Winter Tires (Again) - Funky size issue...

[Damaga]

Hi all!

I'm new here, so be gentle with me
I know there's a lot of winter tire treads out there but none of them answer my question!

Based on some calculations (okay, software on the net), if i want 15 inch winter tires, the ideal size is: 205-60/15...
Tire rack states 195-60/15 and none of you guys use the 205-60 tire size....what gives???

On top of that, Tire Rack says that 205-60 wont fit because of the oversized brakes??!!! Don't the brakes fit in the wheel regardless of tire size?

Even mazda (1800...) doesn't seem to know...
Winter is coming, don't want to smash my brand new titanium 03.5 speed in the wall!

Thanks

Damaga

 

[Newf]

185/65-15

nothing smaller then a 15 will fit.

Do NOT put 205's on, they will suck in snow. thinner tire is better, and a lot cheaper too.

 

[Newf]

oh, and some dealer *cough* mine, sell packages. Killer is, their for the P5, and ES which has a smaller wheel. So their not technically the right size for the speeds.

I have 195/60-15 on mine. Little smaller then I wanted in height, but they'll do

 

[Damaga]

Hmm...
what do you mean exactly by sucking snow?

Would 195-60 be okay?

Thanks a lot for the tip!

 

[Newf]

wider tires don't cut through snow well. the wider the tire the more "plow" effect you get, where a thin tire cuts through ( think butter knife vs spoon through butter )

195 is fine, I prefer 185 myself but due to a deal, I got 195's.

Trade off though is, the thinner the tire, the more poor it handles, same thing with 60 vs 65 and so on.

 

[girth]

Newf, do those 195/60s throw the speedometer off at all? Those seem just a touch small to me......(shrug). What brand are they?

I got 205-55-16s. I only did a test fit and test drive about 2 miles but they seemed good for that short distance. I was waiting for snow before I put them on and then the damn weatherman predicts rain all day today but we get 3+ inches of snow!!! Argh!:mad: So we got snow on the ground and my snow tires are in the basement. Ah well.

For this guy I wouldn't be too worried about getting a narrow tire -- living in Ohio I'd imagine 80%-90% of your winter driving is in non-snow conditions.

 

[FrozenMazda]

Well... I'm right now stuck because instead of rain, we're in the middle of a winter storm advisory (5" currently with another 3 by Tuesday morning)... Hey! I truly have a Frozen Mazda now (rofl) .

Since I can't even get out of the parking spot I'm in, I think I need some snow tires (no s***). Will the 16" steelies off of TireRack.com fit the MSP? I'm on a tight budget so I'm going to have to go without the fancy rims.

If anybody knows that would be a great help.

-Roach

 

[Newf]

be careful buying rims for the speed. Read up on it first. Between the brakes being a little bigger, and the center bore being smaller then usual, it can get tricky. I don't remember the exact size of the center hole. IT's listen in the rims/tire section.

195/60 is a bit small, and I'll be off on my speedo a lil. I don't care. I "might" put 6000 kms total from now to April....so not a big deal.

http://www.net-comber.com/tirecalc.html

that's a neat tool for this, play with it, and see for yourself.

tip: you should keep your tire difference within 3% of the original size.

 

[Newf]

here's something else to think about

those in colder temps that actually get SNOW - get thin tires. They got through snow and slush so much better.

Those in Warmer temps that do most winter driving on just black ice, you can get a wider tire and be fine if you prefer. Wider contact patch on ice = great grip...in theory, and you won't sacrifice so much handling.

Personally, I always go with a thin tire. On a side note, I am AMAZED at how well these cars still handle with some bad 195/60 tire on. I even had 175/65-14 on my mp3 and she could still out handle most cars. I've heard some say that our cars only handle well because of the tires..... LOL....yeah right

 

[girth]

LOL, 175 width....that makes me think of the Geo Metro that I get to park next to every day at work. The tires on that thing I swear are about the same size as a wheelbarrow's tires. Must be really cheap to replace too.

Since it was mentioned, and just for future info, the center bore size of the MSP is 67.1mm. It's hard to find a rim with that center bore if you're set on not having to use hub rings.

 

[FrozenMazda]

Hub rings??? . I'm completely ignorant in this respect. Could you explain a little more about this?

