tyre size help on 16's...

[riot68]

Currently have stock 15" rev2 wheels with the recommended sizes fitted. I have some Advan wheels I am refurbishing ready to fit soon and wondered what size tyres I should be going for, guess I need to keep the rolling radius the same?

Wheels are staggered Advan AVS-6
16" 8J ET35 rear and 16" 7J ET30 front

From research it seems folks have had 225/50/16 rear and 205/50/16 front, does this sound right?

cheers...

[platmatt8]

Yeah. thats what i`m rolling on.

[Big_Martin]

The closest to stock RR are 205/45/16 and 225/45/16. I have this on my current 7.5J/8J wheels. The set I should be fitting next weekend are 7J/8J and I'm putting 195/50/16 and 225/45/16 on those as I think they will be a better fit.

The 205/45 fronts are a slightly smaller RR than stock and the 195/50 is slightly larger. If you can wait a week, I can show you photos of both options?

[Marf]

I ran 205/50/16 and 225/45/16 to keep the rolling radius as close to identical as possible front to rear and to carry over the OEM stagger of both profile and width. 205/45 would look too skinny up front IMO.

205/100*50=102.5 mm
225/100*45=101.25 mm

[Big_Martin]

This is a 205/45/16 on a 7.5J and 7J... looks a bit chunky on the 7J for me

[Marf]

Chunky is good.

Chunky is more comfortable.

Chunky is more sidewall meaning more communication as the tyre goes from grip to slip.

Chunky is the tyre scraping the kerb instead of the rim.

Of course if looks are all you're about then cool, go for a skinnier tyre.

I picked based on it being a drivers car not a poseurs car.

[riot68]

Thanks all and Martin, sure can wait, haven't even started the refurb yet, let alone saved up for tyres, hopefully getting car MOT'd next week, will be very interested to see, keep me posted...

[Big_Martin]

Of course if looks are all you're about then cool, go for a skinnier tyre.

205/45 would look too skinny up front IMO.

Just sayin'

No worries, I'll stick some photos of the 195/50s up when they're on, and let you know how they affect the ride/handling over the 205/45s

[Marf]

Well given I then went on to explain the functional reasons for my tyre choice we'll gloss over that hungover, pre-breakfast oversight.

Why are you going for a 195 btw? I always found having a 195 up front gave gobs of understeer ruining the sharp turn in characteristics of the car. 205 every time for best handling. Odd to want that for a sports car eh

Maybe I'm alone in pushing the car to the point where these characteristics become clear(and frustrating)

[riot68]

I am not going for looks, I want it to look good of course but functionality first. Looking at my offsets should I be ok without any spacers?...

[Marf]

In that case definitely go with a 205 up front, regardless of the profile

When I bought my car it had 195 front and rear which was awful, not enough front or rear end grip. Then I switched to 195 up front and 225 rear and it was better but still gave too much understeer, 205/225 gives a very neutral balance and a much more planted turn in.

My enkeis in the pic above were ET32 and sat just about right, the rear probably could have done with a 2 or 3mm spacer but it didn't worry me enough to bother.

[jasongtr]

and maybe 5-8mm on the rear

[Big_Martin]

I'd space the rears a little, personally.

Marf, if you're all about the handling then you picked the wrong MR2 A MK1 or MK3 would have been a much better bet

I've chosen 195s because the current 205s catch the arch liners and I want to drop it another 10mm or so. It's unlikely that this car will ever see a track, certainly with me behind the wheel, and I think using a car at its limit on the public highway is not for me. So I thought I'd give the 195s a go and see how they feel.

[Marf]

I've chosen 195s because the current 205s catch the arch liners and I want to drop it another 10mm or so.

Fair enough, mine was on stock turbo suspension.

Marf, if you're all about the handling then you picked the wrong MR2 A MK1 or MK3 would have been a much better bet

Meh, I went for something which outhandles all three

[riot68]

Mines on stock suspension and will not be changed on this car, no more mods until new car, just going to have some fun, sold all my other mods but kept the nice rare advans and would like to see them on for a while at least. cheers for all the help...

[Big_Martin]

OK, I haven't actually driven on these yet, so can't report on handling, but here are a couple of shots of a 195/50/16 on a 7J rim.





I'm hoping, as they have a little more sidewall and a little less width, that they will ride a bit smoother and tramline less than my current set up.

[Marf]

Nice wheels

Had a set of them on my Charade Turbo. Very light.

[riot68]

cheers for that, need to drag the advans out the shed, get them refurbed and see if I have money left for some tyres...

[Big_Martin]

Ta! A lot of cash and anxiety gone into them, really pleased with how they've turned out.

I reckon they're fairly Marmite though, until I test fitted them for those photos, I wasn't even sure they'd look right myself

[Marf]

The pearl effect looks good. I wasn't sure about my orange Enkei's till I fitted them either.