I’m looking for some new tires for my little 2005 Scion xA. The original tires are 185R/60R1584T (Goodyear). I have my eye on a set of Michelin X Radial All season beauties, but the closest size I’ve found that match mine are 185R/65 just a little taller than what I need. If I get these will it have a huge effect on my gas mileage or not. Or can you recommend something else that gives my car a smoother comfortable ride, but won’t affect the mileage as much.
Sincerely James el wicked one.
Peace
Truly guessing, but the ride won’t improve because that size tire doesn’t have a lot of cushion effect in it anyway. Buy the same kind you had before. Or not. Taller tires could give you worse mileage but the size difference here is so small, you won’t notice any difference.
Michelin X Radials are excellent tires and last a long time.
Do you have enough clearance in the wheel well for a slightly taller tire? Even when turning sharply?
Don’t expect any noticeable difference in fuel economy, but your speedometer and odometer will be off (reading low) so your calculated fuel economy will appear slightly lower. I don’t know how you correct the speedometer on a modern car, but there must be a way.
For many cars the mileage might go up, for some it will go down, in both cases the slight difference in circumference is going to make the odometer further off than the difference in mileage. Differences in rolling resistance is likely to have a larger effect on mileage and that is going to be smaller than most people would notice. It will provide a little more protection from pot holes. Make sure you have sufficient clearance for them.
Any difference in ride will be more due to tire construction than size with this small a difference. You can find other options at the Tire Rack web site - you put in your priorities, such as ride comfort, they tell you the tires that best meet those priorities. 60-series tires should not be rough-riding. I would stick with 60-series, see what they have.
Michelin X Radials are excellent tires and last a long time.
I’ll concur with that. Wife has had 4 sets of those…each lasting about 80k miles. Great ride…and very good in ALL weather conditions. Never had the need for snow tires.
Michelin Harmony is available in your size. It is an all-season radial from your favorite manufacturer. Yokahama Avid Touring-S and AVID-TRZ tires are similar and about half the price.