205/60 vs 205/55 (15s)

[dwf137]

Okay guys, I'm finally getting myself some 96 EX wheels, the ones like this:



I'm sitting on a factory suspension for now. Some time in the spring/early summer I will be looking to drop, about 2" all around i think, maybe 1 1/2" all around, I haven't picked out a setup yet.

I know 195/60/15 is stock on the EX wheels, but I think I want a wider tire. I like the look of the wider tires, and they'll hopefully grip better. I'm torn between 205/60 and 205/55. 205/55 should line up just a little bit smaller then 195/60, and 205/60 will be just a little bit bigger, atleast that's what http://www.eunos.com/tirecalc/ says. I have reserved a set of 205/50's, but I think they'll be too small.

Does anyone have pictures of a 205/60/15 on thier car? how about a 205/55/15? 205/50/15?

Any pictures and/or input would be greatly appreciated, I need to make a decision soon! Picking up the wheels next wednesday!

[deckeda]

This isn't the answer you're wanting to read.

If it's a wider 15" tire you want, seriously consider a rim made for wider tires. Such as various Prelude rims or aftermarket --- some aftermarket 15"rims are 6.5 or 7.0" wide, as compared to only 5.5 or 6.0 for OEM rims.

And then pay more attention to tire design, not absolute size, if a bit more grip is what you're after.

In other words a better 195/60/15 tire will outgrip a lesser 205/whatever/15 tire.

And if you stick with the correct size (195/60/15) it'll not look dumb (sorry, that's just my snobby opinion) on the skinny Accord rims. Just because it fits on the rim doesn't mean it belongs there. To each his own I guess, but you WILL have more tire squirm shoving a wider tire on those rims.

I'm one of those that likes the sidewall to appear pretty much vertical, and to that extent even a 195/60 sometimes looks too wide on 5.5" OEM Accord rims.

[dwf137]

^
these are 205 series tires on stock accord wheels
These sidewalls look pretty vertical if you ask me.






I don't know how you can think that's too wide, I think 195's look too narrow. Makes our accords look like they're running on bike wheels. I'm not going to a wider rim because I don't have the money. I'm gettin these rims at a great deal, and it's all I can really afford.

I can find pics all day long of 205 series tires on accords, especially 5th gen accords, I just want to know how much wheel gap i'm gona get with a 55 height vs a 60 height, and I want to make sure I won't look like a 4x4.

[westsideaccord]

205/50 on a 16" would be fine! If its a 15 youll want 195/60's and for 14" they are 185/70's I own both the 15" and 14"ers, What did the rims come with stock? use those!

[dwf137]

stock EX wheels come 195/60... 195 is too narrow. I want 205's.. I know people are rockin them, accordztech has them, i just want some pictures to make sure i won't look like a 4x4

[chile]

i got 205/55/16's on and there is still some noticeable wheel gap in front...but that will be gone tomorrow when i put my kyb's on...

[aero]

205/55 is the ideal tire size for the tire and our car. The only problem is they are harder to track down, and they are more expensive due to this.

IMO the 205/50 just looks too small on our cars. I opted for a 205/60. Its a little larger than stock, but doesnt look too small, and doesnt look like a baloon either.

[dwf137]

ok, you want 205's, we've established that........you don't want them to be too tall or too short though? you'll have more wheel gap with a 205/50 and they'd be a bit tall with 205/60's, so i'd go with a 205/55 to keep everything like you want it...........i had them on some ex wheels on my last car with stock suspension, and they fill it up well enough

with the 205 width, deckeda and westsideaccord didn't quite understand i want 205 width.

I know that 205/50's would be smaller then factory, and 205/60's will be bigger then factory. I was just wondering how much of a difference it made appearance wise. Mathmatically, it's only a 1.5 mph difference, so it can't be that big of an astetic difference, I just didn't want to look like i had SUV wheels on my car.

I've changed my mind on the 205/55's, they're way too expensive compared to the 205/60 and 205/50's...



I'm about 90% certain now that i'm going with 205/60's.

[deckeda]

205/55 is the ideal tire size for the tire and our car. The only problem is they are harder to track down, and they are more expensive due to this. ...

Perhaps an ideal look. But I don't know that I'd call a 1.4% speedometer/odometer error and slightly increased rolling resistance necessarily "ideal". But hey, I'm a cranky beotch.

And any appearance of "less gap" is likely an illusion: a 205/55-15 tire has a slightly smaller diameter --- leaving more "air" in the wheel well --- than the 195/60-15 size.


Be that as it may, I do of course agree that the performance-tire choices in the 205/55 size tend to be more "interesting" than most run-of-the-mill 195/60 choices.

[aero]

Perhaps an ideal look. But I don't know that I'd call a 1.4% speedometer/odometer error and slightly increased rolling resistance necessarily "ideal". But hey, I'm a cranky beotch.

And any appearance of "less gap" is likely an illusion: a 205/55-15 tire has a slightly smaller diameter --- leaving more "air" in the wheel well --- than the 195/60-15 size.


Be that as it may, I do of course agree that the performance-tire choices in the 205/55 size tend to be more "interesting" than most run-of-the-mill 195/60 choices.

Well, if you look, the 205/55 is the best choice since it is slightly smaller than the stock 195/60(by .3 of an inch). the 205/60 is just a tad bigger in diameter(by 1/2 inch). So 205/55 would be the best choice since it wont look small like a 205/50, which is quite a bit smaller than stock. (1 inch in diameter smaller)

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

So for the road, if you want a 205 width, i would suggest the 60 series.
If its a track tire, I'd say the 50 series since it will have better acceleration out of corners.

Of course, 55 is best all around, but comes with a price and limited selection.

[deckeda]

I realize that 205/55-15 will have the closest diameter to a 195/60-15 tire, making it the "best choice" compared to a 205/50. However, I was comparing it against a 195/60-15 tire, which is the ideal size, but only if speedometer/odometer accuracy is key. Which I understand it necessarily isn't. A roughly 1 mph error isn't a big deal.

I also understand that most cars don't have perfect accuracy anyway on their speedometers; hell, maybe a 1.4% error like that is just what it needs for correction ... or maybe it makes an inaccurate speedometer even worse. I think that was my point, such as it was.

I get tired of talking about this every week, so it's high time I stopped. My priorities clearly aren't the same as everyone else's. My apologies to dwf137 for trying to "fix" what he didn't consider "broken."

[oneoffaccord]

205/55r15 is the key here.i would go with a ZR/WR rated tire. alot less side wall flex than a 195/60 or a205/60. or the option here is a 205/50/15

[Big Body LX]

205/50 R15 on my old Accord

[JaK FRoSTWhiTE]

205/55/15 - With stock Suspension...

[dwf137]

^awesome! that's definitely one picture I wanted to see.

I get tired of talking about this every week, so it's high time I stopped. My priorities clearly aren't the same as everyone else's. My apologies to dwf137 for trying to "fix" what he didn't consider "broken."

it's all good bro, you were just stating your opinions, which is what I wanted. Your opinions are definitely having an affect on my decision, which is what I wanted by posting this up.

we'll see. I might just go to a tire shop and have them roll out a 195/60 and a 205/60 to my car, and I'll try to make a decision with that. The 205/60 is going to lift my car up 1/4 of an inch, but also get rid of wheel gap by 1/4 of an inch. Our cars already look too tall factory, so I might just save my money untill I can afford the 205/55's. DAMNIT! I wanted to get rid of my steelies asap!