Tire size

[Davin Yap]

Hey guys,

I’ve just bought a car and the tire that came together with the car is 175 / 70R13. For a premium variant of the same make and model, the tire size is 185 / 60R14. Any advantages that I can get if I swap my 175 / 70R13 for a 185 / 60R14 tire size ?

Should I or should I not swap the tires ?

Just want to get feedback from you guys.

Best Wishes,

Dav

Topic

[Paul]

The “premium” tire is a plus-one sizing to your current tires, meaning that the rim diameter is larger, but the overall wheel diameter is the approximately the same. According to an online calculator, the plus-one size is +1% larger, but it will not cause significant error with the speedometer and odometer. You should no problems with the lower profile tire, as long as the rim width and offset are comparable.

[Cameron]

[quote=”davinyap90″ post=103543]Hey guys,

I’ve just bought a car and the tire that came together with the car is 175 / 70R13. For a premium variant of the same make and model, the tire size is 185 / 60R14. Any advantages that I can get if I swap my 175 / 70R13 for a 185 / 60R14 tire size ?

Should I or should I not swap the tires ?

Just want to get feedback from you guys.

Best Wishes,

Dav[/quote]
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If you are prepared to spend the money on some 14 inch wheels I would definitely upgrade to the 185 60 14 tire provided you buy good tires.

If you go to an aftermarket 14 inch wheel stick with the wheel width used by the manufacturer for the 185 60 14 tire and get a 14 inch wheel as close as possible to the offset of the manufacturer’s 14 inch wheel for your model car.

In my view it is worth spending the money as long as you buy a good quality tire for the new wheels:

– the 185 is wider so the tire grip will improve slightly assuming the same model tire in each case as there is a bit more rubber in contact with the road
– the 185 60 series tire is a significantly lower profile that the 175 -70 so you will get less tire roll and slightly better handling than with the 175 70 assuming the same tire model and tire pressure in each case
-the 14 inch wheel and lower profile 185 60 14 tire will also look better on your car than the current items.

The diameter of the 175 70 13 and 185 60 14 are virtually identical (only about 2 mm difference in diameter) so there are no issues there for your car.

Don’t spend a whole lot of cash on new or used 14 inch wheels and then put cheap tires on them because you have spent most of your budget on wheels.

I see people “cheaping out” on the tires with wheel and tire upgrades constantly by putting rubbishy quality new tires on their new wheels. If you do that you are just wasting your money as you would be far better off spending the cash on a quality set of premium 175 70 13 tires instead for your current wheels.

Check out the total cost of the upgrade using quality tires and then decide what is best for you given the cash you want to spend.

Be wary of all the tire dealers offering all manner of cheap new wheel/tire packages. These are pitched to the price seekers who are frequently totally clueless or just don’t care about the tires and in nearly all cases the crappiest bottom of the market tires are included in the package.

[Davin Yap]

Thanks for the feedback. I’m assuming that there are 3 types of grades of tires (not really sure but just assume). There’s this crappy tires, mainstream tires and premium tires. How do we actually differentiate the crappy type of tires and the good ones ?

Just some effort to not get ripped of

[dan]

let me explane tire sizes

OPTION A
for example your car tire and wheel option 185/60R14

this means you have a tire with a with of 185MM this is what the 185 stands for,

the 60 stands for the aspect ration in a percentage 60% of the with! which means the tire section height is 111MM tall

and the 14 stands for the wheel diameter which is a 14 inch diameter wheel

OPTION B
now the tire option 175/70R13

the tire is 175MM wide

the aspect ratio is 70% section height 122MM tall

and you have a 13inch diameter wheel

Option A is a wider tire with a lower aspect ratio, this in my opinion looks a little nicer there is a little more wheel and a little less tire since the wheel diameter is a inch larger and the section eight is about 11MM shorter giving it a fuller look, this also in a performance stand point will give you more grip since the tire is wider but only slightly, and may also make the car feel a hair more confident around corners… however a wider tire means more rolling resistance.

Option B is a narrower tire with a taller section height smaller diameter wheel, this allows lesser rolling resistance which can mean more fuel economy buy a very small margin, but it wont look as nice as in my opinion as the option A.

the biggest difference between the two tires and wheels is mostly for looks, a 10MM difference in tire with and a aspect ratio difference of 11MM will hardly make any performance differences, once again mostly for looks as option A is probably for a more premium version of your vehicle.

[Lorrin Barth]

I don’t know where you live or what car we are talking about. If in the US go to Tire Rack and read the tire reviews. They also sell tire/wheel combinations. Buy a combo for your car and it will fit.

I needed snow tires on rims last winter. My car, stored away for winter, suddenly had to be on the road in bad weather. The next thing you know UPS dropped four tires on rims mounted and balanced – the model of convenience.

[Davin Yap]

[quote=”barneyb” post=103904]I don’t know where you live or what car we are talking about. If in the US go to Tire Rack and read the tire reviews. They also sell tire/wheel combinations. Buy a combo for your car and it will fit.

I needed snow tires on rims last winter. My car, stored away for winter, suddenly had to be on the road in bad weather. The next thing you know UPS dropped four tires on rims mounted and balanced – the model of convenience.[/quote]

I’m not from the US. In fact, I’m from Malaysia. I’m driving a locally made car over here. It’s a Proton Saga SV 1.3L. There’s no need for a snow tire since I’m in the tropics. I’m just looking out for signs for a shitty tire so that I can avoid them.

