How Do I Know What Size Tyres To Buy?

[bembridgemassive]

Hi ive recently purchased some enki white 5 spoke 15" alloys,

how do i know what size tyre to buy as i have heard its muhc cheaper to buy the tyres off the net and get them fitted by a garage,

the wheels are 15", ive seen then on quite a few starlets just wondering what size tyres fit, im looking for the 3 numbers ie 15/205/45???

i dont have a clue what the numbers represent, please may someone shed some light?

cheers

[DOHC 16V]

ok i shall try and explain lol try

for example in your post you sed 205/45/15 tyres

the 205 is the width of the tyre in millimeters

the 45 is the height of the tyre from the rim, so the lower that number the lower the profile of the tyre

and the 15 is the is the size of the wheel your fitting it to

Hope this helps you out

[bembridgemassive]

sweet cheers for clearing that up for us, so my next questions is how do i go about fiding out the width of tyre to fit my rim? on the rim it says it 6" wide so would i jus convert that to millimeters?

[Rubix_cube]

For 15s on a Starlet stick to 195/45/15 or 195/50/15 :) They'll do ya fine :)

[DOHC 16V]

have you lowered it?

[nrgizerbunny]

DOHC 16V, almost got it right

e.g 225/40/ZR18

first number is width in millimeters, ie 225mm

second number is profile as a percentage of width

ie 40% x 225 = 90mm

Z is the speed rating, for your tyres you want V, W, Y or Z

R means radial, previously tyres were crossply. Pretty much every tyre is radial

18 is wheel diameter.

Now on to your problem

195/45/15 as recommended by rubix cube gives you a tyre circumference of

(195*0.45*2+15*25.4)*pi = 1748mm

195/50/15 give syou

(195*0.5*2+15*25.4)*pi = 1810mm

The error you get is 3.5% between the two so I don't see how they can both be fine?!? One must surely be better than the other unless the starlet tyre size is smack between the two

Does anyone know what the regular starlet runs on? i think its 155/x/13 but not sure, you can work it out from that measurement.

hope this helps

have a nice day

sv

[riko666]

ive said this before, and ill say it again....dang you clever

[miracle411]

Funnily enough the starlet tyre size is smack between the two. lol. The 50's profile gives your speedo 1 mph gain roughtly at 40mph and the 45 profile gives your speedo a drop of roughly 1 mph at the same speed, so i went for the 45 profile to be safe with the speed camera's. Also 45's look sexier.

Edit.......Tyre Size Info

[streetracer_starlet]

195/45/15 are all you need !

[Rubix_cube]

Im running 50 Profile cause I want a wee bit of cushion (sp.) for my Wed Sport Wheels :) and for my ***** LOL

[starletsr]

I got 195/50/15 too, much more comfy than my other car with 195/45s hehe.

[streetracer_starlet]

im on 50's at the mo. im going to 45's next month (toyos might i add)

[nrgizerbunny]

well if they are smack in between the two, if you want handling + acceleration then get the lower profile, if you want a bit more fuel econcomy get the bigger profile.

Riko, did you actually understand any of that :)?

i'm glad i did the maths right, according to the tyre calculator if you are on 50's, circumference is 71.2inches = 1808mm. on 45's its 68.8inches = 1748mm.

[bembridgemassive]

cheers guys, ok well ive just looked on the net and i can get the following

good year f1 eagles

195/50/15 - £33.50

or

195/45/15 - £51.50

is it really worth having the lower profile and costsing £80 buks more?

[Captain Starlet]

So wait a min.....im running 195/45/16....an i always thought wen i was doin about 70 on the speedo that i was actually doin about 67

Am i wrong?

(plus...any1 know roughly what tyre pressure to run my tyres at?)

[riko666]

yeah kinda understtond what you said nrgizer!

btw, ive been questionning this for a long time...what are the best handling tires you can get? im talking about great in both wet and dry, i dont care for hard ride, low profile = better handling.... so far on my list are eagle-f1s and toyo proxes t1s....any comments?

[nrgizerbunny]

captain,

if you are running 45's, they are 1.75% out, you'd be running somehwere around 68.25mph when it indicated 70mph.

i'd go eagle F1s they are good all round, not found toyos to last long. Michelin PIlots are very good in the dry and last a long time but not so hot in the wet. I have contis at the moment and i think the previous ones i had were better. have a nice day

[riko666]

sorry tis too late, my day's gone rotten already....i was scammed for £100 a few months ago, now the scammers put the air post charge under my name for another £172.....i was scammed £272.00 !! :ffs:....and for a 19 year old that is especially tragic!

p.s. thanks for the advice on the eagle's, they were my top choice...but how do pirellis fare? they seem to always top the numerous tyre shootouts

[scutch0]

im personally not a fan of pirelli's, i had a set on the rears of my alloys when i got them, and theyre hard as a rock an split all over the place, the guy who had them before didnt have them on long either.

could just be the ones i had, who knows!

Rich.

[DOHC 16V]

ha ha ha i was close!

A friend who owns a clio 172 swears by the eagle f1's there well worth the money