What tyres?

[sambrose]

can anyone recommend a tyre profile?

car's going for an MOT tomorrow and i think tyres may fail.

currently, the previous owner put "avon" 225/55/zr16 's on standard rims (i think). the tyres look to fat in height to me and i was think of a 50 or lower

does anyone know if 225's are right for standard rims?

[firefly]

People here tend to go either 215/45/17 or 225/45/17.

It's a classic style over substance issue.
I've just change all my tyres as they all went bald at once (!!!) and I changed my alloys to 17" from 14" standards.

What I've noticed over anything is that road noise is now a lot louder as the previous tyres were 195/55/14 so pretty thick. By getting thinner tyres road noise will be louder but it's not that bad considering the wheels will look a lot better.


If you go for thinner tyres be careful to avoid potholes - it makes me wince thinking about it!!

[firefly]

People here tend to go either 215/45/?? or 225/45/??.

It's a classic style over substance issue.
I've just change all my tyres as they all went bald at once (!!!) and I changed my alloys to 17" from 14" standards.

What I've noticed over anything is that road noise is now a lot louder as the previous tyres were 195/55/14 so pretty thick. By getting thinner tyres road noise will be louder but it's not that bad considering the wheels will look a lot better.


If you go for thinner tyres be careful to avoid potholes - it makes me wince thinking about it!! [/QUOTE]

[Physician]

can anyone recommend a tyre profile?

car's going for an MOT tomorrow and i think tyres may fail.

currently, the previous owner put "avon" 225/55/zr16 's on standard rims (i think). the tyres look to fat in height to me and i was think of a 50 or lower

does anyone know if 225's are right for standard rims?

Hi sambrose,

I use 225/50/16 (Avon ZZ3's) which suits me fine although I'll definitely get G3's next time. I now tend to have them at 34 psi front and 32 psi rear for everyday driving on the road but on track I pump them up to 44 front and 40 rear (dry).

When pumped up, the ride is noticeably firmer and the steering much lighter. In the wet it's advisable to keep the pressures lower.

[Roadrunner]

225/50R16 is the correct size for the standard 16" rims.

Tyre choice is a matter of preference - Goodyear GSD-3s get a good write-up here; I've used Avon ZZ-3s and they were OK; I've used Toyo Proxes T-1Ss and they were very good but the last set only lasted 9k miles and I don't drive that hard (honestly ); I'm currently using Vredestein Ultracs and they have been really good - over 18k miles and thinking about replacing them only now.

A lot depends on what you want to do with the car and what you expect from the tyres. If you want ultimate grip in the wet, you're looking at the premium end of the market and need to pay accordingly. If you're happy with less grip, you can look lower in the sector and pay less.

Just make sure the speed rating is WR or above and the load factor is appropriate (with "E" marked tyres, it is probably bound to be). And try not to mix tyres of different makes or tread patterns if you can avoid it.

[sambrose]

thats cool. thanks

what's the speed rating?

i found a site to mail order tyres (www.blackcircles.com) and the rating was a single letter so i checked out a price on W's but the same check choosing "R" speed rated tyres brings up the same Avon ZZ3's

[Nick Mann]

Please note that some VR4s had 205/55/16's on the wheels I think it depends on how wide the standard rims are.

[Roadrunner]

what's the speed rating?

The tyre speed rating is the maximum speed for which the tyre is designed.

Speed ratings are (rating - max mph):

N - 87
P - 93
Q - 99
R - 106
S - 112
T - 118
U - 124
H - 130
V - 149
W - 168
Y - 186
Z - 150+

Even though the VR-4's maximum speed is not above 149mph, V-rated tyres are not recommended because of its weight and cornering ability. As I said before, go for W Y or Z rated tyres.

Every tyre has "R" in the speed rating - make sure you're not confusing this with the actual speed rating, e.g. 225/50R16 93W.

In the above example:
225 is the tyre width in millimetres
50 is the profile (tyre depth from rim to tread is 50% of the width)
R means Radial
16 is the wheel diameter in inches
93 is the load rating (the higher the number, the stronger the tyre)
W is the speed rating, per the above table

Hope this helps

Brian

[sambrose]

thanks for the explaination

will post how the MOT went

[jalford]

Please note that some VR4s had 205/55/16's on the wheels I think it depends on how wide the standard rims are.

That's what I have.

Still have the Japanese rubber as they have plenty of tread on them and seem to ok (Goodyear directional) but I have a slow puncture at the rear so may have to look at the Goodyear Eagles.

This may be a stupid question but did the standard rims vary in width or is that either 205 or 225 could be fitted according to preference?

[sambrose]

car failed MOT BUT only on 1 front tyre which was balding on the inner tred. the other front was low tred but not a failiure.

f*** i love this car

re previous threads, the car already has avon zz3's on so i'm thinking of 4 new zz3's at 225/50/r16 (zz3 are W rated) and set tyres to 34psi front and 32psi rear

any massive objections on this set up:

i drive normally most of the time (whatever that is) and i can't see me hitting the track too soon but i like to give the car a good airing now and again around the country roads we have around here where overtaking requires heaps of power

[Roadrunner]

That setup sounds perfect to me ...

[Roadrunner]

did the standard rims vary in width or is that either 205 or 225 could be fitted according to preference?

The 205/55R16s came on 6" rims, the 225/50R16s on 6½" rims.

[Mel]

I'm suffering from a serious thickness now-
if the 225 is the tyre width- I make that about 8.8" in old money, how does that stack up with a rim width of 6.5". Can't be 2" of 'overhang', can there?

[KiwiTT]

Tyres effectively have a horseshoe shape