Okay, I am tired of trying to find what I am looking for in the old threads. I need new tires for Betsy and I run 205/50/15 on my other teeners. I am afraid this will have her sitting too low for the towbar brackets that I have drug a few times already with 195/60/15s. Front struts are shot and bottomed out so new struts will probably stop that but I want a wider tire without going too low profile. I have decided to just keep her as a street driver and no ax so what say the masses? Which tire size would you suggest?

Click to view attachment

I think you can run 195/70/15's for the correct ride eight. I'm not positive though Might be 195/65/15's

205/60/15 been using that size for 15 years.

Does it give a pretty good ride height?

http://www.vredestein.com/car-tyres/summer/sportrac-3/sizes/

This is a real nice Summer tire you can get in 195 65 15. Had them on my 73. Was very happy with them.

I just went through this with my car. Had my195/65/15 Pirelli P6000 High Performance Summer tires slashed at the beginning of the summer. I replaced them with 195/65/15 Bridgestone ER960AS Ultra High Performance All Season tires. These were the highest rated tire in this size on Tire Rack. I hated them right out of the gate. They felt like I was driving on marsh mellows. Looked like they should be on a Taurus.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...S+Pole+Position

I decided against the P6000s since there were so many terrible reviews plus over double the price. However, going back I noticed that most of the Porsche guys liked the tire a lot. The big heavy AUDI's were having lots of problems with them. It is also a Porsche spec tire. Light weight at 18lbs. These tires were much stiffer with almost no lean on my car. Ride was jerky over any bumps, but it was all smiles with a go-kart feel around corners.

After tons of searching on the net looking for the ultimate combo of light weight tire and wheels I purchased a set of Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Specs in 195/55/15. This tire is about 1.5" shorter, but not the 2" shorter that a 205/50/15 provides. I bought 4 of the last availible at a lower load/weight rating of 18lbs. Now they only have the 19lb version for sale. They feel a bit softer than the P6000s, but there is more grip availible. This may improve as the tread wears down from full depth. (My Pirelli's were probably about half gone.) The ride is more comfortable. There is more acceleration, since it is a smaller diameter tire. The car sit about 5/8" lower than before. RPMs while freeway cruising are up 200-300 rpms. I'm rarely on the freeway, so this is working out fine for me. The car looks great sitting lower, but I am scraping on my driveway where I was not before.

The only way to get back to ~25" diameter tires is to go with a 16" wheel and 205/55/16 tires. There is a better selection of tires in this size, however the weight of the tire+wheels is going to excede the Fuch+18lb combo by a fair amount no matter what you choose. I was tempted by these 16" VTO wheels as a possible solution, but at a weight increase.

http://64.27.130.204/?portfolio=16x7-class...silver-4x130-35

That Vredestein is an interesting tire. Guigaro tread pattern looks cool, but lots of noise complaints in the reviews.

This Eagle GT might be what you're looking for in a 205/60/15.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...T&tab=Specs

Thanks for all your help. I too was considering the Direzza. Also I loved the Eagle GT back in the early 80s and was considering them also.

A 195/65-15 gives plenty of clearance. Here's a profile pic shortly after I bought my car. I believe the tires are Dunlop SP4000s (?).

The Eagle GT was my second pic behind the Bridgestone, since they both come in a 195/65/15 as well. Heads up, the Bridgestone beat the Eagle GT across the board on TireRack surveys. Looking back, the GT may be a better performance tire. Opinions depend on the car and driver. It sure has better looks. TireRack has a $40 rebate going on a set right now if that puts you over the edge.

I put a set of Bridgestone Potenza's 205/60 15's on my 73 2.0 last year and am very happy with them. Clearance issues are not huge but I am always careful when approaching speedbumps or steeply angled driveways as I have a front spoiler. Speedometer not off much with 205/60's, not enough to worry about anyway, as I'm always calculating my speed in my head as we are in Km in Canada and my speedo is in miles. Good luck with your choice.

Ian Stott
Moncton
Canada

I used the tire size calculator here on the World and I came up with 205/65 15 being the closest to stock tires size which I run. The width is also nice and it barely fits under the rear fenders but will not get cut. I think it just misses by 1/4 inch. I was able to price them out for less than 80 a piece.

Newbie here....I am assuming the 65 number is the height?

So tires can be:
185/65/R15
195/65/R15 or ??
205

185/60/R15
195/60/R15 ???

a slightly better calculator

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

OK Now we have
165/80 R15
185/70 R15
185/65 R15
195/65 R15
205/60 R15

If you are looking for economy and regular street driving then is the 185/65 R15 a good size?

As I wrote earlier 185/65 is very popular. The size with the largest offer and the one you will have the cheapest tires.
On theese pictures you can see how they look on the car.
195/65 would be my second choice. They are larger but you won't find all tires in this size

I've been using Kumha Ectas ASX. They come in 205/55 15 and have two keep rain grooves. Just another sized to consider.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchRe...ufacturer=Kumho

a non directional tire like the ZEXIUS Xi326 in 195/60-15 is a good fit on 5.5" wheels and should eliminate rub issues . reasonably inexpensive, fairly quiet, and usually perform well all conditions. hot/cold/wet/dry. you can corner to corner rotate them as opposed to f to r only. use the money saved to invest in new f strut and r shocks.

k

Shoe, I have 195/65 Eagle GT's on mine and like them.

Rear:

All, what impact do these various sizes have on the speedometer readings? Which size, (of sizes that are commonly available), would have the least impact on the speedometer?

thx, Turk

The tire size calculator on this site is pretty useful for determining that.

-Ross

I used our site size calculator several years ago and bought Michelin 205/65/15 for my original steel 5.5" rims. They have been exactly the same diameter as original 165/15 and fill the wells, with a bit of an inner rub if I turn lock to lock, but have not touched the outer well edges in about 5 yrs. of driving. I discovered the front well top edges are already rolled from the factory!

Donald,
Given your tendency for aggression toward small orange cones I'd suggest 205.50X15, I have run them and they work fine without too much of a suspension hit and your speedometer will only be off by 10% or so... I know you probably don't intend to drive that car in that way but it will give you the same feel you want with the autocross car.