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Sidewall

205/65R16

205 mm across the tread, a sidewall 65% of that — 133 mm — on a 16-inch rim. That puts the whole wheel at 26.5 inches tall.

133 mm sidewall673 mm · 26.5"
Sidewall
5.25"
133 mm
Overall
26.5"
672.9 mm
Circumference
83.2"
2.114 m
Revs per mile
761
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 26.5×8.1R16 — tall by wide, in inches.

What goes wrong on this size

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22 drivers have filed a complaint. 0 of them ended in a crash, hurting 1 person. Nobody died.

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

What let goComplaints
blowout7
crack4
road hazard3
blister1
out of round1
tread separation1
not stated5

Where the wheel is named, 12 of 17 were on the rear, and 5 on the front.

What fits instead

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Same 16-inch rim, height within 3%. Past that the speedometer starts lying and things begin to rub.


SizeHeightRide heightSpeedo reads 60, you doCompare
225/60R1626.6" +0.5 %+1.8 mm60.3 mphside by side
195/70R1626.7" +1.0 %+3.3 mm60.6 mphside by side
185/70R1626.2" -1.1 %-3.8 mm59.3 mphside by side
215/60R1626.2" -1.3 %-4.3 mm59.2 mphside by side
185/75R1626.9" +1.6 %+5.5 mm61.0 mphside by side
195/65R1626.0" -1.9 %-6.5 mm58.8 mphside by side
215/65R1627.0" +1.9 %+6.5 mm61.2 mphside by side
225/55R1625.7" -2.8 %-9.5 mm58.3 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.


185/65R17120 mm sidewall — 10% less
195/75R15146 mm sidewall — 10% more
225/65R15146 mm sidewall — 10% more
175/70R17123 mm sidewall — 8% less
185/80R15148 mm sidewall — 11% more
215/55R17118 mm sidewall — 11% less

Tires graded in this size

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


TireTreadwearWet grip
Hankook KInERGy GT (OE)740A
Prometer AVISTA700A
Yokohama AVID TRZ700A
Bridgestone TURANZA EL400 OE640A
Thunderer EXTENSA AS II620A
Firestone FT140560A
CONTINENTAL ContiProContact540AA
Firestone AFFINITY TOURING S4 FF (H-Speed)500A
Firestone AFFINITY TOURING S4 FF (S-Speed)500A
Hankook veNtus Prime3 (OE)500AA
Sumitomo Mach 1 R201500A
Hankook Enfren Eco480A

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
225/60R1630.2 mph50.3 mph70.4 mph10,052
195/70R1630.3 mph50.5 mph70.7 mph10,097
185/70R1629.7 mph49.4 mph69.2 mph9,889
215/60R1629.6 mph49.4 mph69.1 mph9,874
185/75R1630.5 mph50.8 mph71.1 mph10,163