Miata Mailing List: June 1994, Message #94
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   From: kenw@netaxs.com (Ken Warren)
Subject: Re: 195/55 R14
   Date: Mon, 6 Jun 1994 22:51:20 -0400

At 03:10 PM 6/6/94 -0400, Mike Rother wrote:

>Has anyone tried a tire size of 195/55 R14 on the stock 6.5 inch rims?
>I'm wondering about the following, in comparison to the stock size
>of 185/60 R14:
>
>	- handling changes
>	- ride changes
>	- I have a manual-steering (base model) Miata, and wonder if
>	  the 195/55 tire size would increase steering effort. 

I can make the following comments:

1) The stock rims are 14x5.5, not 14x6.5
2) Wider tires will probably increase slightly the steering effort required 
to make a turn.
3) you may or may not get an improvement in handling; 195s will bulge more 
than the stock 185s, which means that you won't get as much tire in contact 
with the road as with a wider wheel. This may or may not be significant.
4) The ride will probably deteriorate slightly. This is bacause you're 
probably replacing an H speed rated tire with a V or Z rated tire. The 
sidewalls are going to be stiffer. Other than that, there shoud be little 
change.

--
Ken
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           Ken Warren               E-Mail: kenw@netaxs.com
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Finger me for the current Philadelphia Region SCCA Solo II schedule...