Also, props for the Colin Chapman. A good philosophy.
Also, props for the Colin Chapman. A good philosophy.
Loren (07-29-2018)
So just a little heads up:
I'm running a 15x6.5 wheel (+38) and 195/50/15 tires. I carried my first passenger in the back seat today, and on a stock suspension when you'd go over a dip or a bump, it rubbed in the rear. It rubbed enough to take a bit of rubber off the tire and bend the fender lip a tad. If you never carry rear passenger, it's probably not an issue, however, I had a front passenger, a rear passenger, and a suitcase, and it rubbed pretty bad.
I'm planning on getting a set of Eibach springs, and I'm worried my +38 wheels and 1" of lowering will be really bad. Then again, if the spring rate is stiffer, maybe it'd be ... better?
I had the same experience 15x7, 38 offset, 195/50 tire. Shaving big long 1/8" slivers out of the outside of the tread blocks in the rear anytime I hit a big bump when carrying a passenger.
The car is a little funky to fit wide tires on. The front likes 38 offset, and could actually do 35. The rear really needs more like 45. 38-40 is a good compromise if you want to roll the fenders.
Simplify and add lightness.
I had the same experience 15x7, 38 offset, 195/50 tire. Shaving big long 1/8" slivers out of the outside of the tread blocks in the rear anytime I hit a big bump when carrying a passenger.
The car is a little funky to fit wide tires on. The front likes 38 offset, and could actually do 35. The rear really needs more like 45 to keep it off of the fender lips. 38-40 is a good compromise if you want to roll the rear fenders. And with that... you can run 195's, but not 205's.
Good news there is that unless you're autocrossing or something, you really don't need more than 195 on a Mirage.
Simplify and add lightness.
Gnarles2 (07-30-2018),Subcompact Culture (07-29-2018)
Just a little too wide it looks like. I drove the hell out of my Mirage with 185 55 15 and it never rubbed. I had Toyo Proxes on there at first and boy did they have grip. I could go 80 in the rain all day without a worry. I don't see why you would need any more tire than that.
It's certainly not that I need more, but rather a lack of choices in the 15" tire size. Honestly, I hadn't considered 185/55/15. 195/50 was closer to the OE tire diameter so I went with that. I see my S.Drives are available in 185/55/15, only 1.3% difference between my 195/50. I did consider a 185/60/14, however.
I would definitely recommend 185 55. I used Toyo Proxes the first time with a 15 x 6.5" wheel but the second set I actually went with some Kumho Ecsta 4x II that also had excellent grip and overall handling especially in wet weather. I kept them around 36 PSI and 38 when it was colder out.
I was looking really hard at the Yokohama s drives but I decided to go with the toyo's instead. I would like to add that to toyo's completely lost their balance at about 15,000 miles before they were out of tread...
The Toyo Proxes had Supreme grip even in flooded roads. I could yoke 90 degree Corners well over the speed limit in heavy rain without any slippage at all. They just didn't hold up very long. But at 185 / 55 they don't cost that much...
Last edited by HitShane; 07-30-2018 at 05:46 AM.
I have been running 185-55-15 tires (6.5" wheels, 40mm offset) with no rubbing problems for over 50,000 miles. This is on a completely stock 2015. I've carried rear passengers before and never noticed any problems over bumps.
185-55-15s are 1/2" taller than 165-65-14s, but the speedometer difference is almost undetectable. When my ScanGauge says 60mph, my Garmin GPS shows 61 mph. So don't let the minor height difference scare you off.
I run this size because there are good Low Rolling Resistance options available. I don't think I would want to run a 185-55-15 on a 7" wide wheel. The edge of the wheel may stick out further than the sidewall of the tire. If I get close to a curb, the first thing I want to hear is my sidewall rubbing...not my wheel grinding against the concrete.
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View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)
Looks like I waited too long to get the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7 (Non-Studded) 155/70R14 tires. They stopped making them and were really cheap because they were getting rid of their old stock.
Now I'm considering Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 155/65R14 75R but I'm wondering if they are super cheap for the same reason. (And I wish they were taller...I put on a lot of highway miles)
https://www.giga-tires.com/155-65-14...recode/T428380