What tyres for 16 alloys

[spaceportuk]

Hi folks, just picked up a set of Borbet 16" alloys for my 98 1.7 melina blue Puma. It has not been lowered. Alloy wheel specs are 16" 7j with 35 offset.

My question is tyre size, 205 40 16 is probably the size to go for however i'm considering 215 40 16 too. If I go with 215's can I expect rubbing, if so where?.

 

[CherryVimto]

205/40/16 will be the nearest diameter to standard wheels/tyres. I've had that size fitted on 16" 7J wheels with an offset of 38 and lowered on coilovers with no rubbing issues.
With the setup I had the front tyres was pretty damn close to the struts.
With 215 tyres it may be even closer but not sure.

 

[TGPlayer1]

I found that 215/40 was the closest to standard, with only a couple of mm diameter difference. Either way with at ET35 you shouldn't get rubbing except on full lock, as I had 6.5J with ET40 and lowered and they only rubbed on full lock.

 

[spaceportuk]

Wheels turned up from Poland, 4 x Borbet 16" 7.5J, ET35. Fitted 4 Falken ZE914 215/40/16 tyres this morning and all is good, no rubbing, looking good, fills the arches nicely. Looks like the folks I got them from drive into Germany, pick up Borbet alloys and ship them all over Europe. Really can't complain, took 3 days to get here and DPD even text you with an ETA within the hour.

Reason I went with 16" was previous owner had done a 300mm mondeo brake upgrade but I swapped out the 15" alloys he fitted with stock 15" fan ones and with minimal filling to the leading edge of the caliper and the fitting of a 5mm spacer the fan ones just fitted, however there was about 1.5mm gap between the inside edge of the fans and the outside edge of the caliper. Didn't catch but too close for me. Now got 15mm gap and more airflow all round.

 

[grayfox]

195/45 is what u want with 16's iv got RS3's on 7J Speedlines and they're great.

 

[spaceportuk]

Too thin, don't want the stretched look, my rims are 7.5J wide.

 

[grayfox]

Too thin, don't want the stretched look, my rims are 7.5J wide.

Ahhh thought you said 7J in your first post bonus of 195 on 7J (or the same step up from any size) is it effectively stiffens the sidewalls and feels better planted in the bends.

 

[spaceportuk]

Seller said they were 7J, turns out they were 7.5J.

 

[CherryVimto]

You can complain over the extra half inch! :wink: