Will 205/55/15 tires fit on Yaris?

[ljming99]

Taking the stock 185/60/15 as reference.

205/55/16 would be too big, there is an increase of ~4.55%(speedometer shows 100km/h, actual speed is ~95km/h). Anything more than 3% is not recommended, fuel economy also will suffer.

The closest that you can get to the stock are -

195/55/15 (1.27% increase in diameter)
205/50/16 (1.3% increase in diameter)
205/45/17 (2.2% increase in diameter)
215/40/17 (0.13% increase in diameter)

For the more adventurous,

215/35/18 (0.76% increase)
225/35/18 (1.9% increase)

Of course, selecting the tyre size also affects the range of choices and price as well. Some performance semi-slick/slick do not have the above size. Safest bet is to stick to the more common size.

[gubloom]

Originally Posted by ljming99

Taking the stock 185/60/15 as reference.

205/55/16 would be too big, there is an increase of ~4.55%(speedometer shows 100km/h, actual speed is ~95km/h). Anything more than 3% is not recommended, fuel economy also will suffer.

The closest that you can get to the stock are -

195/55/15 (1.27% increase in diameter)
205/50/16 (1.3% increase in diameter)
205/45/17 (2.2% increase in diameter)
215/40/17 (0.13% increase in diameter)

For the more adventurous,

215/35/18 (0.76% increase)
225/35/18 (1.9% increase)

Of course, selecting the tyre size also affects the range of choices and price as well. Some performance semi-slick/slick do not have the above size. Safest bet is to stick to the more common size.

Thanks for your answer, much appreciated. However, I asked about 205/55/15 not 16inch. I have already put that size on my car and it drives ok but a little hard and I think 195/55/15 would be best for a Yaris.

[CrankyOldMan]

I have 205/50R15's on stock steel wheels, stock suspension. No rubbing, the ride feels fine to me, but acceleration is slightly worse than on my winter tires: 175/70R14.

[ljming99]

Originally Posted by CrankyOldMan

I have 205/50R15's on stock steel wheels, stock suspension. No rubbing, the ride feels fine to me, but acceleration is slightly worse than on my winter tires: 175/70R14.

For normal driving and cornoring that is fine. The best size rims to use for 205/50/15 would be 15 x 7.

Im guessing that on stock wheels, the tire side wall would be bludging out and this would be dangerous on hard cornoring.

Acceleration would be expected to be worse but you have increased grip, change to lighter weight rims would help too.

[CrankyOldMan]

Originally Posted by ljming99

For normal driving and cornoring that is fine. The best size rims to use for 205/50/15 would be 15 x 7.

Im guessing that on stock wheels, the tire side wall would be bludging out and this would be dangerous on hard cornoring.

Acceleration would be expected to be worse but you have increased grip, change to lighter weight rims would help too.

As long as I keep the gas tank below half full, the acceleration isn't too bad.
As far as rims go, I'm looking at upgrading to something 15x6.5, but the physics have me gun-shy: adding an inch+ of rubber to the outer diameter--despite dropping 1/2" of diameter--made a noticeable difference in acceleration. I'd hate to drop another $400-$600 on my summer setup only to lose more acceleration.

The Dunlop Direza DZ101's have a recessed bead to protect your rims from curb rash. The sidewalls are almost flush with the hubcaps:

[33OH]

You're also noticing slightly less acceleration due to the sticky compound of the DZ101's. Your snow tires (and stock tires) would have less rolling resistance.

If you upgraded to lightweight wheels, it would spread that tire out a bit instead of it bulging so much on the stock 5.5" wide wheels - but I don't believe it'd hurt your mileage/acceleration. (If anything, lighter wheels would help it.)

But anyways, I love DZ101's - great tires for the money. Just sent out a set the other day.

[gubloom]

Has anyone tried 195/55/15 on their Yaris what are your comments ?

[33OH]

I've ran 195/55/15, I liked them. I prefer 205/50/15 to any other sizes, but 195/55/15 works good and has a nice range of economy touring tires.

[gubloom]

Originally Posted by 33OH

I've ran 195/55/15, I liked them. I prefer 205/50/15 to any other sizes, but 195/55/15 works good and has a nice range of economy touring tires.

