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Sidewall

225/70R15

225 mm across the tread, a sidewall 70% of that — 158 mm — on a 15-inch rim. That puts the whole wheel at 27.4 inches tall.

158 mm sidewall696 mm · 27.4"
Sidewall
6.20"
158 mm
Overall
27.4"
696.0 mm
Circumference
86.1"
2.187 m
Revs per mile
736
per minute at 60 mph

What it needs to sit on

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It mounts on a rim between 6" and 8.5" wide, and the tread follows the rim: roughly 5 mm of section width for every half-inch, so about 213 mm across at the narrow end and 238 mm at the wide one. Written the way lift kits and wheel wells are, it is a 27.4×8.9R15 — tall by wide, in inches.

What goes wrong on this size

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49 drivers have filed a complaint. 5 of them ended in a crash, hurting 4 people. Nobody died.

41 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 separation15
blowout15
road hazard5
puncture3
crack2
blister1
not stated8

Where the wheel is named, 22 of 39 were on the rear, and 17 on the front.

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
245/65R1527.5" +0.5 %+1.8 mm60.3 mphside by side
205/75R1527.1" -1.1 %-3.8 mm59.4 mphside by side
215/75R1527.7" +1.1 %+3.8 mm60.6 mphside by side
235/65R1527.0" -1.4 %-4.8 mm59.2 mphside by side
205/80R1527.9" +1.9 %+6.5 mm61.1 mphside by side
215/70R1526.9" -2.0 %-7.0 mm58.8 mphside by side
235/70R1528.0" +2.0 %+7.0 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.


205/70R16144 mm sidewall — 9% less
195/75R16146 mm sidewall — 7% less
225/65R16146 mm sidewall — 7% less
225/75R14169 mm sidewall — 7% more
215/80R14172 mm sidewall — 9% more
245/60R16147 mm sidewall — 7% less

Tires graded in this size

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


TireTreadwearWet grip
Big O LEGACY TOUR PLUS700A
BLACKHAWK HISCEND-H HT01700A
Delta ESTEEM XLE700A
Montgomery OVATION700A
Americus CUV560A
Sumitomo CUV560A
Thunderer R601560A
Nexen ROADIAN HT520A
Comanche RADIAL A/T500A
Comanche RADIAL H/T500A
Nexen ROADIAN AT500A
Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S500A

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
245/65R1530.2 mph50.3 mph70.4 mph10,050
205/75R1529.7 mph49.5 mph69.2 mph9,892
215/75R1530.3 mph50.5 mph70.8 mph10,108
235/65R1529.6 mph49.3 mph69.0 mph9,864
205/80R1530.6 mph50.9 mph71.3 mph10,187