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Same wheels - different tyre size. Dangerous?


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Quick one - Tyres.

I have standard VR6 15" BBS Alloys and currently run the tyres that came with the car when I bought it. Size is 205/50R15.

Yes I know - 15" wheels don't look right, etc.

I was looking at tyres on the internet and noticed that tyres for 15" rims are generally cheaper if you go for a width of 195. Basically I can afford much better rubber if I get this particular size.

Does anyone know if it is safe to put 195/50R15 tyres on these wheels. To be honest the current tyres look a bit fat for the rims - but that might just be the design of the tyres.

I know it will affect gearing, but less than 2% - not really noticable. I was wondering if it would be beneficial for handling at all, maybe by tightening up the wall of the tyre. But the main thing is that I do not want to affect the safety at all.

It's only 10mm - but will it make any difference?

James

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Only reason (other than money) is that I thought it might stiffen up the tyre wall a bit => make it a bit sharper, and I can definitely afford better quality rubber in that size. I'm going to check out prices on the 205/45's - but my guess is that they will be pricey. Obviously going for a lower profile will stiffen the wall up a bit.

I reckon fitting considerably higher quality rubber will more than make up for the loss in tread width (5%). In fact the loss in tread width will slightly reduce the chance of aquaplaning.

What do you think?

Is there any reason from a safety point of view for not doing this- i.e will the tyre be deformed at all, etc?

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Theirs no reason why you cant put 195's on, The only saftey aspects are the speed rating (which more than likely they'll be a v rated which will be the same as the 205's), also its within the weight the tyre can take (which it is) and gti's run on 195's which use the same size wheel rim i think so you'll be fine.

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Thanks lads - I'm looking forward to getting a fresh set on. The old timer that had my VR6 before me had a different make of tyre on each corner - and I've never heared of any of the brands! One even has 'quickfit' embossed on the side of it...

Stu - yes I've never heared anyone say a bad thing about F1s. I had Yoko A539's on my MK2 and they were awesome in the dry - turned into sticky chewing gum consistency when pressing on, but they were seriously crap in the wet. I want something that grips in the wet too - that's why I'm considering the Uniroyals and the Bridgestones. How do you rate your F1's in the wet?

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my toyo T1 R`s which came from mytyres.com are good both wet and dry and are a good all round tyre if anything sometimes they grip too much in the dry!! , i never had eagle F1`s probably due to the stupid amount of money they charge for a 205 40 17 !!!! i have heard good things about them and they are standard fit to a lot of high performance cars, bridgestone seem to be the boys on the move at the moment dunno what their tyres are like?

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I only heared about the Bridgestones because they have a ridiculously high rating on the website linked to mytyres - it's a German website, but you can view half of it in English - reifentest.com

Wouldn't believe everything you read on there, but most of the tyres that I've heard good things about on this website & clubgti do get a good rating.

For that price though I don't think I'll miss out on the F1s. Plus they have a bit of rim protection (I think) which may prove useful given that the track width will be 10mm tighter than before.

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