Edited :

Thanks 13aceofspades13. So the tires on the premium version of my car is more of a cosmetic factor rather than a performance factor. So for a better handling, my tires should be something a little wider than the premium version of my car. Thanks for clarifying. Thanks a bunch.

[dan]

now i will explane tire sizes again with my car

i have a tire size of 225/60R16

the tires on my car are 225MM wide

the section height, aspect ratio is 60% of the width which means the section height is 135MM tall

and i have 16 inch wheels

the PREMIOM OPTION of my car is the GXP which features the 5.3L LS4 V8 and its tire is a 235/50ZR18

the tire is 235MM wide

its aspect ratio is 50% of the height, and that is 117.5MM tall per section height

and i have a 18 inch wheel!

understand tire size?

now between the two tire packages the GXP tires are 10MMs wider, 17.5MM shorter in section height and offers a more flashy 18 inch wheel over the stock 16 inch which are 2 inches smaller in diameter, now this tire serves a duel perpous! the V6 in my car (the base model and GT) is rated stock at 205HP at the crank, the LS-4 5.3L V8 in the GXP is rated at 305 or so HP thats a 100HP increase, along with a limited slip differential and different suspension the tire package is supposed too increase traction and cornering response while offering a more flashy look too the premiom package body style.

[dan]

woops kinda responded late lol!

[Lorrin Barth]

[quote=”davinyap90″ post=103907][quote=”barneyb” post=103904]I don’t know where you live or what car we are talking about. If in the US go to Tire Rack and read the tire reviews. They also sell tire/wheel combinations. Buy a combo for your car and it will fit.

I needed snow tires on rims last winter. My car, stored away for winter, suddenly had to be on the road in bad weather. The next thing you know UPS dropped four tires on rims mounted and balanced – the model of convenience.[/quote]

I’m not from the US. In fact, I’m from Malaysia. I’m driving a locally made car over here. It’s a Proton Saga SV 1.3L. There’s no need for a snow tire since I’m in the tropics. I’m just looking out for signs for a shitty tire so that I can avoid them.

[/quote]

I read that there is about a thousand private label tire brands in the US but there are only a few companies making tires and they sell them worldwide. So, Tire Rack is still a good place to decide on what you want by reading the reviews.

[dan]

when you start going into serious modification you have too start considering the pros and the cons and the effects it will have on your vehicle such as scrub radius and rolling resistance and even ride quality and the clearances you have for the tires and wheels!

as far as good handling i think a wider tire of a lower profile is more suited for the application, something like a 205/50R16 or something similar not at all sure if thats what will work so don’t go buying tire sizes like that, this way the overall diameter of the tire and wheel are similar, but its of a lower profile and wider, this gives you 20MM wider over the premium option with a much lower profile…

a wider tire gives you more footprint too the road which means more traction for cornering, also a lower profile tire also tends too squirm less going into corners, a very high profile tire which is very narrow will tend too almost squirm coming into corners giving the car a laggy feel and sometimes reducing the footprint too the road during cornering… but this is in extreme cases!

now as far as improving handling things like a slightly stiffer sway bar allow for better stability in corners reducing sway, and stiffer springs possibly coil overs, reducing ride height also lowers the center of gravity improving stability in corners helping the car corner more confidently… reducing vehicle weight also helps handling…

BUT ONCE AGAIN
you start making modifications like going too wider tires, lowered springs or coil overs, stiffer sway bars, stuff like that you start drastically affecting the vehicle, your ride quality will be much rougher as a result, since you have lowered the ride height of the vehicle you are now in greater risk of bottoming out over bumps or curbs, so my advice to you is if you are really looking too seriously improve the handling of the vehicle too better performance, ask yourself is it really even worth it with the vehicle you have, and for what you intend to do with it.

ok here is another example using my car, now i want too improve the handling of my vehicle, i want to switch too 235/50R18s or 245/45R18s for a wider tire, possibly Michalen Sport AS-3 tires or Michalen sport cup tires for summer and keep the 225/60R16s for winter use.

but the real handling gains are stiffer sway bars and lowering the right height of the vehicle, coil overs cost over $1,000 and i need time to install them and adjust right height too the only 1.25 inch drop i desire. most lowering springs drop over 1.5 inches, and at that point you have issues with pogoing, and CV boot wear and alignment issues with excessive negative camber and your ride quality at that point SUCKS.

a stiffer sway bar would be nice in addition and wouldn’t have huge negative effects on ride quality or cause excessive wear too tires or too the CV axles.

its all about what sacrifices you are willing too make.

[Cameron]

[quote=”davinyap90″ post=103896]Thanks for the feedback. I’m assuming that there are 3 types of grades of tires (not really sure but just assume). There’s this crappy tires, mainstream tires and premium tires. How do we actually differentiate the crappy type of tires and the good ones ?

Just some effort to not get ripped of[/quote]
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There is not a lot of choice in brands or tire models in that 185 60 14 tire size.

Based on what is available in that tire size I would tend to go for the SUMITOMO HTR PO1 all season tire. (It is not really designed for snow and ice so in those conditions you need a very good winter tire on your car. If you need a winter tire in your area keep your 13 inch wheels for that.)
http://www.sumitomotire.com/cars/products/HTR/htrasp01.aspx
http://which-tires.com/sumitomo/

There is a range of other tires I would probably prefer but they are not made in 185 60 14 size.

[Author]

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