Is there any disadvantage in switching tire sizes from 195/55/15 to 185/65/15 for a car with 60k miles and 10yrs old?
It saves a lot on tire prizes.
Speed rating comparison (at 100 it would show 4 mph lower-which is ok for me):
Speedometer(mph)/Actual(mph)
30/31.3
40/41.7
50/52.1
60/62.6
70/73
80/83.4
90/93.9
100/104.3
Buy whatever is recommended on the door tag of your car, nothing else.
The first obvious problem is the diameter. Is there enough room under your fenderwells for the larger diameter? We don’t know, because, no one publishes a book that tells us stuff like that.
But doing the math: The swap you are considering is over 4% different in daimeter and that raises some red flags. More than 3% causes some issues for some ABS systems.
And lastly, a 195/55R15 has am allowable rim width range of 5 1/2" to 7", while a 185/65R15 has an allaowable rim width range of 5 to 6 1/2". So if your rims are 7", you can’t make the swap.
So overall, this doesn’t sound like a good idea.
Overall diameter first.
‘Will it fit’ entails more than just looking at the space within the wheel well. You must also consider the suspension travel, both bouncing and turning, while the tire is spinning.
In my tire size books I see,
—The 195/55 is 23.4" diameter—
The 185/65 looks to be 24.5" dia
Sufficient to wonder but not too much to say NO.
Another good option, at generaly better pricing is a 195/60 @ 24.3" dia If there’s room.
Also, size wise, a 205/55 @ 23.9" might work.
experimentation is need to know,
Drive over parking lot speed bumps to flex the suspension and turn the steering all the way to each side to check for rubbing,
but what tire shop in going to mount and dismount three different sets of tires ?
whew ! With all that in mind, I’d stick with the original size myself.
You are buying UNDERSIZED tires. Don’t do it. You would be better off with 205/55/15 or, if price is important 195/60/15 Generally the 60 series tires are much cheaper and you will not be able to tell the difference…
I would check in the owner’s amnual what different sizes were specified. On most cars, the “GT” version would have somewhat wider tires, most likely on the same size wheels.
If the tire size you want is not shown, don’t get it, and stay with what you have.
The plethora of tire sizes is getting ridiculous…There was a time not too long ago when 18 tire sizes would cover virtually every car and light truck on the road…Today there are HUNDREDS of different size tires available and consumers are paying DEARLY to support all this unnecessary “shelf-space”…Even the BIG tire dealers can’t possibly begin to stock all the sizes, let alone the different types within those size groups…