Anyone running 15" rims ?
What tyres ??
225/60 or 205/60 or something I haven't thought about.
Anyone running 18"s ?? Ride quality comments ??
All opinions gratefully received
Sharkfan
15" or 18" rims
Moderators: GRNSHRK, ron, bfons
I run 15" wheels and tyres and they are a very good choice for real-world conditions. My choice is 225/60-15. This is as large as you would want to go- its really an E34 size. My odometer now under-reads by about 1% because of the slight increase in overall wheel diameter. However a lot of popular fitments cause an odometer over-read of up to 3%. In any event the speedometer will probably over-read; they mostly read about 5-10% fast.
If absolute lateral grip and/or style are your things and you don't mind the possibility of wrecked wheels, tyre noise and a bumpy ride, 17" or 18" wheels are worth thinking about.
Note that the original Michelin 220/55-390 metric tyres are (in my experience) a little larger than their profile etc would suggest- they typically measure over 640mm whereas they should be 632mm from the size on the sidewall.
Please find below some 15" tyre sizes. The numbers go; size, min rim width, recommended rim width, max rim width, actual tyre diameter, actual wheel revolutions per mile, example tyre, typical min price (GBP) for a cheap tyre via mail order as a set of four. More expensive tyres cost double or more.
XXX/65 R15 series
195/65 R15 5.5, 6.0, 7.0 634.5 831 (635mm Avon) 35 GBP
195/65 R15 5.5, 6.0, 7.0 634.5 834 (V)or 835 (H) (632.5mm Michelin)
205/65 R15 5.5, 6.0, 7.5 647.5 816 (647mm Avon) 824 (92H), 817 (92V, 94H) (647mm Michelin MXV4) Note 92V and 94H tyres are probably built on the same carcass- but the 92H tyre is different. 40GBP
XXX/60 R15 Series
205/60 R15 5.5, 6.0, 7.5 627 842 (627mm Avon) 37GBP
215/60 R15 6.0, 6.0*, 7.5 639 831 (635mm Michelin ) 46GBP
225/60 R15 6.0, 6.5, 8.0 651 811 (651mm Avon)
805 (655mm Michelin MXV4 plus)
817 (650mm Michelin Pilot XGT) 44GBP. My choice on 7? rims.
The above is a tiny fraction of an article I have written re. tyres (hey Brian are you going to post it, or would you have me modify it? Just let me know )
If you are on a budget, 15" wheels are a good choice- a set from an E34 will go straight on (provided an oversize tyre is not fitted), and used ones are not much money.
HTH
cheers
If absolute lateral grip and/or style are your things and you don't mind the possibility of wrecked wheels, tyre noise and a bumpy ride, 17" or 18" wheels are worth thinking about.
Note that the original Michelin 220/55-390 metric tyres are (in my experience) a little larger than their profile etc would suggest- they typically measure over 640mm whereas they should be 632mm from the size on the sidewall.
Please find below some 15" tyre sizes. The numbers go; size, min rim width, recommended rim width, max rim width, actual tyre diameter, actual wheel revolutions per mile, example tyre, typical min price (GBP) for a cheap tyre via mail order as a set of four. More expensive tyres cost double or more.
XXX/65 R15 series
195/65 R15 5.5, 6.0, 7.0 634.5 831 (635mm Avon) 35 GBP
195/65 R15 5.5, 6.0, 7.0 634.5 834 (V)or 835 (H) (632.5mm Michelin)
205/65 R15 5.5, 6.0, 7.5 647.5 816 (647mm Avon) 824 (92H), 817 (92V, 94H) (647mm Michelin MXV4) Note 92V and 94H tyres are probably built on the same carcass- but the 92H tyre is different. 40GBP
XXX/60 R15 Series
205/60 R15 5.5, 6.0, 7.5 627 842 (627mm Avon) 37GBP
215/60 R15 6.0, 6.0*, 7.5 639 831 (635mm Michelin ) 46GBP
225/60 R15 6.0, 6.5, 8.0 651 811 (651mm Avon)
805 (655mm Michelin MXV4 plus)
817 (650mm Michelin Pilot XGT) 44GBP. My choice on 7? rims.
The above is a tiny fraction of an article I have written re. tyres (hey Brian are you going to post it, or would you have me modify it? Just let me know )
If you are on a budget, 15" wheels are a good choice- a set from an E34 will go straight on (provided an oversize tyre is not fitted), and used ones are not much money.
HTH
cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Re: 15" or 18" rims
Used to run 15s. On 225/60 R15'ssharkfan wrote:Anyone running 15" rims ?
What tyres ??
225/60 or 205/60 or something I haven't thought about.
Anyone running 18"s ?? Ride quality comments ??
All opinions gratefully received
Sharkfan
Now run 18s (used to be 17s). Original reason was so the new brakes would fit.
18's (on 245s) are very harse, and is very susceptible to tramlining, and follows the camber of the road if you dont have a correct wheel alignment.
As my mechanic said, "17s give you great feel the road surface. 18s or more allow you to feel the brand of the cigarette butt you just ran over!"