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Re: You can disagree all you want but here's the math.. Posted by Justin VanAbrahams [Email] (#32) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Justin VanAbrahams) on Thu, 20 Sep 2007 17:15:50 In Reply to: You can disagree all you want but here's the math..., David in Tallahassee [Profile/Gallery] , Thu, 20 Sep 2007 15:06:06 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
There is one thing that math does not account for, and that's the width of the wheel. Too wide a tire on too narrow a wheel will "pinch" the tire, causing it to bow in the middle. Obviously with weight on the tire that bowing becomes largely non-existent (and you get squished sidewall), but sitting the two unloaded side by side will give an effectively exaggerated appearance.
It's worth keeping in mind that a 205/60-15 vs. a 205/55-15 vs. a 195/60-15 on the same 5.5" wheel will not result in a substantially different contact patch. In fact, there is a decent argument to support the notion that the wider tire on the same 5.5" wide wheel could result in a decrease in performance due to increase sidewall roll - that of course is much more of problem with a 205/60 vs. a 205/55 (with a lower sidewall height than a 195/60), but it's worth keeping in mind.
In all reality, you won't see much of any performance difference moving to a 205-section tire vs the stock 195-section tire. The reasons to move (IMHO) to the 205 tire is a wider selection and, in the case of the 205/55, more performance tire options. But, the same tire on the same 5.5" wheel will probably net you nothing in terms of actual performance.
Of course, the original question was "will they fit?" - and the answer to that is, yeah, they'll fit.
All of this my $0.02, YMMV.
posted by 207.15.18...
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