What are the widest tires I could put on stock xB rims?

I do a lot of driving in the rain and I like the most tread possible on the ground for braking.

Thanks,

Kerry

 

I dont have an answer but i/'ve got the same question so lets see some answers right now !! J/k Any help would be cool.

 

actually wider tires are WAY more prone to hydroplaining

 

A "summer high performance" tire is what you want. IF you don't drive mud and snow.

you don't want a super-wide tire.

I can give you only one recommendation from personal experience: The stock tire is pretty decent for wet traction. The Goodyear F1 summer tire is -incredibly wonderful- for wet traction.

A set were just put on this week. I drove all around town in tropical storm weather yesterday. No hyroplaning. In fact these tires grip better in most all of the wet than the Eagle LS tires grip on the dry.

---check out all of the super summer tires available and go for what you like. The best of the non-M+S sticky tires have a traction quality classification of "AA"

Goodyear F1's in the size I got are German made. 195/50/15 This is a -shorter tire than stock.. looks a lot different than the 185/60/15.

The shorter sidewall gives better steering response, less body roll.

 

yokohama avs es 100's are some of the best water tires ever. that center rib is awesome for water. as far as width i'm sure you could slap some sort of 215 on there. 205 would EASILY fit.

 

Great tips all. Thanks.

I like the idea of the "center rib." I have them in my '97 SC1 Saturn and they work fine. So the rule seems to be that thinner is best for minimizing hydroplaning and that short is best for steering and controlling roll and therefore 205/50/15's would be optimum for my requirements? Do I have this right?

With aloha,

Kerry

 

moved

 

im doing 225/50/15s on the back. ill tell ya how it goes!

 

im driving on yokohama prada 2's, I can turn at 40 in the rain, and not hydroplane, they are awesome, i got them riding on asa 17's

 

yes..

It could be said that for a light car the 195 would be better against hydroplaning... but given that the watertread tires are so efficient anti-planers that even the wider ones are quite fine and DO certainly look buffer on an xB.

Here is an F1 in 195 width on my xB. It was just installed. Note the many wide water channels (better, I think, in the looks dept. and it -absolutely has not planed yet- in hard braking on Miami's lately sopping wet streets and puddles


The 205 width will be taller than this tire. I -like- the short height of the 195/50 because it gears down the car and increases braking efficiency by about five percent.

more sidebar stuff:

-Brakes of a given design have more grab or torque on a smaller radiustire.
-The ideal rim width does not pinch in the sidewalls, and so, gives less roll, better steering respons
-smaller radius tire gives greater acceleration ability to the car. Also introduces more speedo error. There is not so much an mpg penalty, but the rpms do go up some.

See the tire size calculator.
(one moment)

 

the tire size calculator. what a neat thing! who found it first, I wonder?

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html


example A: stock to your size



example B: your size down to my size




example C: stock to my size


You see how in fact, the distance from road to hub represents the lever-arm length?
and this is how the torque of both braking and accelerative forces is most easily
altered.

This is how a underpowered car may be made to noticably out-zoom and out-brake and handle better than it's big-rimmed twin brother.

Just by a tire change I gained around five percent better speeding and braking power
and no increase in unsprung weight.
No great increase in tire scrubbing (relatively narrow width), so no loss of power, not really.

Any summer tire you get with an AA traction rating is gonna
give you stickystreet goodtimes

 

Go the other way now...

Example C: a popular fashion-tuners' tire size


what is gained in buff appearance trades against poorer accel and braking torqueand generally less-nimble handling, increase tire wear and scuff (a further, slight power loss), and too, more slight lost energy due to the probably-greater unsprung weight. But that latter only on rough roads.

summary:
mini wheels run faster, brake better... but are not currently in style.
You lose some speedo calibration. Chadfo can fix that, though with a custom dial face if it really matters to you.

I can run and brake nearly 10% better than this cited tire size,
using no other speed equipment at all

 

Way cool SciFly, thanks. I

like the looks of the water tread on your F1's. Just the fact that the shorter height adds 5% braking efficiency sells me.

Kerry

 

There seems to be a great number of nearly-look-alike V treads like the F1.
Of all that I've seen (maybe four, this week, by searching) the F1 has the
most clean-and-mean look in it's tread V's

-If you get from Tire Rack like I did be SURE to say when they ask "what is the car these are going on?"
Answer either "none of your worry" or "Scion xA".

If you state the 195/50's are for an xB... no sale! Why?
-the load rating of this particular tire is sixty pounds less than the load rating of the OEM tire.
Tire Rack apparently -must- protect itself from peeps who would use a smaller-load
rated tire and then sue when it blows

1042lbs / each tire is the load rating of this particular F1.
I do not haul wet bales or concrete mix on the interstates.
I go nowhere near this load rating, ever. No worries.
OEM Eagle LS in Scion xB size rates at 1102lbs. This F1 size is 1042lbs.
4x60lbs = leave Uncle Bud at home by the TV, and do not run 106 mph on any sort
of underinflated tires, ever.

Add pressure if you're loaded and must run at sustained higher speeds.
It is a heat generation problem that blows tire sidewalls out.


Load ratings are... like stereotyping women or men or anything else:
useful as general guides. There are -always- mitigating factors to take into
consideration.
Under-rated tires may at times be run over their ratings without the least problem.
But no maker or vendor can dare say this anymore in public.

no worries. have fun. kwyadawyadi

BTW: Goodyear currently offers a $60 factory rebate on these tires when bought in a set of four. It's a mail in thing very easy to apply for.
Tire Rack.com provides the rebate form to you by mail along with your paper receipt of purchase.

I like that my own set of tires were made in Germany. The QC seems likely to be superior there because the local market expects autobahn safety.
These are truly Euro tires.
Perhaps some of the larger, tuner sizes of F1s are made elsewhere? I do not know.

ack. too much info. pardon my excess of words

 

I'd be getting them from our Goodyear dealer with whom I've had a long standing account. I'm wondering if they would install them on an xB given your load rating data.

Kerry

 

just bear in mind- last warning- you will have a larger wheel gap (the dreaded "wheel gap" arrrgh...
but.. you know what? I don't mind it so much and I will be dropping the body height
before too much longer. Then be more slammed than many on 2" drops because
these tires already did a half inch drop for free.

Let us know what your Goodyear dealer says about liability issues.
He'll have to order your tires from the distributor, prolly?
Ask him whether all F1 tires are made in Germany, please.
Am curious to learn more.

 

It will be a while but will do.

Thanks a lot,

Kerry