Tyres

SL65

Ambitious but rubbish!
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Messages
9,325
Location
Sydney, Australia
Car(s)
1998 Subaru Legacy 2.5L
Looking at getting new tyres for my car for the first time. I have 205/50 R16's on. I know what the "R16" means, but what about those other numbers?
 
205 is the tread width in mm, 50 is the height of the sidewall expressed as a percentage of the tread width. So your tyre is 205mm wide, and the sidewall height is 50% of the width.
 
Thanks fbc :)

So a higher tread width equals more grip yeah ?


/sorry for the n00bish questions as I'm just doing some research and always like to spend wisely. I'm rather obsessive at times lol.
 
Generally speaking you can't just freely select what you want. Find out what fits to your rim/car (gotta make sure that fenders wont touch the rubber). Usually all the good options are listed in manual.
Overall diameter should stay the same, otherwise your speedometer and gearing (just a tiny bit) will be screwed, so if you go for bigger rimes - must use lower profile. If you go for wider tires - must use lower profile.
 
Note that the wider your tire is, the more grip you get, but you also increase wind and rolling resistance significantly (which means a higher fuel consumption) and worsen the ride quality. And you need to make sure it fits onto the car and is within the law.
 
Cool, thanks guys. Thats all I needed.

I'll be due for new tires around x-mas time and since I've been stuck at home today (because Pres. Bush has taken over my city), I was just planning ahead.

Now its just a case of which brand I choose....
 
Now its just a case of which brand I choose....

At the dealership I work for, we put on Yokohama's and customers really like them. I reccomend Yokohama C Drive AC01. They do well in all weather conditions, last a long time, and are fairly competent in the grip department. By no means are they an ultra high performance tire, but they are all things to all conditions. And the price is very reasonable.

And a big heads up about tires and AWD: when you do get new tires, remember to rotate them every 9500 km's, because if there is 2mm or more of tread depth difference between the front and rears, that will result in the center differential working that much harder to compensate, and could result in failure.
 
Thanks fbc :)

So a higher tread width equals more grip yeah ?


/sorry for the n00bish questions as I'm just doing some research and always like to spend wisely. I'm rather obsessive at times lol.

width obviously has an effect on grip however tire compound has much much more effect. The softer higher performance tires in stock size are going to grip much better than wider but harder all season tires. however the softer compounds are going wear out much faster than all seasons


Cool, thanks guys. Thats all I needed.

I'll be due for new tires around x-mas time and since I've been stuck at home today (because Pres. Bush has taken over my city), I was just planning ahead.

Now its just a case of which brand I choose....

I really really like Falken tires they all seem to be very cost effective and the RT615 high performance tires my father has on the WRX are AMAZING interms of grip.


userful tire link
Tyre Bible
 
205 is the tread width in mm, 50 is the height of the sidewall expressed as a percentage of the tread width. So your tyre is 205mm wide, and the sidewall height is 50% of the width.

Actually it's section width (outside sidewall to inside sidewall), not tread width. You can learn more here.
 
Cool, thanks guys. Thats all I needed.

I'll be due for new tires around x-mas time and since I've been stuck at home today (because Pres. Bush has taken over my city), I was just planning ahead.

Now its just a case of which brand I choose....

Mate, you're an Aussie. TYre...
 
How wide are your rims SL? I would think it would be a 7 incher as it came stock with 205... also, besides just going for the widest your rim can fit (for 7". it would be 225), you have to find the correct sidewall height so your entire diameter on the wheel does not change, if not you might just find a truck of speeding tickets in your mailbox, but from memory, for your case, if you go for 225, it would be 225/45/16 or 215/45/16.

As for Brand, it all depends on what you wanna spend, for 16" 100+ would get you some cheap Nankangs or Maxxis... etc (I believe if you drive normally, it would do fine)... abit more at the 200 range would be Hankook's, Falkens and some low end Dunlops and obvious if money is no object there are very vvery good tyres such as the Bridgestong Potenza SO-3 (One of the best all rounder tyre, grippy in the dry, even better in wet).

I personally use Falken FK452 on 225/45/17, and tbh I'm more than happy with it... for the price abit more than 200 a corner... they perform quite well. But if you're not into performance, I've heard some great reviews on the lower range FK329's or Hankook's are not bad as well.
 
I'm willing to spend around $150. I'm thinking of the C-Drive's by Yokohama, as mentioned by jayhawk. Also Potenza's (depending on price).

The Dunlop 205/50 R16's I got on now have been good. I'm happy with the grip. I'd be happy with that amount of grip on my new tires but slightly better ride quality if possible.
 
^Yokohama C-drives are definitely going to cost you more than $150 a corner mate... I would be thinking at around the 200 range for that. Potenza's are going to be around $250 a corner in your case (I'm not even sure if they have Potenza's for 16").

And if you think 205/50 is harsh... then I don't suggest you go any wider, it would just make it worse I think.
 
Cool, thanks guys. Thats all I needed.

I'll be due for new tires around x-mas time and since I've been stuck at home today (because Pres. Bush has taken over my city), I was just planning ahead.

Now its just a case of which brand I choose....

I have way more experience with different tires then anybody with a life should ever of had, what are you looking for in the tire? and what enviroment go you live in (does it ever snow?)

i can help you with your decision bigtime

I really really like Falken tires they all seem to be very cost effective and the RT615 high performance tires my father has on the WRX are AMAZING interms of grip.


Tyre Bible

those tires are fabulous, i outran a EVO, STI, and a E46 M3 all in one 20 minute track session at Grattan (Michigan) in a worn out 112hp mki MR2 with those tires, ill post the video as proof if someone can find me a shareware .mov to .wmv converter


here is a GREAT review of the most popular performance tires
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/images/samples/august_100_115_tiretest.pdf

http://www.vulcantire.com/azenis_rt615_t.htm

$103 USD in 225/50/16 for the best performance tire on the market (above 160 treadwear rating, in accordance with SCCA race rules)
 
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Don't forget if you start putting taller tires (tyres, which ever) that it will effect your speedo. A taller tire will make the speedo read as if the car is traveling slower than it actually is. What size tire as supposed to be on the car?
 
^as I said... you if go for wider tyres, you'll have to conpensate with sidewall height, all my other sized recommendations would produce a less than 2% difference in speedo.
 
Can anybody explain how it came to be that the width is measured in metric and the diameter in imperial and I believe that is a universal standard?
 
I have way more experience with different tires then anybody with a life should ever of had, what are you looking for in the tire? and what enviroment go you live in (does it ever snow?)

i can help you with your decision bigtime
Well as stated before, my tyres are Dunlop 205/50 R16's.

Grip-wise, I'm more than happy with it and I feel it grips pretty well. However, this is my first car - I'm not sure if I know if this is a good tyre or not...

I am happy with the grip and I feel there is more space for improvement in terms of ride quality than grip. This is Sydney and the roads around here are renowned for being hopeless in quality with potholes and crap everywhere. The car gets quite jittery over them. Living 8kms from the CBD, I come across heaps of them! The weather here is fine. Mostly dry conditions with the worst being heavy rain (and even that is rare!). I still want something that performs as good as what I got if not better.


Andy
- Shiiitt....I'm not spending that much. UNLESS they last a long time??
 
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