I’m looking on craigslist for some snow tires. I found a set that I think would work for me but I’m not sure about size stuff. The All seasons on my car are 215/55 R16. The ones I am looking at are 215/65 R16. I know that you can vary tire size a bit and I am wondering if those two sizes are compatible.
Those tires will be a little bit taller. Depending on your car, this may cause issues with rubbing on the inside of the tire well. It will also make your speedometer off. You will be driving faster than your speedometer will say you are going.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/tirecalc.php?tires=215-55r16-215-65r16
As for the question of if its compatible for temporary use? I dunno, its on the borderline IMO. Personally, I’m not sure I would do it, unless the deal was really good. But, I also spend more than I should on tires, so I might not be the best judge or value.
I thought the second number was the width?
Edit: And, I was wrong.
The first number is width, in millimeters. The second number is the height, as a percentage of the width. (in this case 215 * .55 and 215 *.65).
It’s unnecessarily obtuse IMO.
First is width, second is height. So nKoan’s comments are appropriate. You can get away with some variation in width usually, but you want to match height to avoid complications.
My brain seems to have stopped functioning, but let’s see if I remember this. If the sidewall is taller (the 65), you want the width narrower, I think, since the height is a percentage of the width. Talk to any tire buster at America’s Tire Store and they’ll be able to tell you correctly. The standard tires on my old Miata were 185/65, and I replaced them with 195/55, which was a close match for the circumference of the originals. Or 205/45. I forget the exacts, but you get the idea. What you are looking at are taller tires, making for poorer handling, slower acceleration, and your speedo and odometer being thrown off. Probably a softer ride.
Sorry, all I know about are tyres.
Try www.tirerack.com. They have pretty much all the info you could want. That’s where I get my tires and wheels usually.
I was going to recommend the same site for research. I just purchase new tires and tirerack.com was very handy.
I suggest that you don’t dick around with the height or width of your tires even slightly unless you know what you’re doing.
Even a 10mm difference in width can make a tire too large to properly fit in your wheel well without touching your fender or frame when you turn the wheels.
If you want to find out tire sizes that will fit in your car without rubbing, your best bet is to find owner’s forums. I’m a member of a forum called RAV4World, for example, that has an entire page dedicated to what tire sizes people have found fit and don’t fit our RAV4s. http://rav4world.com/index/tirelist.html
Or, if you want to be conservative, go to tirerack, enter in your car make and model, and only pick from the tire sizes they present to you.