierras; they came in VW offset and Porsche 914 offset. If they have the VW offset, probably not on fitting without rubbing. if they have the 914 offset, more than likely the 195's will fit.

[underthetire]

had 195/60's on mine. worked well.

[brandomc]

Those are Rivierras; they came in VW offset and Porsche 914 offset. If they have the VW offset, probably not on fitting without rubbing. if they have the 914 offset, more than likely the 195's will fit.

How can i tell which offset i have? The rims appear to be 5.5" rims.

[markb]

had 195/60's on mine. worked well.

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That's about as wide as you can go, normally. I tried 205's on my Riv's & they rubbed.

[brandomc]

had 195/60's on mine. worked well.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
That's about as wide as you can go, normally. I tried 205's on my Riv's & they rubbed.

Does it matter if i go up to 195 65's. or do i need 195 60's. i want my spedo to be as close as possible.

[markb]

I liked the ride & handling of the 60's over the 65's. It winds up being 10% off for your speedo, which is easy to figure out in your head.

[underthetire]

had 195/60's on mine. worked well.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
That's about as wide as you can go, normally. I tried 205's on my Riv's & they rubbed.

I got 205's to work in the rear, but looked kinda retardo with way too much sidewall bulge.

Measure gaps on your car to see if you can fit 15mm on both sides of the tire. Pretty simple, 165=165mm width, 195=195mm width. The 60 or 70 is the aspect ratio in percentage of tire width 60 =60% of width, so, a 195 tire on a 15" rim with a 60 series will be 117mm per side. So 117+117+381mm (15")=615mm total height, or 24.21" high.

[brandomc]

I liked the ride & handling of the 60's over the 65's. It winds up being 10% off for your speedo, which is easy to figure out in your head.

Can you tell by looking at the pic of my car if my wheels have the porsche offset?

[DanT]

your wheels appear to be the newer reproduction Rivs made by American Eagle....
If 165s are close to your fender lip you can just about bet the farm that you have the VW offset....195s will probably fit but you may need to make sure the fender lip is rolled up flat.
I had a set of the Empi 8 spoke repros on my last 914 and had 195x65s that were a tight fit. And my fender lips were rolled.

[brandomc]

your wheels appear to be the newer reproduction Rivs made by American Eagle....
If 165s are close to your fender lip you can just about bet the farm that you have the VW offset....195s will probably fit but you may need to make sure the fender lip is rolled up flat.
I had a set of the Empi 8 spoke repros on my last 914 and had 195x65s that were a tight fit. And my fender lips were rolled.

The 165 are close to the lip, and i dont think that the lip is rolled up. I am still able to fit my fingers up between the wheel and the lip, but that is about all the room there is. Im estimating that is about 15mm or so gap. I really dont want to buy tires and then have them not fit. I was going to order them through tire rack.

[DanT]

take one of your wheels off and measure the distance from the mounting flange to the lip of the rim straight across from one side of the wheel to the other....straight edge, from the back of the wheel.. This will be the back space...for a VW wheel it is about 4". for a 914 spec wheel it should be about 4.75"

[RJMII]

Measure gaps on your car to see if you can fit 15mm on both sides of the tire. Pretty simple, 165=165mm width, 195=195mm width. The 60 or 70 is the aspect ratio in percentage of tire width 60 =60% of width, so, a 195 tire on a 15" rim with a 60 series will be 117mm per side. So 117+117+381mm (15")=615mm total height, or 24.21" high.

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Im estimating that is about 15mm or so gap. I really dont want to buy tires and then have them not fit.

Measure with something that has quantifiable digits, look at the possibility of rolling your fenders, and you can probably get them to fit. ( a tight fit)

[brandomc]

take one of your wheels off and measure the distance from the mounting flange to the lip of the rim straight across from one side of the wheel to the other....straight edge, from the back of the wheel.. This will be the back space...for a VW wheel it is about 4". for a 914 spec wheel it should be about 4.75"

Thanks, ill check this evening. Hopefull i can fit some good tires under this car, it has alot of power with the new engine i built. Ill update tomorow. Thanks

[brandomc]

So i measured the offset of my rims last night and i believe they have the 4" offset. I can get my fingers up between the fender and the tire, but that is about it. Im not sure if bigger tires would clear when the wheel moves up into the wheel well. It does look like there is 15 or so mm between the tire and fender lip. So should i just look for different rims? Or should i try and squeze some 195s on there? How would i go about rolling up the lip inside the wheel well without damaging the fender? Any ideas. Im not opposed to getting new rims, just dont want to wait that long.