Whats the best size tyre for a 15" alloy

Rudolph Claus

Im getting 15"inch alloys, whats the best tyre with regards to comfort, decent depth not too low a profile but a wide tyre so it looks good on my civic.
195/50/15
195/55/15
195/60/15
205/??/15
etc

I want a tyre that looks good, wide but not too tall. I was told if going for 16" wheels to get 205/45/16 but im changing my mind to get 15" wheels and not sure of the best looking tyre size. Cheers.

bazz26

Nuttzy wrote:

Im getting 15"inch alloys, whats the best tyre with regards to comfort, decent depth not too low a profile but a wide tyre so it looks good on my civic.
195/50/15
195/55/15
195/60/15
205/??/15
etc

I want a tyre that looks good, wide but not too tall. I was told if going for 16" wheels to get 205/45/16 but im changing my mind to get 15" wheels and not sure of the best looking tyre size. Cheers.

I would probably go for the 195/50/15 or 195/55/15, anything lower will mean a very harsh ride and your wheels will be damaged in no time on Irish roads. I would not go for a 205 width either as the wheels will probably be too wide for the arches and may look silly.

maidhc

bazz26 wrote:

I would probably go for the 195/50/15 or 195/55/15, anything lower will mean a very harsh ride and your wheels will be damaged in no time on Irish roads. I would not go for a 205 width either as the wheels will probably be too wide for the arches and may look silly.

I bent an alloy with 195/55s before.

VAG (Old A4, Octy at least) use 195/65 on their 15" wheels
Toyota (Avensis, Corolla) and Ford (Focus) use 196/60s

Rudolph Claus

Think ill go with these. http://www.eiretyres.com/start.html
Some folk say the Nankang`s are crap in the rain, but sure ill try them. If folk are right, it`ll be more fun sure.

Rudolph Claus

Hmmmmmmmm!
Im confused now. Is the /50/55/60/65 the depth of the tyre from the rim to top of the tyre or in some proportion to the width of the tyre or something. What exactly is the differencr between /50 and /65? Does the 65 tyre have a greater depth/height of tyre?
Thanks.

maidhc

Its a proportion of the width.

A 195/65 will be a taller tyre than a 195/55, while a 205/55 will be taller than a 195/55... and so on.

Del2005

AFAIK its the percetage of the width of the tyre that is the height.

195/55 = 107mm
195/60 = 117mm
205/55 = 112mm

bazz26

maidhc wrote:

I bent an alloy with 195/55s before.

VAG (Old A4, Octy at least) use 195/65 on their 15" wheels
Toyota (Avensis, Corolla) and Ford (Focus) use 196/60s

Agree but if you hit a real deep pothole hard enough you will even damage an ordinary steel rim. The higher the profile the less chance of damage imo.

VAG cars had large profile tyres to my knowledge, I remember the old Audi 80 had very large profile tyres that looked a bit weird at first.

I have 205/50/17 on my car and the ride is a bit harsh but that is to be expected. The car has almost the same ride hight as the standard fitted 205/55/16 so the car doesn't need to be lowered. I had a few close shaves with potholes though but have been lucky so far.

Anyway this going a bit off topic.

colm_mcm

The best tyre size will depend on which car they're being fitted to. 195/60 R15 mightn't even fit.

Rudolph Claus

he best tyre size will depend on which car they're being fitted to. 195/60 R15 mightn't even fit.

Hiya, how do i know which tyre will fit. The wheels on my car at the min are 14". 185/60/14
The vag cars have a desperate depth or profile on them, looks way too deep.

bazz26

Nuttzy wrote:

Hiya, how do i know which tyre will fit. The wheels on my car at the min are 14". 185/60/14
The vag cars have a desperate depth or profile on them, looks way too deep.

Check this link out:
http://www.tyresave.co.uk/tyresize.html

colm_mcm

as far as I remember from my Italian car days, 195/50 R15 or 185/55 R15 will fit. The 195/50 R15 tyres are far cheaper and easier to find than 185/55.

185/55 15 were fitted to Punto Sportings and Bravo's, most people swap them for 195/50's with no problems.

Rudolph Claus

According to that link Bazz, ill be going with 195/55/15. Cheers chaps.

colm_mcm

195/50's will be closer to the original size, larger radius of 195/55 may affect your speedo readings, not the end of the world though.

Rudolph Claus

These look like a good deal:
http://www.eiretyres.com/start.html
Toyo Proxes T1-R with Rim protection foe E53.90 with free delivery.
195/50/R15
OR
these Nankang Ns-2`s for E45 with free delivery.
195/50R15.

Are the Toyos as good as there made out to be? They usually come as an upgrade option on sets of alloys so they cant be too bad?
Ps: When selecting tyres on eiretyres.com,,, do i pick Summer tyres or All season tyres or Winter tyres? i just left it at default????

mike65

Summer tyres are fine in Ireland

Mike.

colm_mcm

Cos it's summer all year round here

mike65

Cos it never realy gets that cold and icy!

Mike.