172 tyres - going from 195 to 205 size?

[electricfurnace]

Looking to get a set of four new tyres for my 2002 172 Clio.

Would I be able to go for 205/45/16 rather than 195/45/16 for a wider stance? Any likely problems?

Lowered on Eibach Sportlines.

Ta!

 

[Bazzon]

Yeh.

 

[nathanH]

Shouldnt be a problem, there standard fit on he T.

 

[electricfurnace]

Thought 195 was standard for the 172 and 205 was standard for the 182?

 

[TOGUSA]

im running 205/45/16 kumos on my 172, all you will find is more road feed back and for some strang reason you will feel the runs in the road more... dont ask me to explane the reason lol it just seems to happen

i think it has somthing to do with teh reinforced side walls on the types of tyres iv got but deffently more happy with the feel and extra grip i get over the narrower tread that i had on there

 

[the_prophet]

Thought 195 was standard for the 172 and 205 was standard for the 182?

it was.

 

[the_prophet]

i prefer mine (172) running on 195's. feels alot more nimble. 205's made it feel a bit heavy and dead.

 

[Ollie82.]

The wider tread will tend to 'tramline' more.

But just because the tread is wider, it doesn't automatically mean more grip than the 195's.

My Cup on 195's grips harder than the missus 182 on 205's.

 

[Nick172Cup]

On the other hand I prefer my 205's to the previous 195 I had. I guess it really comes down to driver preference.

 

[nathanH]

Imo.... as I accidently ordered 195 PE2's... I find with 195's you get alot more side wall wear, not as much with 205's and I also find the turn in sharper with 205's.

 

[mr.valver]

I had 205 on cup when I bought it and it used to Torque steer and follow the lines in the road like a b**ch.

Found the 195's much better for driving with.

 

[mr angry]

I have 205s on mine because I fitted the 182 wheels as the standard 172 ones looked ....well gash and to be honest the car handled far better with the 195s.

 

[Gaz_]

i prefer mine (172) running on 195's. feels alot more nimble. 205's made it feel a bit heavy and dead.

The wider tread will tend to 'tramline' more.

But just because the tread is wider, it doesn't automatically mean more grip than the 195's.

My Cup on 195's grips harder than the missus 182 on 205's.

This 195's ftw. The 205's on my 182 tended to 'chew' more on full lock. Deffo tramlined more too

 

[Danmalone1999]

The 205 tyre will move around on the rim more under load than a 195 as the sidewall isnt stretched as much.

Wider tyre are pointless. People think that wider is better and as with most things this is simply not true.

The mk1 group a rally cars ran a 195 tyre and put them on a 7.25 rim to stretch the sidewall as much as possible to make the tyre better on turn in. I would have handled like jelly with a 205 tyre on a 7 inch rim.

 

[DMS]

I had 205 P Zero Nero's on the front last time and now I've gone back to 195's because the steering didn't feel as sharp.

 

[Danmalone1999]

Not including the fact that 205 tyres weight more than 195 tyres and so increase unsprung weight, somthing many people fail to understand.

I have a set of 205 tyres on 15 inch wheels and some 185s on the same rims and the 185 tyre rim combination in 2.5kg a wheel lighter.

 

[MRBILLYUK]

^^^ Not that 10mm will make that much difference weight wise . I've probably s**t heavier things than the 10mm increase will add :quiet:

 

[DMS]

S**tting hell, that's an extra 10kg of unsprung weight plus the extra air it takes to fill them, plus more side wall flex and I bet they're more expensive to buy as well.
It really does make sense to keep 195's on a 172 when you look at it like that.

EDIT: Although surely different tyres will weigh different amounts anyway, so the above statement might be utter tosh.

 

[Vish]

I think it's all a bit of personal preference IMO.

For some reason, I prefer 195 on the front and 205 on the back. I think this isn't advisable on a FWD, but its how I prefer them. I had:

195s Eagle F1s all round - felt good grip generally in all corners/bends
205 PE2 front, 195 F1s (slightly worn, loads of tread left) rear - amazing turn in on tight corners, roundabouts etc, no understeer at all but felt uneasy and unsettled on long sweeping bends at speed.
195 F1s (slightly worn, loads of tread left) front, 205 PE2 rear - slight understeer on tighter corners but felt planted on the sweeping bends
195 PE2 front, 205 PE2 rear - perfect for me. Virtually no understeer in tight corners unless I'm being silly and solid and stable on the long bends.

I'm sure others won't like this set up, but I found this suits my driving and preferences best for me so far.

 

[howie p]

i had 215/45/16 on the front of my 172 mk 2 with no problems, cup turinis. ran fine. no problems.

 

[Danmalone1999]

I think it's all a bit of personal preference IMO.

