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Thread: Other 14" tire sizes?

  1. #11
    Senior Member timw4mail's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark View Post
    I would never add width to a tire for snow. NEVER!!!!! Especially on a small front wheel drive car like the Mirage. You couldn’t give me a wider snow tire for free. I’ve been climbing winter ridge roads in southwest Wisconsin for over 25 years. My experience is that skinner tires just bite in better & cuts through the snow easier, too. If I owned a lightweight car with wide tires, I would invest in tire chains instead. Seriously! Personally, I would stick with factory size tires. I would never go wider! Others may have different opinions, but I driven enough on bad winter roads with various vehicles to know adding width to a snow tire on a small car is counterproductive.

    I just did a general search of what I saw out there in the U.S. market. If I were buying snow tires today, these would be my top 3 picks. Someone could surely research this some more, but I wouldn’t have a problem with any of the 165/65r14 tires listed below. I would have a problem going with a wider tire, but that’s just me.

    Dunlop WinterMaxx WM02 @ tirerack.com for $84.47 with free shipping
    Nokian Nordman 7 (non-studded) @ tires-easy.com for $78.10 with free shipping
    Vredestein QuacTrac 5 @ tirerack.com for $80.27 with free shipping

    I have no experience with the Dunlop snow tires, but I am sure these tires would be fine for winter roads.

    I have a pair of the Nokian tires, & I used them on front to climb ridge roads last winter. I was very happy with them. The price today is less than what I paid for them last December. I added these to an extra pair of 14” x 5.5” steel rims, but the 14” x 4.5” factory rims would be a better fit. Nokian has a long, standing reputation for quality snow tires. My oldest daughter now lives in Finland, but I must admit my Nokian snow tires were made in Russia.

    The Vredestein tires (European) are all-season tires that may actually do well on winter roads. I’ve only noticed these recently. The reviews for this tire seem very good. It’s worth looking at in my opinion, & I have only seen tirerack.com carry them in the 165/65-14 size. If these were available last winter, I would have considered them for sure.

    Keep in mind – the Dunlop and Nokian are not meant for year round use. Thus, some of the appeal of the Vredestein, too. If these tires don’t trip your trigger, I would start looking at 175/65-14 tires. You would be going from a 22.4” diameter tire to 23” diameter tire (which is not a huge difference), & you will find numerous options. As long as 165 wide snow tires exist, that’s the route I am going. I am a firm believer in skinny is better than fat!
    That's all good, and the OEM size is actually reasonable in cost. The issue is that cheap 14" steels for those tires are going to be wider than OEM anyway. And I'm not going to be using the alloys in the snow.

    The OEM wheels are 14x4.5, the closest steel wheels are 14x6.


    Last edited by timw4mail; 09-05-2018 at 10:45 PM. Reason: Slightly more detail

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  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by timw4mail View Post
    That's all good, and the OEM size is actually reasonable in cost. The issue is that cheap 14" steels for those tires are going to be wider than OEM anyway. And I'm not going to be using the alloys in the snow.

    The OEM wheels are 14x4.5, the closest steel wheels are 14x6.
    I bought 2 steel rims from onlywheels.com. $50/rim with free shipping. They were 14" x 5.5", and that is still within an acceptable range for 165/65-14 tires. The cheap Mitsubishi hubcaps slapped right on them, but I have steel rims with hubcaps to begin with. I would not buy 6" wide rims for snow tires, but that's me. The 2017 & up Mirages have larger front brakes. I also know these steel rims clear without issue.

    If you like the thought of wider wheels (175 & 185) some day, I would use your 4.5" factory rims for 165/65-14 snow tires. They are the perfect size for that. Come next spring, you could order a set of new wheels (rims/tires). I would say order them already mounted/balanced, but our stupid TPMS creates another whole issue.

    I am not a fan of TPMS. I had a tire blow out a couple weeks ago. I knew I had a problem long before the dash light came on. Being able to clone sensors would help, but I am not a fan!!!!

