Low profile car tyres - pro's and con's??

[orange71]

It's time to change front tyres on my pretty standard Saab 93. It usually takes a 195 60 V15 tyre.

Any advantages or disadvantages to going lower profile? Say 195 45 V15?

Would this work if it was the front tyres only, or do you really need to replace all 4 if you are going to do this?

Any advice appreciated.

Oh and it's standard pressed steel hubs we are talking here, not even flash alloy :roll:

 

[Ziggy]

That's a big difference!

The changes (whether you perceive them to be pros or cons is personal opinion) will be:

Lower gearing (potential for better acceleration vs lower top speed & worse MPG)
Less ground clearance (ie you're loweing the car obviously!)
Harsher ride
Less sidewall flex ('better' handling)

 

[Ziggy]

& I've run 205/50s front, 205/55s rear before, but I wouldn't fancy that much front-rear difference on your car - it'll look daft for a start!

 

[legrandefromage]

more road noise

inaccurate speedo readings (40 instead of 30 in extreme cases)

 

[GT-Steve]

I'm not particularly well versed on Saab, but I guess it's not a 4x4? In which case you can run differing profiles fr/rr. Although it might look a little odd... :?

Running a lower profile on the front will improve acceleration slightly too due to a lower rolling radius and improve handling to a negligable amount, too due to less sag in the (now) narrower tyre wall, but the knock on will be a slightly harsher ride, lower top speed (immaterial on a raod car imo,) and the speedometer/odometer will start reading slightly incorrectly.

Hope that helps?

 

[Ziggy]

It's roughly a 10% difference... so your speedo will under-read by 10% more than it currently does!

 

[lewis1641]

how about a wider tyre on a slightly lower profile? 205/50? that way you get better grip but the ride wont suffer too much and neither will the gearing as the sidewall will be about the same (58mm current, 51mm with 205/50)

195/45's on your saab will also make the gap in the arch above the tyre huge and i'll look aweful.

unless you go for bigger wheels or lowered suspension i'd stick to standard

 

[orange71]

ok thanks - hadn't thought about the lower gearing.

It's a diesel and I got it for fuel economy, so I guess anything that may worsen the economy can't be good

Perhaps I should stick to 60's.

Will the rims take a wider tyre or are you stuck? Could I move to 205 instead of 195 on the same rims?

 

[Ziggy]

How wide are the wheels? 205s are a bit much for anything less than a 7j...

The real question is: Why do you want to change?

 

[GT-Steve]

And in the time it took me to write that, 3 other people covered it individually.