I have a 96 Mercury sable wiht failed TRANSMISSION which i am planning to junk. It has front tires in very good condition, but they are 205/65/R 15. My 190E 2.6 has 185/65/15 on them, & the front 2 tires are almost ready to be replaced.
1. Just wondering will it be okay to have the the 205 put in 190E (front only)
2. will it affect the ride, or mechanics of the car to drive 2 different sizes (205 front & 185 in rear)?
Thanks for the input guz, this forum is GREATTTTTTTTT.....
if anything i would run the 205 in the back and rotate your rears forward. just in case you get a rubbing issue. some members don't get an issue but with a sidewall of 65. anything is possible on such a fat ass tire.
My understanding is 65 is the height of the tire & (185;/205) the width.
THe current tire are 65, therefore theoretically putting a 205 instead of 185 shouldnt' matter vertically , maybe horizontally, *
by the way , what's "rubbing??"
your correct in your thinking but because the sidewall is so ungodly huge that making the tire wider will bring it closer to the wheel well and your fender arch. With tires so wide and tall you will rub on the wheel well and possibly on the fender and body pieces as well. With the 185/65 the tires were tall but not necessarily as wide, but since your stepping up the width to 205 and keeping the sidewall at 65 your going to rub all over.
Rubbing is basically what it sounds like, the rubber on the tire will literally "rub" on the wheel well. Causing the tire to shred and causing the paint in your engine bay to chip and crack due to the heat from the friction of rubber going around the well. Rubbing doesnt only occur when turning it can also occur say when your going over bumps.
Last edited by Kynyption : 11-03-2006 at 09:04 AM.
Friction with the plastic wheel-housing when turning or heavy bumps in the road?
Oh mannn, you should see the rubbing marks of my old 195/65 HR 15 tires in the wheel well. Shocking. Also the bumper apron will be hit when turning the wheels.
I'd leave them alone, and really not go cheap on your tires. After changing to Michelin Pilot Exaltos all around (and yes they are not cheap ~ US 120 per each) I feel like driving a totally different car...
also you'll notice the car becomes more sluggish with those higher tires, plus the speedometer reads less than what you actually does. Some cops will like that!
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the 205 or 185 is the width of the tire but the 50 or 65 is the percentage of section width.
a 185/65 R15 tire has a sidewall size of ~120mm, a 205/65 R15 has a sidewall of ~133mm. Thats nearly one additional inch of sidewall.
Correct, Just to add on to Pawsh's statement here are some facts..
205 identifies the tire section width, which is the measurement of the tire from sidewall to sidewall in millimeters. This measurement varies depending on the rim to which it is fitted.
(There are 25.4 millimeters per 1 inch.)
65 is the two-figure aspect ratio. This percentage compares the tire's section height with the tire's section width. For example, this aspect ratio of 55 means that the tire's section height is 55% of the tire's section width.
based on height/width ratio & percentages)
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