205/55/R16 - ok?

[02TafWhtSi]

I've found a lot of good all-season tire choices in this size and even checked it on the Miata tire calc and this is what came up: 195/60/15 vs. 205/55/16 = 2.7% too slow. When your speedo reads 60 mph you will actually be traveling 61.6 mph.

My question is this - I can live with an extra 1.6 mph difference but how will this translate into real world feeling? Will acceleration be off? Handling? I am looking for "High Performance All Season" and see some good choices. Opinions?

[02TafWhtSi]

By the Way - these are the wheels I'll be buying along with whatever tires I decide on:


Konig Ziege

16X7 4-100 40S

Finish: Silver
Silver powder coat with a glossy finish

[todaCspec]

How about 205 50 16"? That's a closer match, more of an accurate reading on the speedo.

[civic hatch boi]

yeah, i agree. 205/50/16. 55's will be too large.

[02TafWhtSi]

OK, thanks guys;)

[ThickMick]

Are you getting rid of your S-03's? Anything wrong with them? I'm just curious cause I plan to get them in 205 55 15 (like you), but if they didn't work out for you in the end, I might change my mind. Thanks.

[carpsir]

I just swapped out 205 55 16's for 205 40 17's. I found the
55/16's were too tall, mushy handling, loss of low end grunt
on acceleration..... with 16 inchers stay with 50 series.

[CSMsi311]

My friend has Dunlop SP Sport 5000 on his 99 si with stock suspension. and his car grips hard. And has really good traction in the snow. Only down side to these are they don't last long.

I needed some tires that would last longer so I got the lesser performance model Dunlop SP Sport A2 on my 99 Si. I won't call this high performance, but they are still better than my stock Michelins. Great in the snow and very low road noise.

I did some research at tirerack.com. they have customer reviews of the tires on their website.

[02TafWhtSi]

Originally posted by ThickMick
Are you getting rid of your S-03's? Anything wrong with them? I'm just curious cause I plan to get them in 205 55 15 (like you), but if they didn't work out for you in the end, I might change my mind. Thanks.

If you live in an area that has smooth and fun roads you can not beat em'! However, I've found that on really bad and uncared for roads - like here in NJ - they really don't make much sense. Look through my thread on tramlining to see what I mean. I love these tires for what they can do but I really can't take advatage of them in this area. BTW - I'm willing to sell them off cheap if you are interested - I've put only about 2K miles so far so they still have a long tread life left!
Tramlining thread

[02TafWhtSi]

p.s. ThickMick - My Yokohama Avid V4s (205/55/15 V rated) should be arriving within the next few days so as soon as I get em' mounted and balanced the SO-3s will be up for grabs. :) These new Avids should be much more realistic for my driving routine. They are considered "Hi-Performance All Season" and obviously give up some grip and cornering stability for all weather purposes but should fix my tramlining problem.

[ThickMick]

The roads here stink as well so I'll definately go with something other than the S-03's (Damn I wanted to get that tire!). I'll prob. go with the Yoko ES100 now like Joe. But I can't decided if the 50 series would be better or the 55 series. I'd like 205 50 15 (cause I like light and small), but I fear they may look stupid with a Pro-Kit drop. However, the 55 series may just be too mushy like carpsir said and I don't want that.

Thanks very much for the offer and thanks for your input.