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    Quote Originally Posted by timw4mail View Post
    That's all good, and the OEM size is actually reasonable in cost. The issue is that cheap 14" steels for those tires are going to be wider than OEM anyway. And I'm not going to be using the alloys in the snow.

    The OEM wheels are 14x4.5, the closest steel wheels are 14x6.
    I understand the concept of using cheap steel wheels for winter, because that is what I am doing. I started with cheap steel rims, however. Given what you already have, I would consider a different approach. I would use your narrow 4.5" rims for factory size snow tires. If you want to go with a wider nicer looking tire later on, you can spend a little extra money on some 5-6" wide alloy rims. Why waste money on steel rims & lame looking hubcaps?

    It's your decision, but I would look at how much a nice basic set of alloy wheels will cost you over new steel rims. It may not be much more than $100 dollars total. Your factory alloy wheels are a perfect size for snow tires. They are not so good for upgrading to wider tires. Given what you already have, I would take a different approach than me.

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    Senior Member timw4mail's Avatar
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    Hmm, it looks like for the iQ I had 16x5 wheels, with 175/60R16 tires.

    TPMS is enough of a pain in that it's a US requirement...but it looks like Mitsubishi makes things a little worse than Toyota...

    Guess I can't buy only from TireRack, because they don't have a 14/5.5 wheel.

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2018 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 33.6 mpg (US) ... 14.3 km/L ... 7.0 L/100 km ... 40.4 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member timw4mail's Avatar
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    Here's what I'm thinking

    Wheels: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vision-SW60...m/302861901580
    TPMS: https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-TPMS-For-...r/253823206648
    Tires: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...=WinterSection

    And then I see about Discount Tire mounting, and getting lugs.


    And if I have some more spare cash, hubcaps: https://www.ebay.com/itm/14-Full-Moo...s/231131289521

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2018 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 33.6 mpg (US) ... 14.3 km/L ... 7.0 L/100 km ... 40.4 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by timw4mail View Post
    Hmm, it looks like for the iQ I had 16x5 wheels, with 175/60R16 tires.
    A person really needs to use a tire size comparison calculator. A factory 165/65-14 tire is 22.4" in diameter. Despite what people say or do, I feel the Mirage tires should be somewhere between 22.4 to 23". I see no reason to go way beyond 23" to find all sort of options. Walmart offers 4 tires in 165/65-14. A 175/65-14 is 23" in diameter, & Walmart offers more than 80 tire options in that size. I am not promoting Walmart. I am just using that as an example.

    A 175/60r16 tire is 24.3" in diameter. That's almost 2 full inches over stock tires. I know some run tires like that, but I would never do that. It doesn't matter if you use 14", 15", or 16" tires. What matters is overall tire diameter. No matter what a person does, I feel staying with 23" overall diameter is better for this car. It doesn't have great rear shocks/springs nor a lot extra clearance in the rear.

    You can look up tire charts. It will give you all the tire sizes that fall within 22-23". Then it pays to see what might be offered in a size you are interested in.

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    Senior Member timw4mail's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark View Post
    A person really needs to use a tire size comparison calculator. A factory 165/65-14 tire is 22.4" in diameter. Despite what people say or do, I feel the Mirage tires should be somewhere between 22.4 to 23". I see no reason to go way beyond 23" to find all sort of options. Walmart offers 4 tires in 165/65-14. A 175/65-14 is 23" in diameter, & Walmart offers more than 80 tire options in that size. I am not promoting Walmart. I am just using that as an example.

    A 175/60r16 tire is 24.3" in diameter. That's almost 2 full inches over stock tires. I know some run tires like that, but I would never do that. It doesn't matter if you use 14", 15", or 16" tires. What matters is overall tire diameter. No matter what a person does, I feel staying with 23" overall diameter is better for this car. It doesn't have great rear shocks/springs nor a lot extra clearance in the rear.

