Tyre width

[James]

Ok - so this is like asking the meaning of life...

But does anyone have any thoughts on max tyre width on my 5.5J Minilites?

I know all the stuff about contact patches etc - just wondering what might go - because I fancy some Toyo T1-R and they only come in 205/55

[thescrapman]

I thought you were short on space already??

And I thought you were short of money ?!?!?  :-)

195/55 seems to be the way to go with a 5.5J 15 incher.

205/65-15 too big.

Cheers

Colin

[James]

I won't be short of space when I put the old arms on etc

Short of money is one thing - but my rear tyres are totally short of tread. A tiny bit illegal...

My my calcs 195/60 is the size to go to... (from my 185/65)

[piman]

Hello James,

I may be a bit unfashionable, but I don't see the reason for 'wide' tyres. (Visual appearance excepted, that is a personal choice)

One point is that I feel you need pretty stiff suspension to use lower profile wider tyres as camber change is quite marked with soft suspension so the benefit is lost.

However my feeling is that narrower tyres provide better handling hence more fun and they can be better in very heavy rain. Just to add I'm referring to road use rather than competition.

Alec

[Slimboyfat]

James 195/60 x 15 is the way to go. Two of our saloons, and the Stag are so equipped (on 6" rims though).
One of our saloons is on 195/50 x 15, it drives, handles, rides superbly, but it looks silly because the wheel/tyre no where near fills the wheelarches. If I were using 50 series tyres again I would go to 16", or 17" wheels.
Back in the day when low profiles were fairly new I was buying 205/60 x 15 Pirelli P6 (Rover SD1 Vitesse o.e tyres) from a bloke who knew a bloke who worked at Rover (he was punting them out in the TR Action!). On 6" rims they fitted no problem, but today they would look the opposite of the 50 series tyres i.e to tall in the side wall.

[Spitfire2500]

Slimboyfat wrote:

James 195/60 x 15 is the way to go. Two of our saloons, and the Stag are so equipped (on 6" rims though).

6" rims -- yup! I'd have thought 195 on 5.5" rims is pushing it a bit. 185 on 5.5" rims (what I have on the Spit) bulge a bit so I wouldn't personally be comfortable with 195s on anything less than 6" rims.

195/65-R14 on 6" rims is what I run on our Saloon.

[James]

195 is within spec for 5.5J wheels... 205 is on the limit... from what I've read.

[thescrapman]

one of the sizes (and I think it is 195/55-15) is a popular fitmant for some modern cars so there is lots of choice at mucho-cheapo prices.

I have narrowed my choice down to a Yokohama Cdrive at about £50 a time. You can also get Toyo Proxes T1-R at about £70 a pop, and they have a rim protector.

Cheers

Colin

[James]

195/60 seems to open far more doors than 185/65 too - Vredstein Sportrac 3 - quite like the look of those and they seem to have good reviews (both recent and historically with the Sportrac 2)

195/55 makes the speedo out by 4.3% - and will drop the car by half an inch... (not that my speedo actually works...)

[Spitfire2500]

jcarruthers wrote:

205 is on the limit... from what I've read.

Yeah -- 205 is generally quoted as the widest tyre width for 5.5" rims on the tyre spec sheets I've seen. Doesn't mean I'd be comfortable doing it though :X  ;D

[James]

I agree - 205 is a bit too wide...

[2500 Stiffler]

Surely you want to keep the profile that gives you the closest to original spec - if you went up or down wheel size you would change the tyre profile (ie 185/70s on a 14" then go to 185/65s on a 15").

Increasing width and dropping profile will just give you smaller wheels overall (including tyres) and potentially look daft - as per slim boy fat.

I dont know if it will be an issue, but when I tried to fit some newer wheels that had a different offset, the tyres rubbed on the suspension upright - wider tyres (30 mm wider from 175 to 205 for example) may do the same, assuming they stick out 15mm each side over the rim.  They may only rub on full lock.  worth checking though.

