15" rims tyre options

Peterv

Active Member
Hi All
The previous owner had installed new alloy rims and tyres not long before my purchase.
He went up to 15" rims with 185/65R15 tyres. According to the tyre shop, they had tried to fit 205s with no luck due to the "bump" on the d (c?) pillar in the wheel arch.
Coincidentally, one of my other cars also uses the 185/65R15 tires and are up for replacement due to old age. This started me on the downward spiral of getting a more appropriately sized tyre for the Rover. (and use the old ones for the other car). I'm not in the position to "tweek" the inner guard so 205's are out, 195's are all commercial/van tyres (here in NZ anyways) so 185's they will need to be.
Using a fantastic Tire Size Calculator I've come up with a short list... 185/R15 or 185/70R15.. One slightly larger then the original 185R14, the other slightly smaller.
But the big factor here is the $$$$. The first comes in at around the $200 fitted. The second around the $360 per corned. These sizes are hens teeth in NZ.
The question is....
Has anyone used the slightly larger tyre.
According to the calculator, I'll gain 2.3 mph at the same revs as 60 mph. With whats on there at the moment I've lost 3.2 mph so I'm keen to win the revs back. At a gps speed of 100kph I'm doing 2500rpm (Assuming accurate tacho) which seems a bit high for this sized engine. (3.9 with a Supra 5 speed). Could drop about 250rpm on that with the 185R15's.
Any cons that I should know about?.:hmm:
Thanks in advance... Peter

20200804_174700.jpg
Should fill the front guards a bit better too:p
 
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Some Jeep/Jeep Cherokee models use Alloy wheels 16“ or 17” with 5-stud 127mm spacing and the plus 35mm offset the P6B has, if that makes tyre selection easier; must be fairly common in NZ I would have thought

Problem is, it seems some Rovers have more space in the back Arch than others; spring sagging? Shocks ? Production variation? I’ve got a pair of the Aussie “King” springs and 225/50/R17’s that fit fine... A forum member has posted that these are 5mm taller than standard

G
Edit: quick look at TradeMe, there’s 100s for Sale
 

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I am running 15" alloys with 205/65 R15s

When I first got the car, it had minilites with 185 14s, and every so often if I was being a little too enthusiastic in the corners, I could hear the offside rear tyre touching the inside of the D post. When I changed them to the Vitesse wheels the offset being 40 (minilites are 30) they sat 10mm further into car but the tyres being 20mm wider meant the outside of the tyre was in exactly the same place.

When I rebuilt the car, I modified the inner D post to allow a few extra mm of clearance.

Point is, you can use 205s but they are a little tight so you may have to modify the D post a little, and you do need the correct 40 offset.

They do look very nice IMHO :)

vitesse.jpg
 
Had these on with a p.o. Spare still is.
Love the rims it has now so just looking at opinions and advice with regards to tyre size. But what I will do is try another tyre shop and see what they can get, just in case;).
Love this forum...rover1.jpg
 
185R15's it is. These are a very bulgy tyre and rubbed badly on the left . Centred the diff so rubbed considerably less but now on both sides. Squished the c pillar offending spots and is okay but not quite there yet. Of to the panel beaters she goes next week. Next set of tyres could be 205's after all this.:D
Now doing 2000rpm at 100kph as per GPS. 20201205_160443.jpg
 
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