Which size tires can replace 165 65 r15?

Answer 1

First, determine the width of your wheel rims, which you should be able to find in your owner's manual or online. Then, look up your tires by size and brand and try to find detailed information on them -- especially maximum load, revolutions per mile or circumference, and the rim widths that will fit (for example, 5 to 6 inches).

Then go to tirerack.com (and possibly other sites that sell tires), plug in your tire specifications and search. Double-click on a matching tire and click on the "specifications" tab lower on the page.

That will take you to a page with a chart of detailed information for the tires you selected, plus a listing of other tires that could fit your wheels.

Look for sizes that have the same "R" number (wheel diameter) and will fit the width of your rims (each tire will list a range of widths, such as 5-6 inches.) For those tires, then compare "revs per mile" or "circumference." The closer the numbers, the more accurate your speedometer will be (assuming it was accurate in the first place.)

Then look for a speed rating (a letter that is part of the "service description") that is equal to or higher than the rating on your original tire. So if your original tire had a "T" rating, good for sustained speeds up to 118 mph, you shouldn't replace it with an "R" rating, good for 106 mph. (Even if you're not planning at driving at 118 mph, bear in mind that (for liability reasons) many shops will not install tires with a lower speed rating than the car's original tires.)

Last, but definitely not least, make sure whatever size(s) you select have a maximum load rating that's equal to or better than your original tire.

So, to use your tires as an example, I found a ContiProContact tire in the size 165/60 R15. It will fit rims from 5 to 6.5 inches wide, has a maximum load of 908 pounds, turns 890 revs per mile and has a "T" speed rating.

Looking at the list of similar tires, I found two other sizes that would carry equal or greater maximum load, would fit rims 5 to 6 inches wide, had similar revs per mile and had a "T" or higher speed rating. One was 175/65 R15 and had low rolling resistance, which would improve fuel economy slightly, and one was 185/55 R15, which should provide slightly better handling. (I also found a 195/50 R15 tire that would have improve handling by another notch, but it was only S rated.)

However, just because those tires will fit your rims doesn't mean they'll fit your car. Tread width can vary substantially between tires, which could affect clearance with your car's fenders or suspension components. At a minimum, turn your wheels all the way in both directions, imagine the tire being slightly wider on both the inside and outside, and visualize any possible areas where the tires might rub the car (keeping in mind that tires also go higher in the wheel wells when they hit bumps).

Another way of finding potentially matching tires is to do a general search by your tire and wheel size and see what pops up. Your size is not very common, and the only other matching brand I could find was a Goodyear Duragrip, which is a European tire not sold in the US, as far as I can tell.

So, in summary, you can find other sizes to replace your 165/60 R15's, but it's not as simple as it seems.