Replacement Tires for 2001 Sentra SE

amd3

My 2001 Sentra SE came with Firestone 195/55 x 16 tires. I need to replace one and no one makes that size, except Firestone. In all the Firestone stores in Columbus Ohio there are only two tires in stock and they can't find them. Any ideas for replacement sizes? Nissan dealers can't decide between 205/55 or 195/50. No help from national customer service. They hung up on me when I complained about availability. HELP!

lgoldin

215/50/16. The difference between OEM tires in these ones is about 1mm in diameter which is absolutely negligible. I've put this size from BFGoodrich and handling and stability noticeably improved.

toga333

I replaced the junk firehawks with a reasonably priced 205/50/16 cooper lifeliners. There is a HUGE increase in wet traction over the firehawks. I have yet to test them in snow, however the deep groved pattern make me believe that they will do well. Heck anything would be better in snow than those junk firehawks. Did I mention that the firehawks were junk. Oh, and a quick note....this size tire will cause your speedometer to be off slightly, when going 60MPH on your speedometer you are actually doing 59.25, negligible if you ask me.

desi501

Before I went to a different tire size, especially since I only need one, I would call the Firestone zone rep. Sometimes they can find one when the dealer can't be bothered. You would have an advantage if it was a warranty replacement. They take priority over sales. If you do have to go to a different size, I highly recommend buying four. You likely have 4 wheel ABS on that car and having different size tires will rotate at different speeds and the computer's wheel sensors may pick that up as skid or set a code and disable the ABS. Never mismatch tire sizes on an ABS car.

Ayrton

I have a 2002 SER and just replaced the Firehawks (195/55/16) with the Continental Extreme Contacts (205/55/16). I live in Wisconsin and needed a good all weather tire and these were rated much higher than alot of more expensive tires. I see that Toga 333 gave the speedometer difference for a 205/50/16, anyone know the difference with the 205/55/16 vs 195/55/16? Any idea how handling will be affected? It seems fine.

desi501

Again, make sure it is 4 at a time if you do that. Your speedometer will probably read about 4-8 MPH lower than you are really going (just an estimate) I wouldn't expect much change in handling unless you went to a different speed rating. That'll change the handling quick. You may hurt you gas mileage around town but improve it on the highway.

lgoldin

Check this site
http://www.paspeedo.com/calculator.htm

desi501

That's a pretty cool site. I see I was off a couple of MPH although it doesn't specify MPH or KM/H. Maybe it's the same either way.