ShopTalk Forums | Aircooled VW Tech & Restoration Help

Hey guys,

So I am actualy have a real hard time with this one. I am admittedly new to tires, but everything I have been finding about different performance tires seems to be race compound or not even made for 15" wheels. I was hoping to get some recommendations for performance street tires that are 24-25" tall and fit 5.5x15 wheels. Since I honestly have 0 idea what is out there, recommendations I can look into in a range of prices would be amazing if possible.

Also, what other information do I need to know to even properly pick the tires? I am reading as much as possible, but most articles are referencing tire models that i cant even use

https://www.bridgestonetyres.com.au/pot ... alin-re003

This is an Australian site but should be available in the states, they have 2 15" sizes in there top tyre and I run 17" on two of my cars.

For what I would consider a true "performance" tire, I think you're probably going to be limited to 195/50/15's. These are going to be about 23.5' tall. 205's would be an absolute maximum, usually a little beyond what a tire manufactuer will reccomend for a 5.5 rim. You'll need to do some searching to find "ultra high performance" in a taller aspect ratio, but I'm sure there's something out there.

Treadwear rating will give you a feel for available grip, although it's a very subjective rating system. A treadwear around 400 should make for a very good summer tire with fair longevity. Treadwear approaching 200 is going to offer fabuluous grip in the dry, but will be subject to rapid wear and quickly loose it's stick with time and heat cycles (these are really race tires)

Tire rack is a good source for searching various tire options and has formal reviews comparing tires within a specific category. When looking at customer reviews, pay more attention to cars using similar tire sizes and vehicle weight.

I was going to suggest Michielin Pilot Sports, since they are my go-to daily on my "modern" cars, but It doesn't look like they make them in 15's.

For street use, it doesn't matter that much. You can't drive fast enough to need a serious tire without being a danger to society. I did learn something about treadwear ratings recently. I put Yokohama Proxes R888R on my buggy because I autocross it. They are 100 treadwear, but they never got warmed up enough to work right. They are intended for road racing and are actually much harder than the 200 treadwear autocross tires other people are using.

ChadH wrote: ↑Thu Sep 20, 2018 8:23 pm For what I would consider a true "performance" tire, I think you're probably going to be limited to 195/50/15's. These are going to be about 23.5' tall. 205's would be an absolute maximum, usually a little beyond what a tire manufactuer will recommend for a 5.5 rim. You'll need to do some searching to find "ultra high performance" in a taller aspect ratio, but I'm sure there's something out there.

It seems that kumo makes some decent tires in 195/60, 195/65 and 205/55, but yah, I'm having a lot of trouble finding other companies that do such. Tbh, I am fairly worried about dropping my top speed too much if I even go on the lower side of 24" much the less under it. Would I maybe be better off seriously hunting for/making some 6j16 rims? It realy does seem to be the aspect ratio that is the issue and not the wheel size as much tbh.

ChadH wrote: ↑Thu Sep 20, 2018 8:23 pmTreadwear rating will give you a feel for available grip, although it's a very subjective rating system. A treadwear around 400 should make for a very good summer tire with fair longevity. Treadwear approaching 200 is going to offer fabuluous grip in the dry, but will be subject to rapid wear and quickly loose it's stick with time and heat cycles (these are really race tires)

tyvm. Good to know in my searching

ChadH wrote: ↑Thu Sep 20, 2018 8:23 pmTire rack is a good source for searching various tire options and has formal reviews comparing tires within a specific category. When looking at customer reviews, pay more attention to cars using similar tire sizes and vehicle weight.

Will do. I hadnt thought about how to look through reviews like that tbh

ChadH wrote: ↑Thu Sep 20, 2018 8:23 pmI was going to suggest Michielin Pilot Sports, since they are my go-to daily on my "modern" cars, but It doesn't look like they make them in 15's.

ik, right? Basicaly all of my buddies run PSs, but they all have like 18-22" wheels. The only two others I know someone who has liked them off the top of my head are eagle sports and a couple kumos, but I realy dont know very much about either one.

ONEBADBUG wrote: ↑Fri Sep 21, 2018 8:15 am For street use, it doesn't matter that much. You can't drive fast enough to need a serious tire without being a danger to society. I did learn something about treadwear ratings recently. I put Yokohama Proxes R888R on my buggy because I autocross it. They are 100 treadwear, but they never got warmed up enough to work right. They are intended for road racing and are actually much harder than the 200 treadwear autocross tires other people are using.

I mean, my biggest problem right now is I dont know what is an alright tire vs what is a poop tire. I dont care necessarily about having the best tire ever, I just want to make sure im getting something capable and not going to have any kind of bias like my current tires. I have heard of the proxes before though, so Ill look into them some more.

You cannot get a better tyre than the Bridgestones and it kills the Kumo as I have had both, the 195 is 24.2 inches in diameter.

I'm going 185 65 15 f, 205 60 15 r on my car. A good resource for tire sizing is www.simpletire.com. works similar to the tirerack thing, but easier to use IMO

For autocrossing, I plan to use 205 50 15 all the way around.

H2OSB

eskamobob1 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 20, 2018 1:17 pm Hey guys,

So I am actualy have a real hard time with this one. I am admittedly new to tires, but everything I have been finding about different performance tires seems to be race compound or not even made for 15" wheels. I was hoping to get some recommendations for performance street tires that are 24-25" tall and fit 5.5x15 wheels. Since I honestly have 0 idea what is out there, recommendations I can look into in a range of prices would be amazing if possible.

Also, what other information do I need to know to even properly pick the tires? I am reading as much as possible, but most articles are referencing tire models that i cant even use

What are you going for here? Are you looking for a certain stance/look, do you plan to race the car in some format? I like the cal resto rake look, bigs and littles. I have 215/65r15s on the rear, and 155/60r15s up front. I run 5.5 wheels front and rear, at least with this set. I also have a set of 6.5s with the same rear size and 3.5s with 145/65r15s. The front tires are quite short and do require that the nose is down pretty far to look good. But i also run the rear down a little too.

Yokahama Advan neova ad08r.

vwo60 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 21, 2018 3:08 pm You cannot get a better tyre than the Bridgestones and it kills the Kumo as I have had both, the 195 is 24.2 inches in diameter.

i run them too and they are a very good sticky street tyre that doesn't require a heavy car or racing to warm them up.

I personally run a 155/80r15's on the front and 215/60r15 BFGoodrich radial t/a's on my 66 which I drive to its limit on the street(I love overtaking people in the corners!) I have ran them for about 6 years and have had to replace the rears once due to drifting, burnouts, and camber. They work great in dry, wet, and snow.

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