I'm buying some snow tires and I like Dunlop Wintersport M3. I'm thinking of getting 205/55/16 size vs. 215/55/16 b/c I heard narrower is better, and also the 205s are cheaper. There'll be 1.7% speedo error, which I think is within allowed spec (+/- 3%). any ideas?
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I'm buying some snow tires and I like Dunlop Wintersport M3. I'm thinking of getting 205/55/16 size vs. 215/55/16 b/c I heard narrower is better, and also the 205s are cheaper. There'll be 1.7% speedo error, which I think is within allowed spec (+/- 3%). any ideas?
Hey, Pro.
It's not going to hurt anything on your car to do that, just log a few more miles than you actually travel and reflect a slightly-higher speed than you're actually going. I can't imagine a few more miles would do too much to the resale value, particularly since you're only running them in winter.
Take care and enjoy the ride,
Greg
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It doesn't make sense that the 2 tires that you're comparing will have a different reading on the speedometer... 215 vs 205 compares width only. The circumference of the tire doesn't change, they're both xxx 55r16.
By the way, narrow is better for a snow tire. Love my Blizzak's, but any snow tire will work for all but the worst winter storms. Go with it and drive safe.
It doesn't make sense that the 2 tires that you're comparing will have a different reading on the speedometer... 215 vs 205 compares width only. The circumference of the tire doesn't change, they're both xxx 55r16.
It makes complete sense, actually, when you consider what each number on the sidewall means. The "55" is a percentage, meaning that the sidewall height is 55% of the tread width. 55% of 205mm is 112.75mm and 55% of 215mm is 118.25mm. The narrower tire results in a smaller total diameter of wheel and tire combined. This results in more revolutions per mile, which puts the speedo out of whack.
Narrower is definitely better in a snow tire. I wouldn't worry too much about 1.7% error. Chances are your speedometer isn't that accurate anyways. Its a negligible amount.
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