Mk3 Wheels

[snailslime]

I would say thats a very good price for fitted Yokos

[Lauren]

Stuart, how much are looking for 1 of the 15"? its not necessary to have them all the same but nice, but all depends on price and location.

Is £164.88 for 4 NEW x Yokohama A539 195/50 R15 V fitted and balanced a good price?

Does the tyres for the rear not need to be slightly wider as the alloys are slightly wider at the rear? I asume not as everybody has said same tyres all round.

THANKS ALL!

No just use the same width all round, will be fine.

[trunks_mk1]

Hi, I know this thread had died a long time ago but just a quick question,

Would there be any real problem putting roadster Front 15x6J on all four corners and the same again with Rear 15x6.5J on all four corners? Tyres would be 195/50/15.

I am coming across another set in better condition than mine but was thinking of putting the wider alloys all around.

thanks

[cartledge_uk]

I would say not really an issue, the tyres are still the same size and the rims are only 0.5 inch bigger which is nothing really, you probably wont notice the difference.

[trunks_mk1]

cool! i didn't think it would be an issue just wanted to get other owners experienced opinions. I was hoping this was the case so now I have a whole set of 6.5 and 6. so which ever ones are in the better condition will go on the car and now a set for track days!...when it happens! wooo

Cheers!

[Ben]

I had 6.5J 15" alloys with 195 tyres on mine with no issue

[Keri-WMS]

I've got a set of 5 rear Mk3 16's for my Mk1 - took a bit of searching!

It's note quite as chuckable as it was on 15's, but it feels a lot more "planted" - on 215/40/16's. Here's how the tyre options worked out:

Specification - - Sidewall - - Radius - - - Diameter - Circumference - Revs/Mile - Difference
185/60-14 - - - - 4.4in - - - - 11.4in - - - - 22.7in - - - - 71.4in - - - - - - 887 - - - - 0.0% (AW11 14" - as far as I can remember!)
215/40-16 - - - - 3.4in - - - - 11.4in - - - - 22.8in - - - - 71.5in - - - - - - 886 - - - - 0.1%
195/45-16 - - - - 3.5in - - - - 11.5in - - - - 22.9in - - - - 72.0in - - - - - - 880 - - - - 0.7%
205/45-16 - - - - 3.6in - - - - 11.6in - - - - 23.3in - - - - 73.1in - - - - - - 867 - - - - 2.3%
215/45-16 - - - - 3.8in - - - - 11.8in - - - - 23.6in - - - - 74.2in - - - - - - 854 - - - - 3.9%
205/50-16 - - - - 4.0in - - - - 12.0in - - - - 24.1in - - - - 75.6in - - - - - - 838 - - - - 5.9%

OEM Roadster 16" rear = 215/45-16

Here they are, in black:










(...yeah I know - tyre's on the wrong side in this shot!)

[Lauren]

That's well over-tyred though Keri, not much fun to be had in regards with handling with such wide tyres on.

[Keri-WMS]

That's well over-tyred though Keri, not much fun to be had in regards with handling with such wide tyres on.

Seems fine to me, loads more grip when it's dry than either the OEM 14's, or the 195s I got on the previous 15's. Static friction goes up with area so that makes sense.

In the wet of course it's more twitchy, but still nice and predicable.

It's about the same in terms of balance and how the back steps out, it just does it a lot later in the dry.

The only downside I can see is on track as they are too wide to get heat into easily, but this isn't a track car, it's a road car.

[Lauren]

Seems fine to me, loads more grip when it's dry than either the OEM 14's, or the 195s I got on the previous 15's. Static friction goes up with area so that makes sense.

In the wet of course it's more twitchy, but still nice and predicable.

It's about the same in terms of balance and how the back steps out, it just does it a lot later in the dry.

The only downside I can see is on track as they are too wide to get heat into easily, but this isn't a track car, it's a road car.