For some reason, I prefer 195 on the front and 205 on the back. I think this isn't advisable on a FWD, but its how I prefer them. I had:

195s Eagle F1s all round - felt good grip generally in all corners/bends
205 PE2 front, 195 F1s (slightly worn, loads of tread left) rear - amazing turn in on tight corners, roundabouts etc, no understeer at all but felt uneasy and unsettled on long sweeping bends at speed.
195 F1s (slightly worn, loads of tread left) front, 205 PE2 rear - slight understeer on tighter corners but felt planted on the sweeping bends
195 PE2 front, 205 PE2 rear - perfect for me. Virtually no understeer in tight corners unless I'm being silly and solid and stable on the long bends.

I'm sure others won't like this set up, but I found this suits my driving and preferences best for me so far.

I have tried 205 on the back and 195 on the front and it does feel stable. It just goes to show how subtle things can completely change the balance of the car.

I am suprised people dont experiment with different sized spacers, you can change the understeer to oversteer characteristics if you alter the front to back track width too. Very cheap easy mod you can set up in a weekend.

The 205s probably felt good on the back as they roll around on the 7 inch rims a lot. Gives the back a nice forgiveness, but the 195s keep the front nice and sharp. I think 205s on the back dials out some of the twitchiness on these cars.

 

[Danmalone1999]

S**tting hell, that's an extra 10kg of unsprung weight plus the extra air it takes to fill them, plus more side wall flex and I bet they're more expensive to buy as well.
It really does make sense to keep 195's on a 172 when you look at it like that.

EDIT: Although surely different tyres will weigh different amounts anyway, so the above statement might be utter tosh.

Ive never found more than about a kilo between tyres of the same spec and size. Generally as the tyres go lower and wider they get heavier. Sure the heaviest 195 tyre might be as heavy as the lightest 205 tyre, but i was just pointing out a generalisation.

 

[Danmalone1999]

^^^ Not that 10mm will make that much difference weight wise . I've probably s**t heavier things than the 10mm increase will add :quiet:

The sidewalls of tyres are designed with the aspect ratio in mind. Wider tyres with lower side wall hight tend to be of a softer rubber (because they are sporty tyres) and so have to have thicker / reinforced sidewalls to compensate and as such are heavier. Its not just about the 10mm in width.

 

[Vish]

I have tried 205 on the back and 195 on the front and it does feel stable. It just goes to show how subtle things can completely change the balance of the car.

I am suprised people dont experiment with different sized spacers, you can change the understeer to oversteer characteristics if you alter the front to back track width too. Very cheap easy mod you can set up in a weekend.

The 205s probably felt good on the back as they roll around on the 7 inch rims a lot. Gives the back a nice forgiveness, but the 195s keep the front nice and sharp. I think 205s on the back dials out some of the twitchiness on these cars.

I don't have any twitchiness unless under very very heavy braking or if I lift off mid corner obviously. Feels great to me and the best its been since I've had it.

 

[the_prophet]

^ this.

 

[Danmalone1999]

I don't have any twitchiness unless under very very heavy braking or if I lift off mid corner obviously. Feels great to me and the best its been since I've had it.

Swap them around and see what happens. Report back.

 

[MRBILLYUK]

The sidewalls of tyres are designed with the aspect ratio in mind. Wider tyres with lower side wall hight tend to be of a softer rubber (because they are sporty tyres) and so have to have thicker / reinforced sidewalls to compensate and as such are heavier. Its not just about the 10mm in width.

I still think the weight increase will be the size of a large turd , which in terms of performance and handling will mean Jack s**t .

 

[Dean.]

im sorry but im stupid lol, can you put 215's on the standard 182 wheels?

 

[SteveS Cup]

You can stick 165's on it if you want!

 

[Dean.]

so you can put any width tyre on?

 

[Dan R]

Looking to get a set of four new tyres for my 2002 172 Clio.

Would I be able to go for 205/45/16 rather than 195/45/16 for a wider stance? Any likely problems?

Lowered on Eibach Sportlines.

Ta!

wider tyres = more grip

 

[the_prophet]

^ not completely correct is it.

 

[Dan R]

^ not completely correct is it.

In most cases it is yes. Why put wider tyres on cup spec meganes??
More grip. Why do all the guys at the nurburgring i spoke to that drive M3 CSL's put a set of rear width wheels on the front?? For more grip.
Ok in some cases maybe not but thats one thing the clio falls down on when it comes to ultimate grip is the tyre size! 205 is narrow but works well when related to size of car and turn in and power etc.
I know a guy that races an EVO ten and the first thing he did when preparing it was put 265 width tyres allround and inturn he got more grip.
Im sure someone will post a reason why this isnt always true but in alot of cases it does improve things.

 

[Fred@BTM]

just fit 4 tyres the same size all round, if you run say 195's on the back and 205's on the rear, the ABS will s**t itself