I always used to go for the cheapest tyre, which usually meant skinniest, but classic skinny tyres (175 or 185 section) are usually rarer than more common modern sizes (195s).

[Tim Bancroft]

I would go for either 185 or 195. I am not a believer in super wide tyres, much for the same reasons as piman.

My car has 185/65 rubber on it and its fine.

Usual camber change issues surely mitigate against 50profile rubber etc.

[CRAJ]

[quote=2500_Stiffler]Surely you want to keep the profile that gives you the closest to original spec - if you went up or down wheel size you would change the tyre profile (ie 185/70s on a 14" then go to 185/65s on a 15").quote]

But the original size tyre on a 14'' rim is 175/80 (140mm sidewall), nearest matches for this are 195/70 (136.5mm sidewall) or 205/70 (143.5mm sidewall), not 185/70 (129.5mm sidewall).
if you went the 15'' route, you would need to allow approx. 12.5mm (1/2'') less due to the 1'' increase in diameter. 195/65 (126.75mm sidewall +12.5mm) would be almost perfect, with 205/60 (123mm sidewall + 12.5mm) and 215/60 (129mm sidewall +12.5) being fairly close too. 185/65 (120.25 sidewall +12.5mm) would be quite a bit off.
Interestingly 205/55/16 would give the equivalent of 138mm sidewall with the 25.4mm allowance for being 16s. 225/45/17 standard fit on lots of cars now (and my mate got a pair of Kumhos on his Laguna fitted all in for £130, good tyres too!) would give an equivalent of 139.35mm sidewall, if you could get them under the arches!
Some of these tyres if available may be harder to get hold of than the original 175/14 but the visual effect of running a big saloon or estate on these would be something else.
I run the estate on its standard 14'' alloys and 195/70 tyres....works for me.

Cheers Colin.

[AlanChatterton]

I've just ordered a new set of tyres for the S, 195/70/14, Goodyear GT2 off the net, £195 for a set of 4 delivered...... bargain!

[CRAJ]

Sounds like a wise buy to me Alan, virtually the same sidewall height as 175/80 and it preserves the ride comfort that 'high profile' tyres afford you. They are also a potential wheel saver with the crater covered roads that the local authorities feel are acceptable these days. I'm sure you will be very pleased with their performance on the RBRR.

Colin

[DJB_Harvey]

I have run all sizes on saloons over the years...BUT ive concluded one thing and that is 195 seems to give the best all round performance irrespective of diameter...wider than this and they seem to "tramline" excessively on poor surfaces.

[CRAJ]

DJB_Harvey wrote:

I have run all sizes on saloons over the years...BUT ive concluded one thing and that is 195 seems to give the best all round performance irrespective of diameter...wider than this and they seem to "tramline" excessively on poor surfaces.

That'll be 50% of the roads used by most peopl then :)

Colin

[James]

195/65 R15 it is then...

Vredstein Sportrac 3 - look nice and come in that size :)

[Spitfire2500]

CRAJ wrote:

But the original size tyre on a 14'' rim is 175/80

Agreed -- on 2.5s/2500s: 175/80-R14 and 185/80-R13 were standard fitments.

For the sake of completeness -- or to be anal about it if you like  :X -- 2000s were fitted with 175/80-R13 so the "correct" size for these is 195/65-R14 or 195/60-R15 etc etc blah blah... 8)

[Greeks]

I think Andy Thompson runs 205s on his PI?

[andy thompson]

225/50 15... they can tramline a bit too  ;D

[Slimboyfat]

Tony Luxtons Stag (now Steve Hendersons) has been running 215 or 225's (Steve?) on 7" wide real (magnesium) Minilites for all the time I have known the car. It still amazes me that they go under the arches with no further modification.

[Greeks]

lagerzok wrote:

225/50 15... they can tramline a bit too  ;D

Yeah ... I mean, that's what I said  :B