185/60's or 175/70's

R

robsvibe

Rob
So I found a place that has the 185's but they don't have 205's that I want for the back. I was thinking that the 205's would have been good so the speedo and rpm's don't change much. How do a good pair of 175/70's compare to the 185/60's in performance and rpm change?
 
175/70's work but may rub

I ran Michelin XZX tires for almost 20 years on my X in that size. They were great tires, but they did rub on the front edge of the front fender at full lock.

The same size tire might be better or worse in a different brand. They all seem to be slightly different even if they're stated to be a particular size on the sidewall.

-Dean
 
Ran Michelin XZX in 175/70/13 and Pirelli P7 and P77 in 175/70/13 back in the day and all 3 rubbed, but were tolerable.

All being fair, yadda, yadda, I'd still run the 185 / 60 any day of the week.

:)
 
175 rub??

I've got 175/70's on my car since I bought it and have never had any rubbing. I'm getting confused. I might just stay with the 175's. Is there a 175 made today that is a performance tire?
 
no

no fender liners ( I bought this car as is but I don't see any fender liner kind of things). The wheels that are on the car now are 5x13's but I have a set of 5.5x13 Campy's that I'm itching to put on. Will the 175's or the 185/60's be an issue with the new rims?
 
The 185s will be fine. Not sure why someone would want to run the 175/70s if you can still get the 185/60s.

robsvibe said:
no fender liners ( I bought this car as is but I don't see any fender liner kind of things). The wheels that are on the car now are 5x13's but I have a set of 5.5x13 Campy's that I'm itching to put on. Will the 175's or the 185/60's be an issue with the new rims?
Click to expand...
 
roadster27 said:
I ran Michelin XZX tires for almost 20 years on my X in that size. They were great tires, but they did rub on the front edge of the front fender at full lock.

The same size tire might be better or worse in a different brand. They all seem to be slightly different even if they're stated to be a particular size on the sidewall.

-Dean
Click to expand...

Boy, you aren't kidding with this comment. It simply amazes me how one tire of a certain size can have a 'tread contact patch' of say 7 inches, and another can beunder 6.5, and be VISIBLY skinnier, yet they both advertize themselves as the same size tire. My dad put some new tires on his Honda Prelude years ago, and the tread width of the Dunlop looked to be well over a 1/2 inch narrower than the Michelins they replaced. He was convinced the tire shop had put on the wrong tires.
 
I checked this out years ago...

A tire may state the same size *but* 185 is the width in mm. of the widest part of the side bulge in the tire, NOT the tread width. This fooled me many times also. The next # i.e. 60 is the aspect ratio (or percentage) of the width, and then 13 the rim size.
 
it's grim,,,,

I never thought I'd see the day when you have to invest days of research to find a set of tires for our Fiat's. Ideally I want a set of 185's up front,205's at the back. I have a 1978 4 speed,and I just don't want to put a shorter tire on the back and deal with higher rpm's on the highway. I found some 185's but I can't find a 205 in the same brand. I think it's kind of "hack" to put on two different brand of tires on our cars,so I think I'm just going to stick with the 175's unless something good comes along real quick. Is there anyone that knows of a performance 175/70 ??
 
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