It will be 'fine', though having such wide tyres will not help the handling balance. On an NA the best setup I have found is the OEM sizes because that way you can exploit the handling of the car as there isn't too much grip and it makes steering the car on the throttle somewhat easier. On an SC 195/50/15s are absolutely fine because you have that much more power.

As a general rule of thumb unless you have a car that is very much wide of the mark of the OEM specification (ie V8s etc) then OEM is generally best as these are the tyre sizes that the car was designed to handle on and it's hard to better that.

I'll bet your car tramlines like an absolute bu88er though. Tried 205s on a MK1 and that was terrible for it under braking.

[Keri-WMS]

On an NA the best setup I have found is the OEM sizes because that way you can exploit the handling of the car as there isn't too much grip and it makes steering the car on the throttle somewhat easier.

The whole point was to increase the grip so I could give the brakes a hard time - plus I like grip! If I wanted to drift I would get a set of skinny wheels.

As a general rule of thumb unless you have a car that is very much wide of the mark of the OEM specification (ie V8s etc) then OEM is generally best as these are the tyre sizes that the car was designed to handle on and it's hard to better that.

The suspension geometry is unchanged as the rolling OD is the same, of course the wheel weight and tyre complience both change. OEM stuff also has cost heavily in the equation, smaller wheels are cheaper after all.

I'll bet your car tramlines like an absolute bu88er though. Tried 205s on a MK1 and that was terrible for it under braking.

Nope, never noticed a problem unless the road is bad enough to have standing water in the ruts.

I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do, but my car feels ideal for me, on the road, unless there's ice/slime about.

[Hebruins]

Never had any problems with tramlinning either in the last 3.5 years I've been driving on 205 tyres (205/45/16).

And do keep in mind, that the stock size is always a compromise the manufacturer made between; handling, economics and being suitable for every kind of driver. (e.g. smaller tyres steers lighter, cost less, good enough for everyday normal driving)

[Lauren]

Never had any problems with tramlinning either in the last 3.5 years I've been driving on 205 tyres (205/45/16).

And do keep in mind, that the stock size is always a compromise the manufacturer made between; handling, economics and being suitable for every kind of driver. (e.g. smaller tyres steers lighter, cost less, good enough for everyday normal driving)

It might be worth keeping in mind that toyota have a fair amount of expertise and funding in order to design a car to handle on a given tyre/wheel size, that's why the handling balance is so much better on OEM size rims. Grip is not the same as handling.

[Lauren]

I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do, but my car feels ideal for me, on the road, unless there's ice/slime about.

Well if you're happy with it that's fine.

Not my cup of tea though purely because the grip levels would be too high to exploit the handling.

[SuperRedMR2]

I ran the mk3 tyre setup when I first bought mine - it tramlined so badly it felt unsafe. I felt safer with my triangle wheels on 185s

[Keri-WMS]

I ran the mk3 tyre setup when I first bought mine - it tramlined so badly it felt unsafe. I felt safer with my triangle wheels on 185s

Did you change the tyres to get the right rolling diameter for the AW11 or keep the Mk3 tyres as well as the wheels?

[Lauren]

I ran the mk3 tyre setup when I first bought mine - it tramlined so badly it felt unsafe. I felt safer with my triangle wheels on 185s

I drove an SC on track with the stock MK3 wheel and tyre setup. It understeered so badly it was a waste of time driving it. It was just rubbish handling wise.

[SuperRedMR2]

I kept the mk3 tyres.

Altho since then, for the last 2 years i've always ran 195/50/15s and they are excellent. I have had 16" inch alloys on before on 195/45/16s and they didnt feel right. They were Yoko A539s but they gave you a bit too much confidence.

[userOO2]

Hi there,

I'm new to this and now thinking of changing my wheels. I like to change 15 inch with 185/55. Because of being 185 I'm wondering whether 6.5J is too big than instead of 6J.
Any help please. Thanks