Difference between 195 and 205 tires in the front?

M

Mannie111

Member
i'm having a really hard time deciding whether to get 195 or 205 sized replacement tires for my sportmax 002's. not sure the wheel specs they're 16's all around but i don't know the width or offset.

the fronts have 195/50/16 right now and the rears have 215/55/16.

i wanna change the rears to 205/50/16s for a more stretched look and not such a FAT sidewall but i'm not sure what to do in the fronts if i should keep 195s or 205s. One of my buddies told me 205s will give me better handling when i'm taking corners and sliding is this true?

oh and this is my 6th 240 but for some reason the power steering in this car feels "heavier" like harder to turn than my other 240s. is this normal? should i flush out the PS system and put new fluid i dont really like how it feels.

thanks for all the help.
 
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^i beg to differ I had 195 all around on my car and it drove fine. I even threw on a pair of 185/60's in the front but they were 15s.
 
so the way i take it is....:

wider tires in the front = more grip / better handling

smaller tires in the front = faster acceleration?
 
A little stretch is cool if you want to tuck tire, but with that much of a stretch on that skinny of a tire up front (195), on a car that already understeers... have fun

if its a HeLlA fLuSh ShOw CaR yO! , and you want the lip of the rim to be 1 millimeter away from the fender, then go for the 195's, but if you plan on actually driving your car hard or taking it to the track, wouldnt you want good grip? If i had 16x8 i would want at least 205/50 in the front, but id probably have 215/50 all around.Thats enough grip for the front and not too much at all for the back

Some people like a little bit of stretch in the back cause skinnier tires kick out easier and are easier to keep them spinning with low power. Allso, when its stretched, the sidewall is a lot stiffer, which means much less flex in the sidewall when your drifting and doing transitions compared to a bubble sidewall or flat sidewall. But with low profile tires this isnt that big of an issue

205 is just fine of a stretch on an 8 inch wide rim, its not like thats crazy wide. For reference, when i had my 300zx TT rims on my s14, which were 16x7.5 up front and 16x8.5 in the back, i had 225/55/16 up front, and 245/50/16 in the back. I was only on springs, and it wasnt flush, but overall i liked how it looked and i LOVED how it drove. I had a stock KA and no rear sway bar (base model), with just a j30 vlsd, and i had no problems sliding the shit out of it with the 245s in the back, not to mention i had awesome grip going through turns
 
Mannie111 said:
smaller tires in the front = faster acceleration?
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if its front wheel drive...

changing the DIAMETER of the drive wheels would change acceleration (smaller - faster but lower top speed per gear) (bigger - slower but higher top speed per gear)

we are talking about how WIDE his tires are, or add grip/handling. its not going to be insane difference, but it will be more rubber = more grip. This only is true if you are comparing the SAME brand/model of tire. If you change to a higher quality tire, the same width could be more grip.
 
topsecrets13 said:
^i beg to differ I had 195 all around on my car and it drove fine. I even threw on a pair of 185/60's in the front but they were 15s.
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yea it will drive fine with any size tire i'm sure but the difference is very noticeable especially if you drive above 60mph daily
 
Sketchy564 said:
A little stretch is cool if you want to tuck tire, but with that much of a stretch on that skinny of a tire up front (195), on a car that already understeers... have fun

if its a HeLlA fLuSh ShOw CaR yO! , and you want the lip of the rim to be 1 millimeter away from the fender, then go for the 195's, but if you plan on actually driving your car hard or taking it to the track, wouldnt you want good grip? If i had 16x8 i would want at least 205/50 in the front, but id probably have 215/50 all around.Thats enough grip for the front and not too much at all for the back

Some people like a little bit of stretch in the back cause skinnier tires kick out easier and are easier to keep them spinning with low power. Allso, when its stretched, the sidewall is a lot stiffer, which means much less flex in the sidewall when your drifting and doing transitions compared to a bubble sidewall or flat sidewall. But with low profile tires this isnt that big of an issue

205 is just fine of a stretch on an 8 inch wide rim, its not like thats crazy wide. For reference, when i had my 300zx TT rims on my s14, which were 16x7.5 up front and 16x8.5 in the back, i had 225/55/16 up front, and 245/50/16 in the back. I was only on springs, and it wasnt flush, but overall i liked how it looked and i LOVED how it drove. I had a stock KA and no rear sway bar (base model), with just a j30 vlsd, and i had no problems sliding the shit out of it with the 245s in the back, not to mention i had awesome grip going through turns
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Because of your threads and post, you shouldnt be giving and "tech" section help.

Should just be banned from the section in general.
 
lol @ retards in tags

how did i get "pwned" or "rapped" in any way? (which by the way you spelled raped wrong dumbass)

pauls post wasnt even funny either, just somebody bored in front of their computer that felt like talking shit
all the info i gave was accurate and legit, to help the original poster out with his question

sfldrifters is awesome!!
 
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