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Sidewall

205/70R15

205 mm across the tread, a sidewall 70% of that — 144 mm — on a 15-inch rim. That puts the whole wheel at 26.3 inches tall.

144 mm sidewall668 mm · 26.3"
Sidewall
5.65"
144 mm
Overall
26.3"
668.0 mm
Circumference
82.6"
2.099 m
Revs per mile
767
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 26.3×8.1R15 — tall by wide, in inches.

What goes wrong on this size

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98 drivers have filed a complaint. 3 of them ended in a crash, hurting 6 people. Nobody died.

85 of them name what let go, and it is most often tread separation. Firestone is named more than any other brand.

What let goComplaints
tread separation35
blowout20
blister11
crack8
out of round6
road hazard4
puncture1
not stated13

Where the wheel is named, 46 of 74 were on the front — the end that steers. 2 gave out as a spare, which is the one nobody checks.

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
195/75R1526.5" +0.8 %+2.8 mm60.5 mphside by side
225/65R1526.5" +0.8 %+2.8 mm60.5 mphside by side
215/65R1526.0" -1.1 %-3.8 mm59.3 mphside by side
185/80R1526.7" +1.3 %+4.5 mm60.8 mphside by side
185/75R1525.9" -1.4 %-4.8 mm59.1 mphside by side
195/70R1525.7" -2.1 %-7.0 mm58.7 mphside by side
215/70R1526.9" +2.1 %+7.0 mm61.3 mphside by side
225/60R1525.6" -2.5 %-8.5 mm58.5 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.


195/80R14156 mm sidewall — 9% more
175/75R16131 mm sidewall — 9% less
185/85R14157 mm sidewall — 10% more
225/70R14158 mm sidewall — 10% more
185/70R16130 mm sidewall — 10% less
235/55R16129 mm sidewall — 10% less

Tires graded in this size

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


TireTreadwearWet grip
Bias Advantage Touring700B
Big O LEGACY TOUR PLUS700A
BLACKHAWK HISCEND-H HT01700A
Delta ESTEEM XLE700A
Montgomery OVATION700A
Yokohama AVID TRZ700A
Cyclone Ultra Tour (TR)620A
Yokohama AVID Touring620A
Americus CUV560A
CERTIFIED AllTrek560A
Sumitomo CUV560A
Thunderer R601560A

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
195/75R1530.2 mph50.4 mph70.6 mph10,082
225/65R1530.2 mph50.4 mph70.6 mph10,082
215/65R1529.7 mph49.4 mph69.2 mph9,888
185/80R1530.4 mph50.7 mph70.9 mph10,135
185/75R1529.6 mph49.3 mph69.0 mph9,858