The definitive tyre / wheel size thread
- Thread starter bretti_kivi
- Start date
A2Z
A2OC Donor
I get you about the price of 185/50/16 tyres which is because they aren't mass produced and not used on many cars but there are some reasonably priced good tyres options out there in the correct size if you would rather stay factory with the correct 81 load rating.
If you don't want to spend a fortune these are decent options available from Camskill.co.uk and no I don't own the company
I would probably go for the Kumho but the Nexen is a good option too, both being wet grip A rated which is the best you can get.195/45/16 is ok sporty but slightly smaller and firmer and your Speedo will be out a little more than it is already.
Other options are 195/50/16 which is a really good size but again not cheap, or 185/55/16 which is a little more oversized but improves comfort as long as you go for the lower 83 load rating rather than 87 and improves the Speedo accuracy too but alters the feel and gear rating a little so beware. I would stick to the original size as you are happy with them and if I was buying new tyres for long term use. You might also find them a little cheaper elsewhere if on offer so shop around
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MOI
A2OC Donor
Ok thanks for the comprehensive info. At £60 each thats pretty good. I assume you would avoid buying tyres through ebay right?I get you about the price of 185/50/16 tyres which is because they aren't mass produced and not used on many cars but there are some reasonably priced good tyres options out there in the correct size if you would rather stay factory with the correct 81 load rating.
If you don't want to spend a fortune these are decent options available from Camskill.co.uk and no I don't own the company
195/45/16 is ok sporty but slightly smaller and firmer and your Speedo will be out a little more than it is already.
Other options are 195/50/16 which is a really good size but again not cheap, or 185/55/16 which is a little more oversized but improves comfort as long as you go for the lower 83 load rating rather than 87 and improves the Speedo accuracy too but alters the feel and gear rating a little so beware. I would stick to the original size as you are happy with them and if I was buying new tyres for long term use. You might also find them a little cheaper elsewhere if on offer so shop around
I'm a big fan of fitting a tyre size that gives good protection to the rim from kerbing damage. To do this, the tyre's sidewalls need to bulge out quite a bit from the rim.
In my view, if a tyre's sidewalls bulge out each side from the rim by about 6mm, 9mm, 12mm, and 15mm then that is poor, fair, good, and excellent...respectively.
Amount of protection for the rim from kerbing damage
195/45R16 fitted to 6J rim poor
185/50R16 fitted to 6J rim fair
185/55R16 fitted to 6J rim fair
195/50R16 fitted to 6J rim good
195/55R16 fitted to 6J rim good
205/50R16 fitted to 6J rim excellent
To help explain the above chart, here's another chart with the actual inflated widths of the above tyre sizes when fitted to 6J rims.
What may surprise some, is that a 195/45R16 is actually 5mm narrower than a 185/50R16 when both tyres are fitted to 6J rims. If you want good protection for a rim from kerbing damage, avoid aspect ratios less than 50 and don't fit the tyres to relatively wide rims.
Actual inflated widths of tyres fitted to 6J rims
195/45R16 189mm
185/50R16 194mm
185/55R16 194mm
195/50R16 201mm
195/55R16 201mm
205/50R16 208mm
If you're using the same tyres in all four seasons then it makes sense to use good all-season tyres because the difference in the amount of traction in the snow between summer tyres and all-season tyres (with the 3PMSF symbol) is huge. You may find that it takes twice as long to stop in the snow on summer tyres compared to all-season tyres. Traction is so bad in the snow on summer tyres that it's easy to get stuck. Fortunately, good all-season tyres don't need to be expensive...at least in the above tyre sizes.
With expensive tyre sizes there can be big savings to make by choosing a budget brand. For example, Maxxis Premitra All Season AP3 are about as good as Chinese all-season tyres get. The previous AP2 version wasn't bad, and this latest AP3 version is even better.
Maxxis Premitra All Season AP3 195/45R16 84V XL (£66.25+shipping)
Maxxis Premitra All Season AP3 185/50R16 81V (£65.05+shipping)
Maxxis Premitra All Season AP3 185/55R16 87V XL (£69.95+shipping)
Maxxis Premitra All Season AP3 195/50R16 88V XL (£68.70+shipping)
Maxxis Premitra All Season AP3 195/55R16 91V XL (£66.25+shipping)
Maxxis Premitra All Season AP3 205/50R16 87V (£68.70+shipping)
Maxxis Premitra All Season AP3 vs Michelin CrossClimate 2
Premitra All Season AP3 VS CrossClimate 2 - Tyre reviews and ratings
Compare the differences between the Premitra All Season AP3 and CrossClimate 2 to see which tyre is best for your own driving needs!
www.tyrereviews.com
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dj_efk
A2OC Donor
That’s an interesting comparison.
