Technical 500e Tires
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Technical 500e Tires
What's "a real beating"?
A 195/50 tyre is wider and has lower sidewalls (relative to the width). If the 185/55s are getting hammered by rough road surfaces, if that's what you mean, then 195/50 will feel worse, since the sidewall is stiffer and will absorb less impact.
If "a real beating" means the 185/55s just flex too much and that affects your cornering, then 195/50 will improve things (being wider and with a relatively lower and stiffer sidewall).
On the other hand.. if the tyres just wear out quickly then a 195/50 has the edge again, as it has more rubber on the floor, so the load is spread over a bigger footprint... but 185/55's wearing out can also be fixed by fitting 185/55's that don't wear out quite as quickly (i.e. a different brand).
Ralf S.
A 195/50 tyre is wider and has lower sidewalls (relative to the width). If the 185/55s are getting hammered by rough road surfaces, if that's what you mean, then 195/50 will feel worse, since the sidewall is stiffer and will absorb less impact.
If "a real beating" means the 185/55s just flex too much and that affects your cornering, then 195/50 will improve things (being wider and with a relatively lower and stiffer sidewall).
On the other hand.. if the tyres just wear out quickly then a 195/50 has the edge again, as it has more rubber on the floor, so the load is spread over a bigger footprint... but 185/55's wearing out can also be fixed by fitting 185/55's that don't wear out quite as quickly (i.e. a different brand).
Ralf S.
I'm going to try a different brand. The previous owner must have thrashed on the poor thing. I just bought the car with 30,000 miles on it and the original tires had already been replaced with a cheap off brand, which are already bald on the edges.
If the tyres are worn on the outer edges only then that suggests that the tracking is out slightly. The tyre should wear evenly across the tread, even if the fella thought he was Louise Hamilton and tried to set a lap record every time he went to the mall or something.
If the tyre places over there have the same facilities as here in the UK they should be able to check and adjust the tracking as needed. I don't know the tracking/toe settings for the 500 but it's front wheel drive and these tend to have negative toe (wheels point slightly out) on the front, to counteract the effect of the driverhafts under power. Get the toe checked when you chnage the tyres, so that they wear evenly.
Ralf S.
If the tyre places over there have the same facilities as here in the UK they should be able to check and adjust the tracking as needed. I don't know the tracking/toe settings for the 500 but it's front wheel drive and these tend to have negative toe (wheels point slightly out) on the front, to counteract the effect of the driverhafts under power. Get the toe checked when you chnage the tyres, so that they wear evenly.
Ralf S.
Bear in mind that the 500e is heavy because if the batteries and designed to run on eco tyres to make the most of the battery life. It’s not unusual to go through a set of tyres in 20k miles and if the car has done 30k and has budget tyres on it now then it’s not necessarily the case that the previous owner thrashed it.
Putting wider tyres on will certainly have an effect on the mileage you can get out of a full charge, which as I recall was pretty terrible on the 500e anyway <100 miles ?
Putting wider tyres on will certainly have an effect on the mileage you can get out of a full charge, which as I recall was pretty terrible on the 500e anyway <100 miles ?