Any problems running different size tires front and rear? 165/65/14 185/60/14

[ken2400]

Wondering if there would be any problems running different size tires front and rear? 165/65/14 185/60/14
If not should the front or rear have the wider tires?

Thanks

[mohammad]

the owners manual recommends against this as it will confuse the traction control module into thinking the wheels are slipping.

[Mark]

Wondering if there would be any problems running different size tires front and rear? 165/65/14 185/60/14
If not should the front or rear have the wider tires?

Thanks

Width is irrelevant. Given all the extra crap (ABS, traction/stability control) on cars these days, tire diameter may matter.

After spending all that extra money to keep your TPMS working properly, I wouldn't skimp out on tires for a car that my daughter would be driving. Will ABS & ASC (active stability control) detect a slight difference in tire diameter from front to back? I don't personally know. I also wouldn't go out of my way to find out.

Common tire sizes (acceptable 3% variance) used on the Mirage -

165/65r14 = 22.4"
175/65r14 = 23" (+2.7% variance)
185/60r14 = 22.7" (+1.3% variance)

175/55r15 = 22.6" (+0.9% variance)
185/55r15 = 23" (+2.7% variance)

My 2017 Mirage hasn't had a matching set of tires on it since the summer of 2018, but all of my tires are the same size. This is one reason I stick with 165/65r14 tires. I use up older tires during the summer months.

So far I have used 165/65r14 -
Dunlop Enasave
Federal SS657
Nokian Nordman 7
Nexen N'Priz AH5
Kumho Solus TA31

My 4 factory Dunlop tires may have spent about 4 months on my Mirage (lost one early on to a sidewall issue), & they were the only matching set of tires that I have had on my Mirage. I haven't notice any issues with worn tires being used with newer tires (front/back or back/front).

I didn't toss my factory Dunlop tires when losing one. I used a pair of factory Dunlop tires along with a pair of Federal tires for several summers. This past summer was the end of all four of them.

Just an observation - the used winter tires you picked up & shared in another thread were -

185/65r14 = 23.5" (+4.9% variance) - but maybe you are asking about different tires now?

[ken2400]

Background
Bought 2015 Mirage with 65 K and now has about 73K or so
Came with 4 185/60/14 tires
The 4 tires I bought at a local you pull it place are 165/65/14 (Factory) from a 2018 Mirage
Two of them have 5/32 left on them so I want to re-use them.
The front two 185/60/14 on the car are getting kinda thin. I don't have the car now to note the details of the tires on the car.

So I looks I maybe getting two new tires unless I can find some other decent ones?

[7milesout]

ken - For some reason, I am really behind you on this effort. I think it must be my conservative nature. Here's my take...

Diameters / circumferences are going to be the factor to consider. The 165/65 R14 tires new have a mathematical diameter of 22.445". But the ones you have found are worn down. So it will be less. These new tires are listed with 9/32 tread depth. The tires you have you said have 5/32 left. Just some rough math, the worn 165's should be at 22.195" (22.2 is close enough) overall diameter.

Assuming the 185's started with 9/32 and are worn down to 3/32, they would have an effective diameter of 22.365 inches. This is less than 1% difference in diameter between the two worn tires. And roughly 1.5% difference between the 2 in circumference.

I have my doubts that the vehicle's traction control or ABS systems are going to have an issue with this ... but that's just my opinion, I've been wrong before. So, I personally think it is worth trying.

[Fummins]

the owners manual recommends against this as it will confuse the traction control module into thinking the wheels are slipping.

I can't agree with this. The car couldn't care less how wide the tires are. Height yes(you'd think), width nope. I once drove around for a few days with a mini-spare on. The car didn't get pissy about it.

As for different height....Prior to installing the donut, I drove a few miles on a completely flat tire(winter, ****ty roads, that's my excuse).... You'd think the traction control confusion light would have been going off constantly driving around on a tire that's now 4" shorter than the other 3.....Theory doesn't always translate to real life.

[Mark]

I can't agree with this. The car couldn't care less how wide the tires are. Height yes(you'd think), width nope. I once drove around for a few days with a mini-spare on. The car didn't get pissy about it.

As for different height....Prior to installing the donut, I drove a few miles on a completely flat tire(winter, ****ty roads, that's my excuse).... You'd think the traction control confusion light would have been going off constantly driving around on a tire that's now 4" shorter than the other 3.....Theory doesn't always translate to real life.

I don't think Mohammad was referring to width when he posted that. It's about running tires of different diameters on the front compared to the back. Width is irrelevant.

There's no harm in trying & see what happens - like Fummins is suggesting somewhat.

I like cars better when they didn't have ABS, ASC, & TPMS.

I would never run different diameter tires on an AWD vehicle. I do make sure my sets of tires are matching for my Forester.