 

[Newf]

yeah, I had the 175's from another car so I used them.... I would have never bought them just for the mp3 otherwise. 185 is perfect for winter for places with deep snow/slush with little trade off in handling. 195 still not bad, but I wouldn't go above that for deep snow and slush conditions with our cars. no need, and winter tires that size tend to be pricey.

 

[girth]

Hub rings??? . I'm completely ignorant in this respect. Could you explain a little more about this?

Basically it's like this - most of the rims available will have a larger center bore than 67.1mm. In that situation it is best to place a "ring" inside the hub of your rim to try to "center" it on the car's hub when it is mounted. In theory it would be centered once you screw the lug nuts on and you wouldn't need any ring(s) inside the rim's hub, but the MSP's steering wheel would probably shake without them (especially if the center bore on your rims is a lot bigger than 67.1). Personally I had bad luck with using hub rings before so I made sure that the winter rims that I got were an exact center bore fit.

 

[SPDRCR]

195/60 is a bit small, and I'll be off on my speedo a lil. I...

http://www.net-comber.com/tirecalc.html

that's a neat tool for this, play with it, and see for yourself.

tip: you should keep your tire difference within 3% of the original size.

That is a cool tool. Looks like a good "approximation" since most tire manufacturers have quite different measurements for the same size tire.

I think RPM (revolutions per mile not minute) is a simpler comparison tool. For instance, our 215/45-17 RE040's have 847 RPM. Get something close to that and your speedometer will be off proportionately. So for Pirelli 210 Snowsport 195/60-15's with a 854 RPM, they will be off by a factor of .008% (854/847) or generally close enough to be negligible and/or as much of a difference (I'm guessing?) as +/-10psi in your stock tires.

 

[Geezer000]

Hey girth..... Where did you get the rims with the 67.1mm bore?
I need some soon...

 

[ping]

P5 rims... girth and I both got some from the P5ers that upgraded; and the 205/55/16 is almost an exact diameter match for the MSP, which has larger diameter (outside diameter) tires than the P5/es/dx.

Generally, if TireRack says they'll fit, then they'll fit. Those guys are good.

girth, how'd you like the Semperits? I'll be installing this weekend or next , cleaning the MSP rims and storing them for winter....

 

[Damaga]

Well thanks guys...
Just ordered the tires from tirerack today. Pretty good deal on Dunlop Graspics 195-60-15...that`s the size they recommend, and like Ping said, they seem to know their stuff.

Had the car for a bit more than 2 weeks and I need to put winter tires on it...welcome to Northeast Ohio I guess...

*On a side note, I suppose you`re not suppose to exceed a certain speed with those right? what`s a good threshold for QR rated snow tires?

 

[girth]

Hey Ping, the Sempirits look great -- but I only tried them on for a "test fit" and then about a 2 mile drive to make sure everything was kosher. So I'm still on my stock tires at the moment -- I've been foolishly putting faith in the weatherman to tell me when to put my snows on. I say foolishly because we just got a surprise 3 inches of snow the other day!!! Argh! I'm thinking of putting the snows on this weekend since it may snow on Sunday and Monday here again. So we'll see -- but I'm certain they are going to be an awesome snow tire. Oh, and I actually didn't get P5 rims because I couldn't get anybody to sell them to me!!! I ended up getting aftermarket 16 inchers for only $200 more than what the P5 rims would have cost, so I'm satisfied there too. I'll let you know how they are once I have them on and we get some substantial snow.

As far as the Q tires go Damaga, I don't know the exact number for max speed but it's right around 100MPH for Q rating. Anything over that and you're risking the tire peeling apart. Which is another reason I love the Semperits -- they have a nice 'T' speed rating!

 

[ping]

Check tirerack.com - they list the relative speed ratings... you only thought you'd explored their whole site.... ! I'd say don't exceed 100MPH sustained... but not just because the tire's speed rating doesn't support it - but because it wouldn't be too smart to do so!! Good luck with the snows - you'll be surprised.

Girth - glad to hear they look decent - I'm actually looking forward to putting mine on, but not really, of course, since that'd mean it's cold, snowy, and icy. Hmmm - time for SKIING!

 

[stepson]

Damaga,
did you order Rims from tirerack as well?