Replacement Tyres

[SKG]

Hi, I ve been watching the forum for some time now but I just decided to drop a few lines, thinking of replacing tyres on my CTS.

CTS in Greece comes with 195/55 16 Bridgestone Turanzas on 6" rims. Tyre is pretty good for the character of the vehicle: good overall performance for fast driving, and pretty quite and comfort. However, I've noticed two main problems: (1) there's rather low grip on low speeds and wheels seem to spin during low speed acceleration on low-friction tarmac, (2)sides of wheels are vulnerable to punctures because rim width seems wide for the tyre width. Furthermore, tachometer underestimates speed (as it should) so I think that increasing tyre diameter will bring it closer to real speed.

Hence, I am thinking of replacing the 195/55 with 205/55 ones on the same rim. I'd like to hear your comments on that and let me know if you have any experience with such replacement.

I know that some of you might have changed wheel sizes (i.e. D17"x W7") and have put fatter tyres (e.g. 215, 225) but I am not at all interested in such options for several reasons (increase in noise, consumption, decrease of ride comfort and I am also suspicious about handling improvement).

Waiting for your response.

[AzZaMaTaZ]

Hey i am also in the hunt of replacing the tyres with 205/55/16 and would like opinions from anyone who has done it. Like SKG i do not wanna spend 2000 on 1 inch and i think the rims are quite good. Would just like a bit more grip and handling.

GOod tyres ive heard of

Vredestein Sportrac 2

Bridgestone Potenza G3

Eagle F1 G Spec

All about the 200 buck range AUS$

[gramacar]

The problem with the cts is that it has only 6'' wide rims.

So the biggest tyre you can put in those rims (according

to some people I asked) without compromising the handling

is the 195. You can also put 205, but they said that it's too big

for that rim and it would be like a baloon, so they do no suggest it.

The only think you can do is to stay with the 16'' rims but to increase

the width to lets say 7'' so you can put wider tyres. This way you will

not pay much money and you will not compromise the comfort.

The best dimension according to my calculation is 215/50-16 which has

only 0.1% overall difference with the stock one.

As for the tyres take into consideration that some of the best tyres

around like the Eagles F1 do not have the 195/55-16 dimension, so

I think changing rims is the only way to solve your problem. Thats what

I am thinking to do too.

Hope to help

Good luck (Kalh tyxh) ;)

[Imek]

Gramcar's right

However, yokohama suggests 6 inch rim for their 205 tyres. But it's the only company to do that...

[SKG]

Thanks for the response so far.

Most manufacturers I've checked provide their 205 tyres for rim sizes 5.5-7.5". So, I think 205s fit well in the OEM rims.

I think 215s are pretty wide for the weight of the vehicle plus they should increase rolling resistance and noise. I use my CTS as an everyday car and only occassionally I try to play around with this so I think that 215s would not fit my driving behaviour.

I've checked Yokohama's site and they seem to provide a very suitable tyre for CTS' manner, that's the AVS db S2. However, this doesn't seem to be available in Europe. Does anyone know anything about this tyre?

[gramacar]

I have not heard very good things about yokohama tyres.

I think that you should stay with Eagle F1 or Bridgestones if

you want sport behaviour or Michelin if you want comfort.

In my opinion and after testing it the F1 is by far the best all around

tyre in dry and wet conditions. But that is only my opinion.

Btw if you go for 205/50-16 then you will lose comfort due to the

5mm lower sidewall than the stock ones.

[GD Sport]

I had Eagle F1s on my last car and they were excellent particularly in the wet - much better than those fitted to my T Sport. I'd be interested to know if there are some F1s suitable for fitting to the standard T Sport rims.

[CTS03]

I guess we are all thinking what could be our next tyres.

I had checked Yokohama but they do not give 6" rims as ideal for 205/50 ZR16 tyres but either 6.5" (tyre size 87W) or 7" (tyre size 92W). However, the allowed range is 5.5-7.5" for the 87W.

I consider waste of money to replace the standard 16"/6" wheels of CTS (also look very nice!) and so I guess the best option will be to use 205/50/16 tyres in the future. The car's suspension is quite comfortable and I would preffer to improve handling instead of comfort, choosing 205/50 instead of 205/55.

I would like however to know what is the official suggestion of Toyota.

