14" or 15" for Mr2 mk2 for road driving.

[vrooom]

I need to replace my 16" inch wheels on my mk2 mr2 rev1, The roads around here are so bad.
I wonder if its worth while going for 14" version with fatter tyre profile instead of 15", wont it give a better ride but downgrade in "handling", more wallowing around the bend?

I have MR2 mk2 N/A import with 2 pot brakes (turbo brakes?) 258mm disc in front.

[Midshipracer]

I wouldn't go back to 14", Standard from rev 2 onwards was 195/50/15 front and 225/50/15 rear.

You sure you rev 2 brakes at the front? If so why have you not changed the rear too? You would have a brake in balance for sure.... Most of the braking on a 2 is done by rear IIRC

For reference Revision 2 onwards weather turbo or NA have the same brakes.

[vrooom]

Mine is a import model. soild roof, no abs, but has power steering, running 3sge enginre.

I think I go for 15" as they look much better.

[samdale]

Careful going for 15". There is barely any choice available for 225/50/15 rear tyres.
Most people talking about changing MR2 wheels are going up to 16" as there's more tyre choice. By this, I'd go with 14".

[MikeyMike]

Just to clarify the standard tyre sizes for the 15 inch wheel are 195/55/15 front and 225/50/15 rear. Falken and Toyo cater pretty well for those sizes.

[samdale]

MikeyMike said:

Just to clarify the standard tyre sizes for the 15 inch wheel are 195/55/15 front and 225/50/15 rear. Falken and Toyo cater pretty well for those sizes.

And these are pretty much the only 2 choices for rears. Not sure about the Falkens but the Toyos are reputed for being not a bad tyre but only lasting around 6k miles.

In the end I took a punt on some Maxxis Victras. So far they actually seem alright, certainly no worse than the Dunlop SP 9000 I had on there before. I haven't had chance to carry out the industry standard "Boot-it-away-from-a-wet-roundabout" test yet but for every day driving I can't fault them.

[Red Devil]

vrooom said:

I have MR2 mk2 N/A import with 2 pot brakes (turbo brakes?) 258mm disc in front.

Midshipracer said:

You sure you rev 2 brakes at the front? If so why have you not changed the rear too? You would have a brake in balance for sure....

Size quoted by the OP are Rev 1 discs. Specs are

Revision 1
Front 258mm diameter: 25mm thickness
Rear 263mm diameter: 16mm thickness

Revision 2 onwards
Front 275mm diameter: 30mm thickness
Rear 281mm diameter: 22mm thickness

Midshipracer said:

Most of the braking on a 2 is done by rear IIRC

Nope. If that were so the rear pads would wear faster than the front. They don't.

[vrooom]

In the end, I just bought 4 wheels off ebay... and they are 15" std mr2 wheels with falken 412 tyres.

[SonicShadow]

I'd have stayed with 16's - I run 195/14R16 and 225/45/R16's - tbh I dont find them much harsher than stock.