Tire size comparison questions, can someone help?

8u6hfd

What do you need help with?

protegextwo

Ok, I need to replace my OME 195/55/15 Bridgestones. The problem, all season-high performance tire choices in this size are very limited. Local tire stores, national chains, whole sale clubs and/or "mom & pop" tire stores carry one/none brand tire in this size or need to special order in a specific 195/55/15 tire. I can order, I wider selection at Tire Rack, on-line. Nonetheless, their selection of 195/55/15 all season-high performance tires is also limited. However, in the 205/50/15 or 205/55/15 sizes things open up. Many more tires to choose from! The regulars at the Mazda Protege topic have both switched to one of those tire sizes, with no problem.

Here is where I get a little confused. The 195/55/15's revolve at 886 revs per mile. The 205/50/15's revolve at 899 rev per mile. 205/55/15's revolve at 870 rev per mile. How does this change in revolutions effect odometer readings.

-Larry

8u6hfd

205/50 r15: the speedometer & odometer will be approximately 1.6% faster than OEM

205/55 r15: approximately 1.8% slower.

both should be fine.

zueslewis

Check out the Dunlop D60 and its recent relative, if you want good performance with mileage. If mileage isn't as big a deal, the Yokohama AVS or Pirelli P7000 is great.

8u6hfd

From my personal experience, Dunlops are good, but not the D60 A2. I've heard the SP5000 are excellent tires.

shipo

Have you considered 215/50 R15s? If you look at the TireRack site, you will see that the Dunlop SP Sport 5000 Asymmetrical tires in that size have a "Revs Per Mile" of 885, virtually identical to your OEM tires.

Best Regards,

Shipo

protegextwo

Dale, I checked Tire Rack. Your right the Dunlop SP Sport 5000 Asymmetrical tires seem a perfect choice. How do I find out if the 215/50/50's size tire will fit on my 2000 Mazda Protege ES OME alloy wheels? I can't find the Rim Width Range for the the Dunlop SP Sport 5000 Asymmetrical tires.

_Larry

protegextwo

"205/50 r15: the speedometer & odometer will be approximately 1.6% faster than OEM"
by 8u6hfd

Tan, thanks for the feed back. A question, does the (205/50 r15: 1.6% faster speedometer) equate to the odometer showing more mileage than I actually drove? Conversely, will the (205/55 r15: approximately 1.8% slower) equate to less mileage showing on my odometer?

Respectfully,
Larry Kline

protegextwo

Jim, thank you for the fast response. I have read many of your excellent and informative posts in both, the Maintenance & Repair and Smart Shopper topics and I admire the frankness and thought you put into your posts. I will research the Dunlop D60, the Yokohama AVS or Pirelli P7000 tires. I'm a little concerned about obtaining warranty work on the Yoko's & Pirelli's, if I have a warranty failure with those tires.

-Larry

csandste

have an article on how far off the typical speedometer is off? Seems like most Japanese speedometers show 1-2% faster than the actual speed anyway. This from memory and I didn't carefully read the article.

tboner1965

putting different sized tires on a modern car. (You did say you were only replacing one tire, right?

If you have ABS, you could throw off the system a bit.

I'd replace all four if you were going to a different size, or order up one or two of current size and have them installed.

TireRack does have relationships with local installers. Or perhaps you can get the dealer to do it since they probably don't sell many tires. (If they have the equipment.)

TB

protegextwo

Tony, I own a pair of 2000 Mazda PRO-ES' s. BTW, no ABS. I have a little over 35,000 miles on the OME 195/55/15 Bridgestones. I will need to re-tire both my Protege's before they are due for their PA State Inspection in June. Yea,... all eight tires. Yikes, aprox. $750.00+ out of pocket. :-)))

I'm either going with the 195/55TR/15 size Yokohama Avid T4 all-seasons, the 205/50TR/15 size Yokohama Avid T4 all-seasons, or 205/50HR/15 size Dunlop SP Sport A2 all-seasons tires.

My original question pertained to, how would changing from 195/55/15 to either 205/50/15 or 205/55/15 effect the odometer and the speedometer readings?

Tboner, I always enjoy your posts in the Smart Shopper Discussions.

Respectfully,
Larry

-Larry

8u6hfd

To answer your follow-up question, Yes it does also.

The usual allowed threshold in variation is +/-3%

zueslewis

good point on the warranty situation. Using a mail order company is a great way to get the tires at a lower cost, then just get them mounted at a service place.

The other idea is if you're a warehouse club member, they usually offer road hazard and lifetime rotations and balancing for a low cost.

bretfraz

Going from the 195 tires to the 205 tire won't make much difference in speedo/odo readings. It's just a tire that's 10mm wider by definition (I'll bet if you measure your OE 195 tire and the new 205 tire they won't be 10mm apart).

The 50 series tire will have a little more effect on speedo/odo readings but not dramatic. Here's the thing: Your current speedo likely isn't correct anyway. Very few OE speedos are calibrated perfectly. Heck, I recall reading one of the car mags testing a police version of a Crown Vic whose speedo was imprinted with "CALIBRATED". Guess what? The mag found it to be off by a mph or two.

Do you know where your speedo/odo is hooked to? Wheels? Transmission? Some place else? This discussion may be a totally moot point.

tboner1965

I had just worked about 16 hours, so I read OME as ONE.

A change of a percent or two should not matter.

And yes, Sams Club is hard to beat for the full package price. Plus they can order tires not in the store, if you have the lead time to do this.

I had three tires repaired last summer, so I purchased my latest set of Michelins and Dunlops with lifetime balance and Road Hazard to guarantee I won't have another flat on those two cars. 8^)

TB

protegextwo

Do you know where your speedo/odo is hooked to? Wheels? Transmission? Some place else? This discussion may be a totally moot point.
by bretfraz

Good Point, Bret. Nice to here from ya!
How is your Saab? Thanks again. :-)

-Larry

alwaysfords

Regardless of what the speedo is hooked to it will be influenced by the tire size, because the trans and driveshafts all will rotate at a different rate.

dpwestlake

This will tell you the actual diameters and speedo error for different size tires.

Tire Size Calculator

alcan

Thanks for the link. I've been looking for one for a while. Didn't Tirerack.com have one at one time?

protegextwo

SPEEDOMETER ERROR CALCULATOR

http://www.paspeedo.com/calculator.htm

alcan

Another good one. Added both to my favourites. Thanks.