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a question on tyres
#1

i know this is totally off topic to photography, but i would appreciate some information from those more mechanically inclined.

my current set of tyres are 205/65R15 94V, now i want to replace them with another set (including the rims, of course) which size is 205/55R16 89V. I know that the first 3 nos. are the width of the tyre and the Rxx is the size of the rim. the middle nos. are some ratio between the height of the tyre and the width, and i have no idea what the last 3 mean.

now my question is, what effect will this new, but smaller (by about 15% by my calculation) tyre have on the ride and handling of the car? Are there any problems to watchout, say like overloading the new tyres?

my car by the way is a toyota camry. a mid-sized family sedan.

thanks in advance for the info and help.

It's amazing what old junk can do.
The toys
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#2

The 94V is the speed rating, so 94 MPH is the maximum speed the car is supposed to be driven at for prolong periods of time.

In my experience going to a larger wim with less sidewall (55 instead of 65) will make the ride harder, you will feel bumps more. On the flipside, you will have more stiffness in corners so you are less likely to get over steer when cornering at speed.

One other thing to consider is that your Speedometer will need to be re-calibrated if you put the 55's on a 16" rim. When your speddo reads 60mph you will actually be doing 58.6, not too big a difference.

If you fitted 205/60R/16 tires the Difference in speed will be less than 1%.
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#3

thanks for the information Bob. I did take the car out or a ride after and noticed a harder ride as well as increased tyre noise. the handling through corners did improve significantly with the lower profile tyres.

It's amazing what old junk can do.
The toys
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