Skip to content
Sidewall

265/70R16

265 mm across the tread, a sidewall 70% of that — 186 mm — on a 16-inch rim. That puts the whole wheel at 30.6 inches tall.

186 mm sidewall777 mm · 30.6"
Sidewall
7.30"
186 mm
Overall
30.6"
777.4 mm
Circumference
96.2"
2.442 m
Revs per mile
659
per minute at 60 mph

What it needs to sit on

i

It mounts on a rim between 7.5" and 9.5" wide, and the tread follows the rim: roughly 5 mm of section width for every half-inch, so about 255 mm across at the narrow end and 275 mm at the wide one. Written the way lift kits and wheel wells are, it is a 30.6×10.4R16 — tall by wide, in inches.

What goes wrong on this size

i

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

120 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 separation46
blowout41
crack15
out of round7
road hazard5
blister4
puncture2
not stated25

Where the wheel is named, 56 of 110 were on the rear, and 54 on the front.

What fits instead

i

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


SizeHeightRide heightSpeedo reads 60, you doCompare
285/65R1630.6" -0.1 %-0.3 mm60.0 mphside by side
245/75R1630.5" -0.5 %-1.8 mm59.7 mphside by side
255/75R1631.1" +1.5 %+5.8 mm60.9 mphside by side
275/65R1630.1" -1.7 %-6.8 mm59.0 mphside by side
255/70R1630.1" -1.8 %-7.0 mm58.9 mphside by side
275/70R1631.2" +1.8 %+7.0 mm61.1 mphside by side
245/80R1631.4" +2.7 %+10.5 mm61.6 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.


265/65R17172 mm sidewall — 7% less
265/75R15199 mm sidewall — 7% more
245/70R17172 mm sidewall — 8% less
235/85R15200 mm sidewall — 8% more
285/60R17171 mm sidewall — 8% less
245/80R15196 mm sidewall — 6% more

Tires graded in this size

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


TireTreadwearWet grip
Bridgestone Alenza AS Ultra800A
BLACKHAWK HISCEND-H HT01700A
Bridgestone Alenza Prestige700A
Nexen TOUR CUV A/S700A
Goodride SU317600A
Americus Touring CUV560A
Sumitomo CUV560A
Thunderer R601560A
Americus A/T540A
Cyclone Radial SUV540A
Thunderer R404540A
Nexen ROADIAN HT520A

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
285/65R1630.0 mph50.0 mph70.0 mph9,994
245/75R1629.9 mph49.8 mph69.7 mph9,955
255/75R1630.4 mph50.7 mph71.0 mph10,148
275/65R1629.5 mph49.1 mph68.8 mph9,826
255/70R1629.5 mph49.1 mph68.7 mph9,820