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Sidewall

205/70R16

205 mm across the tread, a sidewall 70% of that — 144 mm — on a 16-inch rim. That puts the whole wheel at 27.3 inches tall.

144 mm sidewall693 mm · 27.3"
Sidewall
5.65"
144 mm
Overall
27.3"
693.4 mm
Circumference
85.8"
2.178 m
Revs per mile
739
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 27.3×8.1R16 — tall by wide, in inches.

What goes wrong on this size

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8 drivers have filed a complaint. 0 of them ended in a crash, and nobody was hurt. Nobody died.

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

What let goComplaints
tread separation3
crack3
road hazard1
not stated1

Where the wheel is named, 4 of 7 were on the front — the end that steers.

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
195/75R1627.5" +0.8 %+2.8 mm60.5 mphside by side
225/65R1627.5" +0.8 %+2.8 mm60.5 mphside by side
215/65R1627.0" -1.1 %-3.8 mm59.4 mphside by side
185/80R1627.7" +1.3 %+4.5 mm60.8 mphside by side
185/75R1626.9" -1.4 %-4.8 mm59.2 mphside by side
195/70R1626.7" -2.0 %-7.0 mm58.8 mphside by side
215/70R1627.9" +2.0 %+7.0 mm61.2 mphside by side
225/60R1626.6" -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.


195/80R15156 mm sidewall — 9% more
175/75R17131 mm sidewall — 9% less
185/85R15157 mm sidewall — 10% more
185/70R17130 mm sidewall — 10% less
225/70R15158 mm sidewall — 10% more
235/55R17129 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
Cooper ENDEAVOR PLUS (T-rated)680A
CONTINENTAL ContiProContact540AA

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
195/75R1630.2 mph50.4 mph70.6 mph10,079
225/65R1630.2 mph50.4 mph70.6 mph10,079
215/65R1629.7 mph49.5 mph69.2 mph9,892
185/80R1630.4 mph50.6 mph70.9 mph10,130
185/75R1629.6 mph49.3 mph69.0 mph9,863