List of Tires to fit Mirage.

[cyclopathic]

If I understand correctly, a wider tire improves cornering at the expense of fuel economy. What has been member's experience on fuel economy with wider tires?

Actually on bikes wider tire reduces rolling resistance. This is due to contact patch being wider/shorter vs narrow/long. But this is not easily transferred to cars. Due to toe wider tire will have more RR. And it doesn't take much to effect fuel economy; 0.2 degree of cross toe will have an impact.

Another point most of the time when people upgrade to wider tire they go to larger rim, and the same tire the same width will have more RR if sidewall is lower.

With 185/60 RT43 we took MPG hit comparing to oem Enasave, but it is hard to quantify by how much b/c of too many changes at the same time. I'd say ~3MPG. Unfortunately there aren't any LRR tire in 185/60 size.

[Eggman]

Actually on bikes wider tire reduces rolling resistance.

Not sure this matches with conventional wisdom as all race bike use skinny tires. Good fodder for arguments & debates though.

With 185/60 RT43 we took MPG hit comparing to oem Enasave, but it is hard to quantify by how much b/c of too many changes at the same time. I'd say ~3MPG. Unfortunately there aren't any LRR tire in 185/60 size.

That's what I figured. Has this been the case with others who have switched to wider tires?

[inuvik]

Not sure this matches with conventional wisdom as all race bike use skinny tires. Good fodder for arguments & debates though.

That's what I figured. Has this been the case with others who have switched to wider tires?

What is the effect of using the LRR OEM size tire but going to a wider rim? I plan on using the 165/65r14's on the 14x6 WRC rims.

[cyclopathic]

Not sure this matches with conventional wisdom as all race bike

Read this http://www.schwalbe.com/en/rollwiderstand.html

Why do wide tires roll better than narrower tires?

The answer to this question lies in tire deflection. Each tire is flattened a little under load. This creates a flat contact area.

At the same inflation pressure, a wide and a narrow tire have the same contact area. A wide tire is flattened over its width whereas a narrow tire has a slimmer but longer contact area.

The flattened area can be considered detrimental to tire rotation. Because of the longer flattened area of the narrow tire, the wheel loses more of its “roundness” and produces more deformation during the rotation. In a wide tire, the flattened area is shorter in length and does not have so much effect on the rolling direction. The tire stays “rounder” and therefore it rolls better.

With respect to MPG loss it isn't due to wider tire, it is due to switch to non-LRR tire. The difference between the two rims with the same tire should be negligible.

I have experimented with toe on Prius, and you can get esealy 3-4 MPG improvement by setting front toe to 0. This is on a car which had alignment within OEM specs. I suspect on something like H rated RT-43 with extra thick sidewalls rated at 51psi, the difference could be even bigger. I think we have cross-toe set to 0.1deg right now.

[Eggman]

Read this http://www.schwalbe.com/en/rollwiderstand.html

ROFL I'll let all the Tour De France riders know they got it all wrong.

[ednevell]

BFGoodrich g-Force Super Sport A/S 185/60R14

I am on my second pair of these and they are horrible. They shake at 70 up to 90. Pardon my french but they suck ****, only time they feel good is when you are under 65.

Be warned the second set was warranty replacement from BFG!!

This is a US or Perhaps North America list. There likely alot more choices in 14" in other countries.

OEM 165/65R14 size:
Dunlop ENASAVE 01 A/S - $94 LRR OEM
Bridgestone POTENZA RE92 - $80 LRR (OEM on Insight gen1)

winter:
Dunlop SP WINTER RESPONSE - $73
Dunlop WINTER MAXX - $75


185/60R14 (+1.3%)
General RT-43 - $58
BFGoodrich g-Force Super Sport A/S 185/60R14 - $80
multiple Kumho, Federal also Hankook Optima H426

winter:
Yokohama ICEGUARD IG52C - $57
General ALTIMAX ARCTIC -$62
Firestone Winterforce - $65
Goodyear ULTRA GRIP WINTER -$66

Prices are take from TireRack as an example only.

[remusrm]

will 195/65/14 work on my 14x6 wheel? I have 185/60/14 now and they are fine

[cyclopathic]

will 195/65/14 work on my 14x6 wheel? I have 185/60/14 now and they are fine

Any size (given they're not too big to rub) would work. Issue is if it differs too much from OEM then you have mismatch between wheels and spare (this could trigger ESP and damage differential), and speedo will lbe off by good margin. 185/60 is bigger by 1.3% only. I haven't tried it yet with spare, but if I have to, I will put spare on rear, and full size tire upfront.

[Canoehead]

Read this http://www.schwalbe.com/en/rollwiderstand.html

I used to believe this too, as an avid cyclist and user of big apples, fat franks, and 2" marathon supremes. Someone on this forum, though noted the difference between a bias-ply bike tire casing and a radial car tire - apples to oranges, and wider tires are not more efficient on a car. On a bike, the wider tire is only more efficient for rolling resistance at the same pressure. The narrower tire can run a higher pressure, and will also have less mass, so acceleration will be improved.

As for car tires, wider tires do have more friction, which is good for handling, but uses a bit more energy to both roll and due to greater frontal area (aerodynamics).

My winter tires use considerably more gas because they are made of a softer rubber.

[cyclopathic]

I used to believe this too, as an avid cyclist and user of big apples, fat franks, and 2" marathon supremes. Someone on this forum, though noted the difference between a bias-ply bike tire casing and a radial car tire - apples to oranges, and wider tires are not more efficient on a car. On a bike, the wider tire is only more efficient for rolling resistance at the same pressure. The narrower tire can run a higher pressure, and will also have less mass, so acceleration will be improved.

As for car tires, wider tires do have more friction, which is good for handling, but uses a bit more energy to both roll and due to greater frontal area (aerodynamics).

My winter tires use considerably more gas because they are made of a softer rubber.

I've dug around in EU fuel efficiency labels, and while the difference insignificant, in general wider Michelin tires were more efficient, in some cases enough to go from C to B category. It is inconclusive, b/c in case of Michelin they have different versions of the tire, and you may also have the pattern change going from one size to another.

Now I agree with you that radial tires are completely different animal, and the difference isn't that great anyways.