Why do you prefer 205/50 to 195/55 ? Can you elaborate on this please my mind says that for such a small un powerful car the width would not make much difference in handling but a higher profile would make the car a nicer more comfortable softer drive. Any comments ? (my car has standard shocks and is not lowered).

[ljming99]

Originally Posted by gubloom

Why do you prefer 205/50 to 195/55 ? Can you elaborate on this please my mind says that for such a small un powerful car the width would not make much difference in handling but a higher profile would make the car a nicer more comfortable softer drive. Any comments ? (my car has standard shocks and is not lowered).

Auto or manual car?

For the stock manual car, i can wheel spin on 1st using 195 tyres. 205 is quite the optimal width.

[gubloom]

Originally Posted by ljming99

Auto or manual car?

For the stock manual car, i can wheel spin on 1st using 195 tyres. 205 is quite the optimal width.

Ok, you can wheel spin on 195 However, wouldn't 205/50 be too much of a low profile and feel hard on the road. Maybe in Singapore the roads are perfect lol

In Australia the roads in the city are not great so I think too low profile feel hard on the road.

I currently have 205/55/15 and I find them too heavy - do you think 195/55/15 would be much different ?

[33OH]

Originally Posted by gubloom

Why do you prefer 205/50 to 195/55 ? Can you elaborate on this please my mind says that for such a small un powerful car the width would not make much difference in handling but a higher profile would make the car a nicer more comfortable softer drive. Any comments ? (my car has standard shocks and is not lowered).

I just like the smaller sidewall, seems more stable to me. Handling is a little better as well. But 195/55/15 would be more comfortable and a little quieter. Depends on what you're looking for!

[CrankyOldMan]

The roads here in Michigan are pretty terrible in some places. My 205/50R15's are comfortable enough for me to not worry about the ride. If by "heavy" you mean "slow acceleration" then the 195 would help with that in two ways: less width means less mass at the hardest part to rotate, and smaller overall diameter means better acceleration through "effective" final drive ratio and decreased radius of rotating mass. If you want to get a better idea of the actual dimensions involved in changing tire sizes, play around with a tire size calculator (like this one) and see what the numbers look like.

!!Physics ahead!!

If you're interested in the physics of it: the energy required to accelerate a mass at a distance from an axis of rotation is proportional to the mass, and the distance *squared*. This is also affected by mass distribution: a solid disc takes less energy to accelerate than a hoop of the same diameter, width, and mass.

Unfortunately, you pretty much need access to all of the confidential information that the wheel and tire companies use to make their products to do any sort of meaningful mathematical comparison between two different setups. That said, you can generally assume:

• Narrower tires accelerate faster
• Smaller diameter tires accelerate faster
• Lighter weight tires/wheels accelerate faster
• Changing width *mathematically* affects acceleration less than changing diameter.
• Taller sidewalls ride smoother
• Shorter sidewalls corner better
• Wider tires give more traction when accelerating and cornering

All of these things are of course subject to reality: two different brand tires of the same size may have slightly different mass distribution in the tread and sidewalls. Two different sized tires of the same make and model may have surprisingly different weights. This also does not account for contact patch size, rolling resistance, temperature, inflation etc.

[Violin]

I've got the TRD lowering springs and sport shocks on mine along with 6.5" wide Konig Helium rims. I was running the Firestone Pilot Exalto A/S 205/55R15's on it and had very minor rubbing at the extremes.

I just replaced my tires and, as Firestone stopped making that size, I went with the 195/55R15's and there is no more rubbing. The steering feels snappier but that might be due to new vs. old tires rather than the size.

I did like the look of the wider tires better.

[47_MasoN_47]

I run NF210s and have 205/50/16 on mine. I had to roll the fenders but I don't get any rubbing now unless I turn all the way to the left.

[allyart]

previously i have 205/55 R15 on my yaris (stock was 185/60 R15), it has a good grip but i think the fuel suffer. then i change to 195/55 R15 and it feels perfect.

visit my car: Red Yaris From Jakarta

[tooter]

My 2012 came stock with 175/65 tires on 15"x5" wide rims. To keep the diameter close to stock so as to retain the accuracy of the odometer and speedometer, I chose 195/60 tires on 15"x7" wide rims, as they are only 1% larger in diameter.

Bridgstone Potenzas have a reasonably long wearing "400 Treadwear" number, and have the highest traction rating of "AA".