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Question about tire sizes. (215/60/14s)


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I have some old school enkei wheels, which right now have 205/60/14s. I want to get some 215/60/14s in the rear, and some 205/60/14s in the front of the same tire. I've been looking through some "tire searches" and can't really find anything.

 

I've searched here, but can't really find anything except for people saying that they have the same set up, just no references.

 

Summary: I want the same brand of tire front and back. Just 215/60/14s in the back, and 205/60/14s in the front. HELP.

 

Thanks.

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There aren't all that many choices left in 14" tires any more. Why not go with the same size front and rear? 215/60-14 should fit without any rubbing - I had them on my 73 with no issues. They are still a little smaller than stock in overall diameter though. A better fit is 195/70-14. I'll guess that you're concerned that you'll give up performance going narrower, but if you can find a better quality tire, you may be surprised that you don't give up anything at all. The size of the tire is only one aspect that affects its performance, although it seems most people focus on it almost exclusively.

 

FYI, I did have mild rubbing in the rear over big bumps when I went up to 225-50-16.

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i sell tires and i just checked my book for some tires for you. here is what i found.

the best tire i found was toyo proxes t1r 195/55/14 and that is a "ultra hight performance tire".

 

you could also put toyo proxes tpt 195/70/14 or 195/60/14

 

nexen makes n2000 195/60/14, 205/60/14, 215/60/14, and 195/65/14

 

just some more to think about. i had 15 inch enkies and they rubed with 215 in the back. what you could do is shave the inside of the fenders. it's very easy to do, all you need is a grinder, and saftey glases. it wil take you about ten minets a side. after i did that i was able to put 225 and lower my car and it still has never rubed once. i say get the the toyo proxes tpt or the nitto n2000 215 if you want i can give a quote to.

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Astral Ace, what are your objectives for the car with these tires? Is it a daily driver in all weather? Maybe snow too? Or at the other extreme, a track car?

 

Those N2000 tires LOOK to be very optimized for rain, but it's really impossible to tell until someone puts them on a car and tests them. I've never heard of Nexen before so can't offer any firsthand feedback. I'm a little surprised they don't list the treadwear rating. While it's not an absolute indicator of how hard the rubber is, anything less than 200 is clearly a soft short-lived tire, and anything over 400 is the opposite.

 

Tirerack has the best variety of tires tested I've seen so far, although I wouldn't call them anywhere near close to perfect. Still, you can learn something about the relative performance of the different tires they test at the same time. The reader feedback is mostly useless as most people want to believe that the tires they just spent $$$ on are better than the worn out ones they just removed.

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I have an excel spreadsheet that I created a long time ago for transmission/rear diff ratio calculations but as a part of this spreadsheet I also have a place where you can enter a tire size (example 215/60/14) and it will tell you the width of the tire at the tread (this will vary by about 1/2" depending on manufacturer). As a general rule of thumb your tread width will be about 3/4" to 1" greater than your bead width and you can use a tire that is + or - 1" in bead width from the rims bead width. It is important to remember that this can and will change from one manufacturer to another, this is only a general rule of thumb.

 

If you would like a copy of this spreadsheet send me a PM with your email address and I will email it to you. There are instructions on the first page, read them before you start playing with the "calculator".

 

Dragonfly

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I am just looking to get a bigger rear tire for better hook ups when I floor it. I don't think that a 215 is going to rub, it's just if it'll fit on my rim.

 

Should be no problem. I ran 225/60-14 on the rear and 215/60-14 on the front of my 240. The wheels were 6 1/2 inch wide.

USAF Veteran

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