195 vs 205 tyres

[evil_weevil]

Hey team,

Just wondering would I really notice much in this tyre difference in semi slicks @ the track?

My supplier cant get the 205 wide tyres for a while, but found another place which has the 195's at a damn good price too, dont know if my supplier would have the 205's before my next round, and I NEED new tyres LOL

Is it worth it?
Or do I take the gamble and go the 195's?

Cheers,
Chris

[Hellmun]

I've found the wider the tyre the bigger the heatsink it is. So it takes that little bit longer to heat up but it's stabilising at a lower temperature when you drive it as hard as you can. I was melting 205's but when I moved upto 225's I found I was getting much better grip due to the temperature range the tyres sat in. It also made the tyres last much longer. Unless your right on the limit though I'd let your wallet guide you up until the point where you really think the car is the thing holding you back. I still think I'm way off that point...but the tyres last longer in the good temperature range which gives me more practice time with the car at it's best

[project.r.racing]

go to a different supplier.

[dorifta]

was thinking the same thing actually. Except I thing tossing up between keeping my nb8a wheels or buying some nb8b wheels. Was thinking a smaller profile on the 16s would make the car feel more solid plus I'm guessing there is more of a tyre choice in 16s? How wide of a tyre can u go on both wheels?

[Boags]

I'm guessing there is more of a tyre choice in 16s? How wide of a tyre can u go on both wheels?

WRONG! The choice for 16s is woeful. They're also double the price of the 15s for any given tyre.

@Hellmun: interesting points there...

[broady]

Except the KU36 ;)

215/45/16 KU36 $133.00 86W

http://www.option1garage.com.au/NewTyres.htm

[dorifta]

I'm guessing there is more of a tyre choice in 16s? How wide of a tyre can u go on both wheels?

WRONG! The choice for 16s is woeful. They're also double the price of the 15s for any given tyre.

@Hellmun: interesting points there...

wow being a much more common tyre size I would have thought it would be much more common... So u think I shouldn't bother with the nb8b wheels? I'd eventually like something 15/6 x 8

[Boags]

Broady - the stock size is 205/45R16. To get cheaper tyres you have to stray away from factory.

Dorifta - that's my point - they are a much rarer size. What makes you think they are more common?

[manga_blue]

I've found the wider the tyre the bigger the heatsink it is. So it takes that little bit longer to heat up but it's stabilising at a lower temperature when you drive it as hard as you can. I was melting 205's but when I moved upto 225's I found I was getting much better grip due to the temperature range the tyres sat in. It also made the tyres last much longer. Unless your right on the limit though I'd let your wallet guide you up until the point where you really think the car is the thing holding you back. I still think I'm way off that point...but the tyres last longer in the good temperature range which gives me more practice time with the car at it's best

Really good info, thanks Hellmun. Are you running them on 8s?

[bensale]

Hmm, are 215's too wide for the standard nb8b wheels? I think they're only 6.5 inches wide.

[Boags]

Hmm, are 215's too wide for the standard nb8b wheels? I think they're only 6.5 inches wide.

It's not ideal - but much better than paying $250/corner for something in 205/45R16.

[evil_weevil]

cheers for the info Hellmun! good post!

Ive only been in my 5 since march...so Im not at the limit yet!!!
Im thinking of my wallet @ the moment...and looking at time frame...the 195's are winning!

Also, whats a decent price for the yoko AO48's for 15"?

[dorifta]

Dorifta - that's my point - they are a much rarer size. What makes you think they are more common?

well all the nissans I have owned that came factory with 16s came with 225s as stock tire... So....

[Hellmun]

Last quote I got on Yoko's were AO48 in 205/50/15 and that was $375 from Gordon Leven. At the time they were being used as a control tyre somewhere so he discounted them down to $325 so I gave them a go. That was last year though and all prices on tyres seem to have been climbing across the board. Maybe with the introduction of the A050 the price on AO48's may go down. I really didn't like the A048's though...they were great for only one trackday and then were heatcycled out it seemed and I've had a lot of guys at supersprints/clubdays give similar feedback.

Here's my tyre price list which gets updated whenever I inquire about them. The parenthesis is how many trackdays (club/supersprint/mxchallenge combined) I competed in with them before I had to change them. The D01J's only did 9 but they had meat on them and heatcycled..it's just the person who installed them broke the bead on 3 tyres..and they kept losing pressure and were getting worse and worse to the point I had to inflate them during trackdays. I guestimated I'd have gotten atleast 3 more days out of them. Last time I enquired though the supplier was out of DO1J's in that size.

I'm currently running 225/45/15 V700's on 8" 6UL's.

RE55S (S compound) 205/50/15 Tyres $305 ea - Gordon Leven (9)

D03G (H compound)- 205/50/15 - Mania (7)

A048 205/50/15 - $375 Gordon Leven (5)

RE55S 215/50/15 $340 Gordon Leven

D01J (S compound) 225/50/15 $300ea - Garrys Motorsport tyres (12+)

Kumho V70A 225/45/15 $345 ea - Fsport

[Hellmun]

Dorifta - that's my point - they are a much rarer size. What makes you think they are more common?

well all the nissans I have owned that came factory with 16s came with 225s as stock tire... So....

Remember it's total rolling diameter though. I've seen plenty of old commodores that ran 205/60/15's but that is way too tall for an Mx5 to run. The nissans run 225/50/16's don't they? The standard 16 on an NB was only 205/45/16 from memory. I don't have experience personally but if you trawl through the forum there are plenty of old threads with people struggling to find their favourite tyres in a suitable 16' size that I've seen over the years here.