ijdude

i have a 1993 90s. right now i have 205 60 15 tires on, that i bought with a car a year ago. I need new tires, and i was looking around and see that stock tire size for my model is 195, 65, 15. I was wondering what's the difference between those two, what does the first and the second number mean. would going down to a smaller tire increase or decrease my rpm? and which tire would be best to buy?

lil'lgr

195/65/15 is stock and the 195 is tread width in millimeters and the 65 is the height of the sidewall in a percentage sence. meaning 65% the width of the tread. its all relative though not all tire companies 195/65/15 tires will be exactly the same. Some guys in here are running 225/45/17's and some have 18's

check out tirerack.com and look at tires you want and they give you actual tire width, trea width, tire diameter, and how many revolutions per mile.

so the 60 is 60% of 205 while the 65 is 65% of 195 so 60% of 205 is 123 while 65% of 195 is 126.75 and 60% of 195 is 117

hope this helps

cuatrokoop

205/60-15 was stock for 90's with the sport package, as well as the CQ 20v. I'd keep with the 205's personally.

Larger diameter decreases engine RPM for a given speed. Makes gears longer (higher top end if ungoverned).

Smaller diameter increases engine RPM for a given speed. Makes gears shorter (more acceleration).

ijdude

i'm gonna say with 205's because my tranny is messed up, and the 4th gear doesn't engage. so i want to keep my rpms lower. i got one more question though, is it bad for the engine if i maintain 60mph on about 3200 rmps?

süpercüp

designed to run 4500 all day on the autobahn. just let 'er rip

ijdude

ok, thanks alot