What do you think - 185/65/R15 tyres instead of 185/55/R15 - will fit or no??

Better to go for 195/50R15

and much better: 215/40/17

All depends on the size of your wheel. You sound like you have 15's. So go for the size that the garage recommends, wrong size and your speedo will be out, one size means the amount of tyre you see from the side, the other the width of the tyre and the other the size of the wheel. Do not put the wrong ones on.

I decided 185\55\r15 (as recomended) - for winter :slayer:
and 225\40\r16 - for summer

don't know if anybody knows this down here, but tyre sizes are:
For Example:

width | profile| Diameter
165 | 55 | R15


which means 165mm in width

the tyre wall (profile) is 55% of the width of the tyre

R15 is 15inches in diameter (or (2.54*15)cm)

so when you choose your wheel and tyre combo you can calculate the new diameter of the wheel, try to get as close to the original as possible for fitment and also speedo accuracy.

Alex you the man, that's what I was meaning, I'll set up the sales department, you deal with the technical side. LOL :tempt:

Nino_1975 said:

Alex you the man, that's what I was meaning, I'll set up the sales department, you deal with the technical side. LOL :tempt:

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Would be nice... :idea:

Nino_1975 said:

All depends on the size of your wheel. You sound like you have 15's. So go for the size that the garage recommends, wrong size and your speedo will be out, one size means the amount of tyre you see from the side, the other the width of the tyre and the other the size of the wheel. Do not put the wrong ones on.

Click to expand...

Within reason you can change tyre sizes, as long as you don't go mad.

If he were to put 195/50r15 on instead of 185/55r15, there would be just over 1% difference to the gearing and 4mm difference to the sidewall height. I'd expect a slight handling improvement too.

Also if you do a bit of careful choosing you can get a lot better brand tyres in a new size, for less than a cheap one in the standard size.

Example:

Kumho KH11 185/55r15 £38 each
Continental Ecocontact 195/50r15 £37 each

Prices from www.mytyres.co.uk

15" - OE Size - Use 195/55 or 205/50).
16" - +1 - Use 205/45 or 215/40
17" - +2 - Recommendations anyone?
Note: 17" wheels require very low profile tyres and care should be taken if the car is lowered that there is no bodywork fouling. It also makes the car prone to tramlining (following imperfections in the road), and gives a very harsh ride.
18" - +3 - Don't be daft.

Nino_1975 said:

15" - OE Size - Use 195/55 or 205/50).
16" - +1 - Use 205/45 or 215/40
17" - +2 - Recommendations anyone?
Note: 17" wheels require very low profile tyres and care should be taken if the car is lowered that there is no bodywork fouling. It also makes the car prone to tramlining (following imperfections in the road), and gives a very harsh ride.
18" - +3 - Don't be daft.

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ahh thats off the barchetta owners club page... I always thought barchetta OE size was 16"

With regard to the original question though, lots of people fit 195/50s with no problems.

For tyres id recommend Toyo T1-S's (what im running), Avon SV3's or Michelin Pilot Exaltos.

Thank U for your answers but I asked this question, cause i needed to change just two wheels and was thinking, what would be better - to buy tyres of the same size or other (and put them back)...

off topic as this is.. I don't recommend AVONs, had a bad experiance with them.

I'm running 195/55R15 front and 195/50R15 rear.

should be all 195/50R15 so changing them per axle as they wear out. Not noticed any bad handling due to difference in size ref front:rear