Tire size question

[Steve]

<--is a car noobie

Yesterday one of my tires blew out on my. Luckily I was near a gas station so I pulled into it, called my boss and asked if he had a jack. He didn't but his wife contacted a tire shop nearby. The guy from there drove up and met me, brought a jack and changed the tire for me (and I learned how by watching).

The tire that blew out had a dimple, and two of my others did too, so I decided to replace all four today.

The old tires were 185-65R15. They didn't have any new ones in that size, the closest they had were 190 or 195. They did have some used in that size, but I decided to go with new.

The guy helping me out today called the guy who helped me yesterday, and that guy told me on the phone that my car uses 195 anyway, and that Corollas use 185.

For reference, my car is a 1996 Honda Accord (four door).

Should I be concerned about the size difference? Am I better off now? What does it all mean anyway?

 

[thedarkwolf]

Should say what size tire you are suppose to run on the door jam of the driver side door or look in the manual. Plug those numbers into this along with your new tires and see how much your speedo will be off. Thats really the only thing you need to worry about. If you were slapping 245s onto the stock rims then you would run into some problems but going from 185 to 190 or 95 shouldn't cause any problems.

 

[Vic]

185 -- width of the tire in mm
65 -- height of sidewall (profile) as % of width
R -- speed rating (R, HR, ZR, etc).
15 -- diameter of wheel the tire fits on.

In this case, going from 185-65R15 to 195-65R15, the difference is minimal. The tire is 10mm (or 1/3rd inch) wider, which should be fine. If there is an issue, it is that the diameter of the tire is 1/2" taller, meaning a rolling circumference that is 1.57" larger. So your speedometer will read ~2% too slow. No big deal really.

You should find out if they have 205-60-15 (preferably a little higher rated as well). Provided that they wouldn't rub the fenders, that would be a more ideal fit. Less than a 1% difference in rolling circumference.

 

[Steve]

Thanks everyone, I will check what the doorjamb/car manual says, when I can (after work).

Vic, I just got all four tires put on, do you think they'd switch them out for 205s maybe tomorrow? And what do you mean by higher rated?

Why would they be a more ideal fit?

Also, I do know that I need an alignment done, would a place that does that be able to recalibrate the speedometer to account for the new tire size?

 

[Vic]

Highly unlikely they would swap out already mounted tires. Tires aren't a refundable/exchangeable item.

Here's the wiki to tire codes: Text

If you click thedarkwolf's tire calc link above, and punch in the tires sizes, you could see (in graphic detail) how it would be a slightly better fit. Not a big deal though, like I said. The tires you got should work great.

Alignment might be a good idea. Did the old tires shows any signs of poor alignment?

Speedo recalibration should not be necessary.

 

[nakedfrog]

I would suggest going to a local auto parts yard and getting yourself a jack for a few bucks

 

[Steve]

The old tires did show wear consistent with pulling to the right, which my car does. Worse on the left side, which is the tire that blew out.

The guy who helped me mentioned that his shop sells basic jack kits for $25, I forgot to pick one up. Maybe tomorrow.

Still not clear exactly on what 'a little higher rated' means, nor the more ideal fit - I plug the numbers in and see the different fits, but I'm not sure what benefits or advantages there are.

 

[Steve]

The doorjamb and the manual both say 185.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Steve
The old tires did show wear consistent with pulling to the right, which my car does. Worse on the left side, which is the tire that blew out.

The guy who helped me mentioned that his shop sells basic jack kits for $25, I forgot to pick one up. Maybe tomorrow.

Still not clear exactly on what 'a little higher rated' means, nor the more ideal fit - I plug the numbers in and see the different fits, but I'm not sure what benefits or advantages there are.

"higher rated" = speed rating (not really important for an economy car), traction rating, and temperature rating. "More ideal fit" = closer to the OEM size, so your speedo won't be off, but potentially wider so you get more rubber on the road without worrying about rubbing or other clearance issues.

I'm surprised your car didn't come with a jack.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Steve
The old tires did show wear consistent with pulling to the right, which my car does. Worse on the left side, which is the tire that blew out.

The guy who helped me mentioned that his shop sells basic jack kits for $25, I forgot to pick one up. Maybe tomorrow.

Still not clear exactly on what 'a little higher rated' means, nor the more ideal fit - I plug the numbers in and see the different fits, but I'm not sure what benefits or advantages there are.

IIRC, they charged me $5-8 for my jack at the parts yard (plus the $2 to get it, but I grabbed a couple other things as well).
Don't worry about it, the tires you got will be just fine. Higher rated tires could mean a lot of things (better tread life, better speed rating, better traction numbers, less road noise, etc). You've already bought them so no need to worry about it until next time--I doubt you'd see enough of a benefit to justify replacing brand new tires.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: jagec
I'm surprised your car didn't come with a jack.

I'm fairly certain he didn't buy it new, and not being a car guy, he didn't think to check for one

 

[Steve]

It was my parents' car, they bought it new in late '96 or so. Why it never came with a jack I don't know, but I didn't honestly didn't expect one to be there anyway.

How long did it take for passenger side mirrors to become standard on all cars?

 

[ZetaEpyon]

Originally posted by: Steve
How long did it take for passenger side mirrors to become standard on all cars?

It was an option on my 98 Saturn SL. But that's a really barebones car, and probably an exception. I'm fairly sure it also depends on the state laws.

 

[nwfsnake]

Your Accord must be a DX, as my '96 LX has 195/6X-15 tires standard and a passenger side electric mirror.

 

[Steve]

Yes it is a DX, checked that yesterday.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Steve
It was my parents' car, they bought it new in late '96 or so. Why it never came with a jack I don't know, but I didn't honestly didn't expect one to be there anyway.

How long did it take for passenger side mirrors to become standard on all cars?

If your car has a manual look in it to see where the jack is hidden.

I've never heard of car that didn't come with a jack. I've never heard of anybody losing one either.

Fern

 

[Vic]

It came with a jack. The factory jack location in Hondas is usually in the trunk, drivers side, behind a plastic access panel.

 

[Steve]

Thanks guys, I will take a look for that after work tonight.