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Sidewall

205/60R15

205 mm across the tread, a sidewall 60% of that — 123 mm — on a 15-inch rim. That puts the whole wheel at 24.7 inches tall.

123 mm sidewall627 mm · 24.7"
Sidewall
4.84"
123 mm
Overall
24.7"
627.0 mm
Circumference
77.6"
1.970 m
Revs per mile
817
per minute at 60 mph

What it needs to sit on

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It mounts on a rim between 5.5" and 7.5" wide, and the tread follows the rim: roughly 5 mm of section width for every half-inch, so about 195 mm across at the narrow end and 215 mm at the wide one. Written the way lift kits and wheel wells are, it is a 24.7×8.1R15 — tall by wide, in inches.

What goes wrong on this size

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32 drivers have filed a complaint. 3 of them ended in a crash, hurting 1 person. Nobody died.

26 of them name what let go, and it is most often blowout. Bridgestone is named more than any other brand.

What let goComplaints
blowout15
tread separation7
road hazard2
crack1
puncture1
not stated6

Where the wheel is named, 12 of 23 were on the front — the end that steers.

What fits instead

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Same 15-inch rim, height within 3%. Past that the speedometer starts lying and things begin to rub.


SizeHeightRide heightSpeedo reads 60, you doCompare
225/55R1524.7" +0.2 %+0.8 mm60.1 mphside by side
185/65R1524.5" -0.9 %-2.8 mm59.5 mphside by side
195/65R1525.0" +1.2 %+3.8 mm60.7 mphside by side
215/55R1524.3" -1.5 %-4.8 mm59.1 mphside by side
195/60R1524.2" -1.9 %-6.0 mm58.9 mphside by side
215/60R1525.2" +1.9 %+6.0 mm61.1 mphside by side
185/70R1525.2" +2.1 %+6.5 mm61.2 mphside by side

Same height, different rim

Bigger rim, same overall height. Sharper steering, harsher ride, and far less rubber between your wheel and the next pothole.


185/60R16111 mm sidewall — 10% less
225/60R14135 mm sidewall — 10% more
195/70R14137 mm sidewall — 11% more
225/50R16113 mm sidewall — 9% less
205/55R16113 mm sidewall — 8% less
205/65R14133 mm sidewall — 8% more

Tires graded in this size

Longest-lasting tread first. The grade is set by the maker and checked by regulators.


TireTreadwearWet grip
Delta ESTEEM XLE700A
Montgomery OVATION700A
Yokohama AVID TRZ700A
Yokohama AVID Touring620A
CERTIFIED AllTrek560A
Firestone F-700540A
Americus Touring Plus500A
Goodride SP06500A
Sumitomo Mach 1 R201500A
Sumitomo Mach 2 R301500A
Telstar Mach 4 R302500A
TOYO Crusade SXT500A

If you fit something taller

A taller tire covers more ground per turn, so the needle reads low and the odometer counts short. Over ten thousand miles on the dial, the last column is what you really drove.


Fitted insteadReads 30Reads 50Reads 70Real miles per 10,000 shown
225/55R1530.1 mph50.1 mph70.2 mph10,024
185/65R1529.7 mph49.6 mph69.4 mph9,912
195/65R1530.4 mph50.6 mph70.8 mph10,120
215/55R1529.5 mph49.2 mph68.9 mph9,848
195/60R1529.4 mph49.0 mph68.7 mph9,809