Hi! I am new here. I have a 2002 Fiat Punto 1.2 (pre-facelift) I would like to buy new tires for it as they are so bald they are barely legal right now. Anyway, my confusion is this, when I bought the car the tires on it are 185/65 - R14 but the recommended size for my car is 155/80 - R13. Today a mechanic told me it is fine to go 1 inch under or over the recommended size. So which size should I buy when buying new ones?
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks a lot

SnowPunto said:

Hi! I am new here. I have a 2002 Fiat Punto 1.2 (pre-facelift) I would like to buy new tires for it as they are so bald they are barely legal right now. Anyway, my confusion is this, when I bought the car the tires on it are 185/65 - R14 but the recommended size for my car is 155/80 - R13. Today a mechanic told me it is fine to go 1 inch under or over the recommended size. So which size should I buy when buying new ones?
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks a lot

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Uk sizes were

165/70/14
185/60/14
185/55/15

13inch rims were mk1??

Double check whats written on the sidewalls of the tyres?

Personally i do like uniroyals

Currently using rainsport 3's
Very grippy - espically in the wet

Post a picture up so we make sure u have tyre listed correctly

Ziggy

Ziggy122 said:

Uk sizes were

165/70/14
185/60/14
185/55/15

13inch rims were mk1??

Double check whats written on the sidewalls of the tyres?

Personally i do like uniroyals

Currently using rainsport 3's
Very grippy - espically in the wet

Post a picture up so we make sure u have tyre listed correctly

Ziggy

Click to expand...

Hi! That is very interesting! I don't know if it makes a difference but I live in Finland and my Punto is made for the Finnish market. Our winter tires are 155/80 - R13, and that is what the tire websites recommend when I put in my car's details. but the summer tires we have on right now are 185/65 - R14.I have checked and double checked them all, and those really are the numbers on the side of the tires :O I didn't notice any difference between using either of them, other than the way the car looks.

SnowPunto said:

Hi! That is very interesting! I don't know if it makes a difference but I live in Finland and my Punto is made for the Finnish market. Our winter tires are 155/80 - R13, and that is what the tire websites recommend when I put in my car's details. but the summer tires we have on right now are 185/65 - R14.I have checked and double checked them all, and those really are the numbers on the side of the tires :O I didn't notice any difference between using either of them, other than the way the car looks.

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Got powersteering?

Ziggy122 said:

Got powersteering?

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Yes... when it decides to work It is the Mk2, same as the British version I suppose. I had a 1998 Mk1 Fiat Punto when I lived in the UK. The only differences to mine are the things which normally come in Finnish cars like automatic headlights, heated seats... not sure about anything else.

I believe that when you have winter tyres they are normally a size down from the summers (diameter that is). This is why the winter tyres you have are on 13" rims and the summer tyres will be on 14" rims.
I know this because I've an Uncle in Germany, his car had 16" summer rims and 15" winter rims. Skinny higher profile tyres are better in the snow apparently!
Do you have two sets of wheels, or just the single set that you alternate the winter and summer tyres?

nitramtpr said:

I believe that when you have winter tyres they are normally a size down from the summers (diameter that is). This is why the winter tyres you have are on 13" rims and the summer tyres will be on 14" rims.
I know this because I've an Uncle in Germany, his car had 16" summer rims and 15" winter rims. Skinny higher profile tyres are better in the snow apparently!
Do you have two sets of wheels, or just the single set that you alternate the winter and summer tyres?

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Ah! That would explain it then Thanks a lot... Yes we have a set of winter tires and a set of summer tires, we change to winter tires from around november 1st until february 28th, depending on the snow situation. I am glad to know I can buy some new summer tires the same size as we have now, as that's what size our wheel trims are

Skinny tyres are the business in the snow. Our Morris 1000 was like a train on tracks in snow compared to the modern cars drifting all over the shop.
My first car was a TA-40 1.6 Celica, twin double choke carbs, 165x13, no p/s.

I do rememeber a 13" been listed in manual, but in the uk thats for a non p/s car

Ziggy

SnowPunto said:

Hi! I am new here. I have a 2002 Fiat Punto 1.2 (pre-facelift) I would like to buy new tires for it as they are so bald they are barely legal right now. Anyway, my confusion is this, when I bought the car the tires on it are 185/65 - R14 but the recommended size for my car is 155/80 - R13. Today a mechanic told me it is fine to go 1 inch under or over the recommended size. So which size should I buy when buying new ones?
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks a lot

Click to expand...

I am in Helsinki Finland. My 2005 punto has had R14 rims for winter and summer tyres since new.

I really do not know anything about tyres but I am really surprised you would be able to safely fit an R14 tyre on an R13 rim. On the other hand if you changed wheels and tyres at the same time it does not sound very dramatic to have that 1 inch difference.

judderbar said:

I am in Helsinki Finland. My 2005 punto has had R14 rims for winter and summer tyres since new.

I really do not know anything about tyres but I am really surprised you would be able to safely fit an R14 tyre on an R13 rim. On the other hand if you changed wheels and tyres at the same time it does not sound very dramatic to have that 1 inch difference.

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I think what it is in our case is that the rims on the winter tires are 13 inches and the rims on the summer tires are 14 inches. Our wheel covers only fit onto the summer tires so I'm guessing we actually have different sized rims and tires.