Tyre Width 195 or 205

[ground-rush]

2 Questions:

I have a set of 15" Rims which are 7J.

1. Can I use either 205 or 195 wide tyres on them?

2. There seems to be quite a difference in the cost of these tyres sizes, how much difference would it make to the, ride / handling / grip etc?

They will go on a Tiger 6.

Thanks

[sam919]

Check what actual widths different manafacturers are, Avon ACB 185s are 185mm, 195s are 193mm and 215s are 203mm. Some differences between using a bigger tyre over a smaller tyre will be tyre wall and its corresponding movement, its a trade of acceleration/ braking grip over slip angle/ tyre wall movement/ steering response. Bigger tyres mights not get the heat into them as quickly. A 195 on a 7 inch rim will be stretched better across the wheel giving less tyre wall movement and exposing more of the tread also better steering response.

If its for road use i wouldnt worry between 195/205, race i wouldnt have thought it would make a great deal of difference unless everything else is set up perfectly and youre pushing it hard.

Another thing to consider is if they have the same aspect ratio, 195/50 will have a smaller outside diameter over a 205/50. This will affect ground clearance, wheelarch/cycle wing clearance and speedo

Edited by sam919 on Tuesday 22 April 19:38

[RushV8]

I have 15" x 7J split rims on front of my Dax Rush V8 (also a 7 style roadster) and have 205x50 Z Rated Hankook tyres on. Have 235x50 Hankooks at the rear on 8.5J x 15" split rims. The Hankooks were much cheaper than any other decent tyre I could find and grip brilliantly in the dry and amazingly wellin the wet (with a 630kg car with > 300bhp / 240lb/ft torque 4.6ltr engine).

If you go for 195s on 15" rim then you will have fairly vertical tyre walls and thus will risk damaging those rims, so 205 is the "width" to go for. 50 profile is low enough for road and track day use, so unless you intend to use mostly for track days or sprints / hillclimbs then don't go for 40 or lower profile - makes ride harsh and grip on uneven road surfaces worse tahn with 50 series (also lower profiles often give more pull on the steering wheel on uneven / cambered / rutted road surfaces e.g. on inside "lorry" lane of M1 where you can see the lorry induced ruts - it's like driving over tram tracks in Sheffield city centre !!!

Good luck.

[robcollingridge]

I found this site useful for questions like this: http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html

Rob
http://www.robcollingridge.com/FuryR1/