Will 175/65/15s fit?

[sickaroll]

Hi,

from what I've read about profile and clearance, I'm convinced that the winters I'm planning on getting tomorrow (175/65/15) will fit, but two tyre places have said that the higher profile won't fit. Mind you, one of them also told me that you want wide tyres for driving on snow and ice, so I'll take anything they say with a pinch of salt..
I've done a few searches here, but most stick with the default 195/50/15s, but I find them so firm that I had my mechanic pull the suspension apart to make sure the springs were actually attached. Bumps in the road are VERY noticable, but the cornering is brilliant.

It's an unmodified 1.7 Black edition, currently sitting on some very firm summer 195/50/15s, no two tyres the same brand, last owner was not a car person!

So my modifications have consisted of sanding off the rust and removing the Nokia car kit, but plan is to do lots of fun things to it ultimately.

 

[Dal]

They'll be 32mm larger on diameter which is about a third more than a 205/40/17 which is a common fit on a Puma. But then the 17" replacements tend to be 7" wide, not 6" as std Puma alloys are.

Have you got your current tyres correctly pressured? Between 29-31 PSI if memory serves me well.

Your speedo will be under estimating your real speed which I think is an offence. You'd need to tell your insurers too as it's non standard.

Have a look here to compare:
http://www.alloywheels.com/Tyre_Calculator" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[sickaroll]

That's a great link Dal, thanks.
The difference appears to be within tolerances, and the speedo will actually end up being accurate on these tyres. I will tell my insurer though, doubt they'll be too upset, but you can never be too careful.

 

[sickaroll]

Well, they fit... just.

Guy at Autodepot was pretty concerned, needed some convincing before he was prepared to try them on, but on they went.
At full lock either direction, they might strike the mat/cover at the top, best to leave off the U-turns until Spring

 

[sickaroll]

Continental WinterContact tyre 175-65-15

• sickaroll
• Dec 1, 2011

Just about fits

 

[oskari]

They definately will hit the mat/cover. I just changed 185/65/R14 and at full lock I can hear them scraping the mats.

 

[sickaroll]

Yeah, I'm avoiding full lock, and I'll inspect the mats about once a week to make sure all is well. What would concern me is the plastics behind the mat tearing to sharp edge and ripping the tire wall when I need them most.

In retrospect, and may other pp people learn my lesson; I'd have put the higher-profile tyres on the rear, where they have no problem clearing the arch, and where they make a significant improvement to ride quality, and put something modestly higher (175/55/15 maybe) than stock on the front.

The speedo is marginally under-estimating my speed now, but not by more than 2%, which I can live with, well within eye-tolerance. I have my GPS anyway, as the Speedo is primarily in MpH, and the KMpH is so small and red it's impractical to use.

 

[sickaroll]

Winter's pretty much done, and I can confirm that I got through several thousands of miles, and plenty of 3-point turns in these 175/65/15s. The wheel well carpet is completely intact too.
I didn't do any scientific tests, but it 'felt' less firm on the big tires, which was the point.