Front & rear tires are different size
 

When I bought my car, the front tires were 205/60 15, and the back tires were 195/60 15, both on stock 97 accord se rims. I looked inside and the "recommendations" were 185/65 15. Is it okay that the tires are different sizes than the recommendations, on stock rims? I'm about to change the front tires and was wondering if I needed to change the back tires too.

Re: Front & rear tires are different size (WillEat4F00d)
 

i say 195/60 is fine if your back tires are still ok.. 195/60 and 185/65 are about the same accept the 185/65 (series) is just taller and more narrow then the shorter wider 195/60

When I buy the new tires for the front, should I get the recommended 185/65, or the same size as the back (195/60)?

Another thing to consider is buying different models of tires. It could be very detrimental if your new front tires are a lot stickier than your old rear ones.

Re: (old man neri)
 

So what do you recommend? Buy all 4 new tires, or just the front since the back still has a lot of thread left? I also need to know which sizes. None of my tires (front or back) is matching the recommended specs right now. I need to know the "safe" limit (size wise) for which I can buy the new tires.

Re: (WillEat4F00d)
 

what i meant to say is if the 195/60 tires on the back of your car right now are still good then just keep those and get 2 MATCHING 195/60 tires up front to match those in the rear and what neri was saying to do is get the same tire tread design/type to match the rear tires.


i had 195/60 on my accord for years and it was fine..

Re: (Opossum Jenkins)
 

Wow, we don't have anywhere near enough information to provide a good recommendation.

What kind of car is this for (year, model, version)?

And what kind of tires (make and model - e.g. Bridgestone Potenza RE750) are on there now?

How do you use your car? Any autocross or track use?

Do you use these tires year-round? Is there snow and frigid cold in the winter where you live? (If you had filled in your location in your user profile, that would have answered that last question.)

Re: (nsxtasy)
 

I have a 97 Accord SE, with stock rims. I'm using this car as a daily driver, going about ~70 miles each day on the highway. The front two tires will be trash soon, so I'm not even worried about them for now.

I never knew this, but I have two different rear tires, although they look EXACTLY alike. The left side has the Sumitomo Srixon4, and the right side has the Sumitomo Htr H4. Both are the same size: 195/60 15.

This is the part I need help. I am about to change the two front tires very soon. Would I need to change the back two tires too, since they're actually two different tires? What size should I get? Are 195/60 15 tires okay on rims (stock) with the recommended specs of 185/65 15?

Re: (WillEat4F00d)
 

I've bolded my recommendation below.

On your car, you can use any of these three sizes. 195/60-15 is about 1 percent smaller in diameter than 185/65-15 (your stock size); 205/60-15 is about 0.9 percent bigger in diameter than stock. It's not a big deal if you have one size on one axle and a different size on the other axle. However, I wouldn't mix different tire sizes on the same axle (left tire vs right tire). Since you already have two 195/60-15 tires on the car, and you're going to replace the two 205/60-15 tires, I would just get two more 195/60-15 tires, so all four will be the same size.

As a general rule, it's best to use four tires which match for size as well as make/model. If you can't do that, it's best to use four tires which are as close as possible in their performance and handling characteristics. For example, it's not a good idea to use sticky summer tires on one end of the car, and winter tires on the other end of the car, as its handling will be unbalanced (and can change depending on weather conditions).

However, I should also mention that, as much as anybody, I hate the idea of throwing out tires with perfectly usable tread depth, just to make the tires match.

What I would suggest for you is this. Think about what kind of tires you would like to get on your Accord. Then get two of them or four of them, depending on how different they are from what's on your car now (the HTR H4 and Srixon4 are both what the Tire Rack calls "High Performance All-Seasons").

For example, if you want to stick with all-season tires - either because of their longer treadlife, or because you occasionally drive in snow during the winter - then I think you would be fine just buying two all-seasons when you replace your front tires. You could get two more of the HTR H4 ($49 in 185/65-15, $50 in 195/60-15). But another option is the Kumho ASX, which is a better tire than the HTR H4 ($48 in 195/60-15). If it were my car, I would get two of the Kumho ASX in 195/60-15 to replace your front tires. They should put the new tires on the rear, and move the two rear tires to the front. Then when the two HTR H4 wear out, I would replace them with two more of the Kumho ASX in 195/60-15.

However, if you decided to get summer tires on your car - for example, if you never drive in snow, and want the stickier performance of summer tires rather than the longer treadlife of all-season tires - then it would be a good idea to replace all four tires.

The above prices are from the Tire Rack.

Re: (nsxtasy)
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
On your car, you can use any of these three sizes. 195/60-15 is about 1 percent smaller in diameter than 185/65-15 (your stock size); 205/60-15 is about 0.9 percent bigger in diameter than stock.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
I've read somewhere that I should get tires within 1%. How would I figure that out though?
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
If it were my car, I would get two of the Kumho ASX in 195/60-15 to replace your front tires. They should put the new tires on the rear, and move the two rear tires to the front. Then when the two HTR H4 wear out, I would replace them with two more of the Kumho ASX in 195/60-15.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
Why would I get the new tires and put them in the back, then swap out the back ones and put them in the front? I'm not arguing with you, just wondering why. Never mind, I've read the TireRack's explanation of it.

I will order the Kumho ASX (195/60-15) tonight and will do what you told me to do.

Thx.


Modified by WillEat4F00d at 9:15 PM 3/19/2008


Modified by WillEat4F00d at 9:16 PM 3/19/2008

Re: (WillEat4F00d)
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WillEat4F00d &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've read somewhere that I should get tires within 1%. How would I figure that out though?</TD></TR></TABLE>

In the FAQ topic stickied at the top of this forum, you'll find a link to a tire size calculator that lets you compare two different tire sizes.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WillEat4F00d &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I will order the Kumho ASX (195/60-15) tonight and will do what you told me to do.</TD></TR></TABLE>

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