And I do not understand why Toyota used 16"/6" rims and 195/55 tyres instead of something normal. Until now, I have not seen any 195/55/16 tyre in the available internet lists of different tyre companies!!!

Are we supposed to buy the proper alloys from TTE for 205/50/16 tyres?

[gramacar]

I recently had a contact with TTE concerning the rims they suggest

for cts. They said 225/40-17 in 7.5'' rim. This is the rim that they have

in their site in the CTS photo. It is a quite nice rim but I think a little

extreme for cts. i would more likely go for a 215/45-17 or better 225/45-17

in order not to compromise the comfort as the last one has only 6mm lower

sidewall than stock. What I do not know is if toyota approves these changes or if these changes have any impact to the warranty of the car.

[SKG]

Well, I would always like to think that tyre selection is also car-specific and driving style-specific.

The looks of Eagle F1's seem a bit "too much" to my taste. But those of you who have used them say that it is a very good tyre. I have to accept that. This is also what I read on www.tirerack.com.

Any impression how do they compare with the original Potenzas further to handling which seem definately superior (i.e. noise and comfort?). As I said. I have no problem with the handling of CTS (VSC's present) and I would not like to sacrifice the relaxed atmosphere of low speed city driving.

Let's keep this discussion up. It turns interesting.

[CTS03]

The only 16" wheels of TTE for Corollas are 7,5Jx16" for tyre size 205/50 R16.

TTE is Toyota. 205/50 R16 will change speed calibration in all Corollas! Why to be different from the 195/55 R16 used by Toyota in CTS, which are also compatible with the 15" wheels used in smaller Corollas?

17/40 and even 17/45 wheels may bring you a lot of trouble in Greece. It may also be dangerous since it becomes easier to have a flat tyre. And you do not want to put these tyres for going very carefully to avoid any damage....

[SKG]

The only 16" wheels of TTE for Corollas are 7,5Jx16" for tyre size 205/50 R16.

TTE is Toyota. 205/50 R16 will change speed calibration in all Corollas! Why to be different from the 195/55 R16 used by Toyota in CTS, which are also compatible with the 15" wheels used in smaller Corollas?

17/40 and even 17/45 wheels may bring you a lot of trouble in Greece. It may also be dangerous since it becomes easier to have a flat tyre. And you do not want to put these tyres for going very carefully to avoid any damage....

CTS03, where do you draw this information from , regarding the 7,5" rims for 205 tyres? It seems really wide for me, having a rim 190 mm wide to fit 205 mm tyres. I would tend to believe that 6,5" is ideal for 205s, isn't it.

But I perfectly agree with you that profiles like 40 and 45 are exceptionally low for a car like CTS and of no sense for someone using the car for everyday use (and this also holds for the rest of the worldd - not just southern Europe!).

I believe that going 205/55 on 16" and having a good tyre on will increase handling and comfort over the 195/55 Turanzas. Plus, the difference in perimeter is no more than 1.5%.

[CTS03]

SKG, look at the site of TTE: http://www.tte.de (Car Model - Corolla - Wheels)

but you are right about the 7.5" width. I guess the 7.5" emphasizes on handling: there will be less free surface of tyre to deform during turns.

Yokohama (http://www.yokohamatire.in.th/tire_model/avs_sport_size.html) suggests as ideal 6.5" (165mm) and allowed range 5.5-7.5 for 205/50ZR16 (87W) tyres.

I should mention here that in a previous post I made an error. The size 92W reffers to 225/50ZR16 tyre, not the 205/50ZR16.

SKG I did not understand your initial comment. Do you believe that the standard wheel 6/16 is wider than needed for the 195/55/16 tyres?

If you use 205/55/16 instead of 195/55/16 you will increase the comfort and (normally) fuel consumption but you will loose in handling at bends. I have experienced that with a similar change on my previous car.

[SKG]

CTS03, what I am saying is that handling will improve shifting from 195s to 205s because the tyre will be better (e.g. F1s instead of Turanzas), not because I changed the width. And I think I keep the comfort at the same levels, despite using sporty tyres, by increasing the height of the tyre. What would you think?

I think that 195/55 is only available for Touring-like tyres, i.e. Turanza, Michelin Primacy etc. But sporty tyres become available from 205/55 on.

Is funny though that noone shares any experience fitting new tyres on his CTS!!!