One point to note: assuming you get 50k KM / 31k miles out of the set you buy, which should be achievable on a car used for mostly longer journeys driven sensibly, then the difference in the price should be partly offset by the difference in fuel consumption - and at £1.50/l of diesel, that’s ~£32 off the cost of each Michelin in this comparison!
Then you can factor in the additional 2000 miles / 3000km you’ll get before the tyre is worn out - except on the Michelin, the tyre has been specifically designed to retain as much performance in wet or snowy conditions as possible even when worn, so you’d keep it running for longer in terms of tread reduction before you noticed appreciable performance loss.
I would also like to see test data for both tyres at around 20 degrees and then at under 7 degrees ground temperatures.
Sorry if I’m coming across as heavily in favour of splashing out on expensive tyres, however I feel these points are disguised in that test - if they were controlled / tested for / taken into account, then I would bet the Michelin significantly narrows the gap on value even if not then taking that win too over the Maxxis.
One point to note: assuming you get 50k KM / 31k miles out of the set you buy, which should be achievable on a car used for mostly longer journeys driven sensibly, then the difference in the price should be partly offset by the difference in fuel consumption - and at £1.50/l of diesel, that’s ~£32 off the cost of each Michelin in this comparison!
Then you can factor in the additional 2000 miles / 3000km you’ll get before the tyre is worn out - except on the Michelin, the tyre has been specifically designed to retain as much performance in wet or snowy conditions as possible even when worn, so you’d keep it running for longer in terms of tread reduction before you noticed appreciable performance loss.
I would also like to see test data for both tyres at around 20 degrees and then at under 7 degrees ground temperatures.
Sorry if I’m coming across as heavily in favour of splashing out on expensive tyres, however I feel these points are disguised in that test - if they were controlled / tested for / taken into account, then I would bet the Michelin significantly narrows the gap on value even if not then taking that win too over the Maxxis.
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A2Z
A2OC Donor
They would fit on the wheels but they aren't ideal in several ways. Firstly 175/65/15 tyres are already oversized (but fine to use and offer a comfortable ride and a more accurate speedometer) as 175/60 is the standard size so 185/65 are larger still in both width and depth because of the percentage increase (depth of sidewall would equate to 65% of the 185mm width).
They are also slightly too wide for the narrower 5.5J (or 5.5" wide) rims, the sidewalls are way too stiff being extra load rated at 92 instead of the factory 81 and the speed rating of T although more than adequate for the A2 is less than the factory H or V rating, so all in all I would give them a miss.
To answer your question fully the potential extra 'squishy-ness' due to the extra sidewall depth and width would be lost by the stiffer sidewalls and they could potentially even cause issues with rubbing but probably unlikely on those narrower rims
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A2Z
A2OC Donor
Gosh that really is a great deal, from where can I ask?
I would certainly not go wider than 175 on those narrow (but excellent) 5.5J wheels, so really it's either stay the same with the 175/65/15 you're currently running and in the lowest load rating you can get (probably 84 which is fine) or stick with the factory 175/60/15 with the 81 rating, unless you want to go slightly narrower and look at 165/65/15 which would work fine too
here you go
https://www.atseuromaster.co.uk/search/tyres-185-65-15
price is based on 4. with £70 off
comes to £260. and theres a 50£ amazon voucher offer too taking it down to effectively £52 per wheel.
Need to read the T&Cs however!
Theres an offer of up to 100£ off MICHELIN tyres if brought from their webiste. but this deal only applies to r16 and larger tyres
https://www.atseuromaster.co.uk/search/tyres-185-65-15
price is based on 4. with £70 off
comes to £260. and theres a 50£ amazon voucher offer too taking it down to effectively £52 per wheel.
Need to read the T&Cs however!
Theres an offer of up to 100£ off MICHELIN tyres if brought from their webiste. but this deal only applies to r16 and larger tyres
A2Z
A2OC Donor
Don't like the price of them in the standard A2 16" size, that's each
