Tyre discrepancy....

[Gerard van Vught <gerard@mosaic.co.za>]

Hi!

I'm having a bit of a problem with tyre sizes here.
This is not an e-mail asking which make of tyre
and model is best.

Here is the deal. From discussion on this list it
would seem the stock tyre fitted to the 1990 200
FWD and quattro is a 205/60/15 tyre. This would
seem reasonable for a "performance" turbo vehicle.
For some reason I've been indicated that the tyre
to fit my South African 1990 200 is a 205/65/15
tyre. Yesterday I took steps in getting my front
tyres replaced with a decent new set, I was aiming
at Continental CV90 tyres. I called the tyre shop,
a very large chain in South Africa, and spoke to
the guy and asked for 205/65/15 tyres to replace the
205/60ZR15 CZ90 that the previous owner has fitted
to the car. Asking for the 65 is one of the steps of
bringing my car back to stock form. I asked for CV90
tyres and was quoted for them. Then I went this
afternoon with cheque in hand to have them fitted,
only to see them roll out the CV51 Continental
tyre. Supposedly the CV90 is unavailable in 205/65/15
form. Eeek! And I was looking forward to a weekend
on new Continentals! I hear they're a good tyre.
I made them put the old tyres back on the car (they
also only fetched the new tyres once I had asked
them to swap the rear left tyre with the front right
'cos the rear was pretty shot 'cos of the state of
the shocks on the car .... so now I have 2 really
nicely warn out tyres up front. Great! :) ) until
I can sort out what is going on. The CV51 is a
"comfy tyre" and was probably aimed at the highway
cruiser guy who bought the car. This I am not
interested in, I am more interested in the sport
tyre that I've been hunting for 2-3 months now.

Anyway, I would like to know from the rest of the
world what the stock tyre size is for this car. Does
South Africa turn out to be the only damn country
that indicates a 65 profile for the turbocharged
200? Please, I'd like any help from any country
in order to find out what the world says about
this car. Would really appreciate it if folks could
perhaps call the dealerships and ask for the official
tyre size for the auto FWD 200. :) *pwity pweez*

Some more... this would probably be aimed at some
of the tyre experts on this group, but how much would
I lose in respective top end and accelleration speeds
and times if I take the 5% cut in tyre wall height?
How badly would this affect mileage figures? I calculated
once something like a few hundred engine/wheel RPM
for every mile or so.

Sorry for being a nuisance if I have, but I'm fighting
to bring the car to stock form and the tyre issue is
one. Also, would be nice to have my performance tyres
that would hold up in the hard runs and provide better
speeds/times and mileage. Am I being too much of a
picky Audi owner?

Oh yes, my gearbox was also very happy today...so happy
it was wetting the floor at the tyre place! Dropping
oil all over the place. Looking under the car just
reveals alot of wet shiny metal. Ack! I never win, do
I?

TIA.

G.