    You can look up tire charts. It will give you all the tire sizes that fall within 22-23". Then it pays to see what might be offered in a size you are interested in.
    Yeah, not going to be running 16" tires for winter. I was just noting the width of the tires.

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2018 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 33.6 mpg (US) ... 14.3 km/L ... 7.0 L/100 km ... 40.4 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark View Post
    A person really needs to use a tire size comparison calculator.
    Agreed. Here are some useful websites for anyone tossing around wheel/tire ideas...

    https://www.willtheyfit.com

    http://www.wheel-size.com

    https://tiresize.com


    Remember that the stock Mirage wheels are 14x4.5 with a 46mm offset.

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        click to view fuel log 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)


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    Senior Member timw4mail's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by timw4mail View Post
    Here's what I'm thinking

    Wheels: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vision-SW60...m/302861901580
    TPMS: https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-TPMS-For-...r/253823206648
    Tires: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...=WinterSection

    And then I see about Discount Tire mounting, and getting lugs.


    And if I have some more spare cash, hubcaps: https://www.ebay.com/itm/14-Full-Moo...s/231131289521
    I was looking at a size comparison when I put this together ^

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2018 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 33.6 mpg (US) ... 14.3 km/L ... 7.0 L/100 km ... 40.4 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by timw4mail View Post
    I was looking at a size comparison when I put this together ^
    I am going to preface this by saying I am somewhat cheap.

    You have nice alloy wheels, but they are narrow. Perfect for snow tires. Not so great for adding a wider/lower profile tires some day. I wouldn’t waste my money on steel rims and cheap looking hubcaps. If my factory tires are starting to wear down enough where I am not as comfortable with them for winter roads, I would take this approach with what you already have.

    I would buy four 165/65r14 winter tires this fall. I already shared some good options. I would mount the new winter tires to the factory rims, but I would remove the sensors from them first. Unless someone can clone your factory sensors, I would just live with the dash light being on for a few winter months. These new winter tires are not going to be your primary tires any more.

    By next spring, I would have some new 14” rims picked out, & I would add my factory sensors to the new rims. I would put my money here rather buying ugly steel tires.

    If your factory tires has some life in them & you kept them, you still have the option of using your factory tires on the new 14” rims. A 22-23” tire is just that. Whether 22-23” diameter tires are on 14” or 15” rims isn’t that big of deal to me. Personally, I prefer a higher profile tire (14”) over a lower one (15”). That’s personal preference, however. We are only talking one inch difference here, & the overall tire diameter should be approximately the same regardless of choice. Sticking with 14" rims allows to use tires you already have, & you can still buy/add new ones to match these new rims.

    In summary, I would mount new winter tires to my factory alloy rims with the sensors removed. When it comes time to pull the snow tires, I would have new rims picked out. My tire sensors would be added to these new wheels, because these would be my primary wheels now. If cloning sensors works some day, you can always add a clone set to your winter tires.

    I would not mess with steel wheels. I would not buy really wide rims either. My former Honda CRV had 6” wide rims. When a tire is off the rim, even 6” looks extremely wide for a small car like the Mirage. I realize others make wide rims work, but 5-6” wide rims are plenty wide for 165 to 185 tires.

    The Mirage does not have the best shocks/springs, and the rear end doesn’t have much clearance. If you use 165 to 185 tires that are 23” or under in diameter, I doubt you will have little to be concerned about. I wouldn’t go overboard with large tires (width & overall diameter). It's still a small economy car. Tires alone can't make it something it isn't.

    I started with steel rims. Thus, I stuck with them. If I had narrow alloy rims like you have, I would have done things quite differently. Those narrow alloy rims would be my future winter tires. If wanted slightly wider tires some day, I would focus my money on new alloy wheels for them. I wouldn't throw money at steel wheels for winter use only.

    I probably over shared here, but it's just another approach to all this.



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