Nokians too small? Yep.

[Grant]

First, that sounds like a lot of money for a set of 14" snows. I sold a 
set of 14" audi alloys and 4 michelin arctic alpins, on this site, for 
$100.  OK, they were cheap, btu still, have you looked at a package 
from tirerack in the right size?

Next, 6% is a fair amount, but more importantly, you will reduce your 
load rating substantially, and the wheel/tire diameter goes down by 
1.4" = nearly 3/4" radius.  It will look funny, if you care, but I'd 
really wonder about clearance for deep snow and load rating. What are 
the load ratings required for your car (its a number between about 85 
and 100) and that of the smaller nokians.  If you move to a 
substantially lower load rating, they *could* blow out, but more likely 
they will compress and let you bend a wheel. False economy.

I think if you might want to simply monitor the market place here and 
on audiworld for a nice used set of either 195/65-15 or 185/70-15 with 
the appropriate load rating.

ps I think I saw a set of 4-bolt audi rims on the marketplace this 
week. Did you look?

Grant
On Nov 12, 2005, at 8:13 PM, quattro-request at audifans.com wrote:

> From: mboucher70 at hotmail.com
> Date: November 12, 2005 3:35:39 PM EST
> To: quattro at audifans.com
> Subject: Nokian Hakkapelliita's found, but are they too small?
>
>
> Thanks for all the advice on tires.  I'm having an impossible time 
> finding used rims in a 4-bolt Audi pattern in 15inch.  But this is 
> what I've managed to find:
>
> A set of 4 bolt 14inch aluminium rims for $40 each
> A set of 4 Nokian Hakkapelliita 1 winter tires in size 195/60 R14, 
> used only 3 months, for $300.
>
> Based on the math discussed here earlier, 195/60 R14  gives a 23.21 
> circumference and the car is stock 205/60 R15 which is 24.685.  So my 
> speedometer will be about 6percent higher.  I can live with this.
>
> The question is, will this cause the car to handle badly?  Or will 
> mechanics refuse to install these on the car because they're not the 
> exactly right size?  Assuming that the Nokians are in good shape, am I 
> going wrong with this choice?
>
> Thanks again for sharing your wisdom
>
> Charles