Biggest Tires on OEM Wheels?

Reddog99 said:

Keep in mind that, although the sidewall height is in mm, the tire diameter is in inches...

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Also the wheels.
Metric tires on inch(SAE ?) wheels. Crazy.

4 185/60 x 15 tires for $ 250.
That is what I will be ordering.

Best thing ive found in 185/60 are generals for 280 give or take, but i can get 225/50 kuhmos for $278.. I think the kuhmos are a better tire/deal. What can be so bad about having a bigger contact patch? I run 215/60s on my contour when it calls for 185/65(i think) and she handles better and feels better overall IMO.

Hey, if you want the bigger tires, go for it.

I do and i am.. Just wanted a clear explination of why bigger tires are bad. Why so serious? lol

The only drawback to a low-profile tire that I have heard around here is that if there are a lot of potholes in your area - or seriously rough roads - your sidewalls don't have as much flex and could develop issues. How often that's likely I can't say but others might be able to.

I chose to stay with the 60-series profile, but if I lowered it, the most I would go to is perhaps a 50-series.

Cobra348 said:

The only drawback to a low-profile tire that I have heard around here is that if there are a lot of potholes in your area - or seriously rough roads - your sidewalls don't have as much flex and could develop issues. How often that's likely I can't say but others might be able to.

I chose to stay with the 60-series profile, but if I lowered it, the most I would go to is perhaps a 50-series.

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Although a 50 series is technically lower profile than a 60 series, in this case, we're talking about the same height because it starts out wider.

So here the only difference is that it's wider, a little heavier, and it will balloon out beyond the wheel. So if he likes that 4x4 balloon look then he ought to go for it.

<nods> Agreed. Around here, one of the major highways thru town has been under construction for 2 years. Potholes, rough pavement and slaloms thru cone/barrel setups while they widen and refurbish the road for a 3 mile stretch thru the fast-food district - which also is positioned right in the area of our racetrack (Winston cup super-mods).

For me anything less than a 50-series would have been trouble - it's onr of 2 ways for me to get to/from work and the one most likely to be plowed in Winter.

tkidd88 said:

I do and i am.. Just wanted a clear explination of why bigger tires are bad. Why so serious? lol

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Did I say they were bad ?

Doctrsnoop said:

Although a 50 series is technically lower profile than a 60 series, in this case, we're talking about the same height because it starts out wider.

So here the only difference is that it's wider, a little heavier, and it will balloon out beyond the wheel. So if he likes that 4x4 balloon look then he ought to go for it.

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In this case. the side walls are almost the same height.

Iceracer said:

Did I say they were bad ?

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Did i say you said anything? Nobody has had anything positive to say about bigger tires on stock rims. I just want to know what other reasons everybody frowns on bigger tires besides you dont like the "look" of them..

I just read all of the posts.
There were very few negative comments. some did not even apply to your situation.
There was a lot of confusion on the difference in sizes.
Most were just personal opinions.
The only thing I woul be concerned about is the 1.6"=- difference in width clearing evey thing.
I think it will.

I apologize for the thread resurrection. I am interested in increasing the tire height as well but keeping the stock 15 inch rims as well.
I am a bit confused by what you guys are saying. I read that 195 were the widest the rims could support, but others are saying that 225's might work? On that front, how hard would it be to reprogram the speedo? Is that something the dealer would/could do?

seantkezm said:

I apologize for the thread resurrection. I am interested in increasing the tire height as well but keeping the stock 15 inch rims as well.
I am a bit confused by what you guys are saying. I read that 195 were the widest the rims could support, but others are saying that 225's might work? On that front, how hard would it be to reprogram the speedo? Is that something the dealer would/could do?

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Increasing the tire height or width or both?

The taller the tire, the less overall gear ratio, and less performance.

The wider the tire, the better handling you get, until you get too wide for the rim, and then it gets worse

Too big and heavy and you get worse handling as well.

If you're wanting better handling probably 195/60 15 or 205 55 15 are the two choices. The first is slightly wider (by 10mm) and taller (6mm radius, 12mm overall). The second is wider by 20mm and very close to the same overall diameter.

If you just want big because you like a big tire look than you can go 205/60 15, or if you want goofy big you could probably do 225 60 15.

I really only cared about increasing the height a bit. However, considering how tires are sized, it seems the easiest way to do that is exactly as you said, increasing width for the height percentage ratio.

The reason I ask was because I was concerned how wider tires would fit on the rims. I don't want to sacrifice too much in the way of handling/safety just so I can get a better ride. I will probably go for 195/60's. I do like the big tire look, but would 205/60's be safe?

seantkezm said:

I really only cared about increasing the height a bit. However, considering how tires are sized, it seems the easiest way to do that is exactly as you said, increasing width for the height percentage ratio.

The reason I ask was because I was concerned how wider tires would fit on the rims. I don't want to sacrifice too much in the way of handling/safety just so I can get a better ride. I will probably go for 195/60's. I do like the big tire look, but would 205/60's be safe?

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205 60 15 would be safe. Too big for my taste, but safe.

From a handling standpoint, I have read that wider is not always better.

I would assume that to be true.
My motives are to have a smoother ride and lower rpm at highway speeds.
Would the service depot have an option to recalibrate the speedo?

seantkezm said:

I would assume that to be true.
My motives are to have a smoother ride and lower rpm at highway speeds.
Would the service depot have an option to recalibrate the speedo?

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The degree of lower rpm isn't enough to be noticeable, maybe 50 rpm?

To go from the 3500 rpm at 80 to 3000 you would need a change of maybe 15-20%, maybe to 215 or 225 60 15, that would look absolutely ridiculous and probably significantly impact handling and safety.

Anyways, you could always just do a quick translation in your head for speedo, but I just would not go to 205 or 215 just for this lower rpm deal. 195 60 is probably the way to go.

tkidd88 said:

How would a 50 series tire be the same as the 60??

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the middle number in the size is the percentage of height based on the width of the tire so 50percent of 225mm is similar to 60 percent of 185mm