Re: v rated tires

["Craig D. Niederst" <niederst@telerama.com>]

Scott,
The 100's either came with 6x15 or 7x15 wheels. I'd look at my gas filler
door, but my car is still in the shop waiting (over 2 weeks now) for an AC
line that is on backorder. For '92, non-Q's came with the 6 in. wide wheels,
and the Q's with the 7 in. wide ones. But all 100's, either Q or non-Q had
the 196 65 15 tires. In later years, you could get the 7 in. wheels as an
option on non-Q's, but still got the 195 65 15 rubber. I do think 215 55 15
would be the next in the plus size rule. When I did the calculations for the
outside diameter 3 tires in question I got the following (outside diameter =
2(sidewall height)+wheel diameter):

195 65 15    634.5 mm
205 50 15    627.0 mm
215 55 15    617.5 mm

I have purchased some of the 7x15 A6 wheels for my car, so I think wider
tires will work OK. Sean Ford told me that he has 205 60 15's on his stock
6x15 wheels on his 100CS, and they fit fine. Says they fill out the wheel
well better, but do not stick out too far. Going with the 215 55 15 will
lower your car by about 17 mm (1.7 cm), which is not a whole lot. I'm not
sure if they will go on the 6x15 wheels though. They maybe too wide to that
rim. TireRack's webpage does a good job explaining the plus sizing
(http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/size.htm). HTH.

Craig
'92 100S (71k)