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