205/55 15 Tires

[adivin]

Thoughts on a 205/55 on a 15x7 wheel with car lowered about 1"?  I think that would be a sweet spot.  Current offerings from Tire Rack are Kumho Ectsa, Dunlop Direzza, Yokohama Advan.  What are experiences with any of these?

[Zed Head]

How does the size compare to stock?  There are calculators.  That would be a good starting point.

[adivin]

7 minutes ago, Zed Head said:

How does the size compare to stock?  There are calculators.  That would be a good starting point.

To go plus 1 would be a 205/60.  I am willing to deviate from that.

[Zed Head]

I meant diameter.  I learned a while ago that the first number is the sidewall width (I thought it was tread width), which is important.  But the second is the ratio of width to height.  So you need the calculator to know the final dimension.

205's seem to work well as far as rubbing goes, although some brands do rub.  I had 205/70-14's and one brand rubbed slightly on hard corners and the other didn't.  the car was lowered about an inch.

Low profile tires will give a rougher ride.  So, it all depends on what you're trying to achieve.  Looks, performance, comfort, or a combination.

I don't think I've seen anyone talk about a 55 series on their car.  Don't forget offset also, that needs to be right or you'll get rubbing.  You can also roll or cut the wheelwell edges to get an extra 1/4 inch.

[adivin]

I did use the calculator and a 205/60 15 has only a -.59 variance. 

I do not want to roll fenders

I suspect we don't hear about 55 series because the tire offerings haven't been that great and not because of size.  205/50 and 60 do seem popular.

[7tooZ]

I am using 205/60 on 15X7 VTOs (0 offset) with 1in suspension drop. Spodo is off about 7-8%

Dia is 24.7in with 8.1 tread width

 205/55 will be approx 23.9 with 8.1 tread You should have no rub problem depending your wheel offset

Edited October 21, 2020 by 7tooZ

[adivin]

9 minutes ago, 7tooZ said:

I am using 205/60 on 15X7 VTOs (0 offset) with 1in suspension drop. Spodo is off about 7-8%

Dia is 24.7in with 8.1 tread width

 205/55 will be approx 23.9 with 8.1 tread You should have no rub problem depending your wheel offset

Ha!  My wheels will actually be 15x7 VTO Lemans (0 offset).  I looked at the 205/55 to get just a little less sidewall.  The performance tire selection for 205/60 is almost non existent (Tire Rack).

[heyitsrama]

I run a 195/55/r15 on some ZX Turbo “Swastika” wheels and have never observed the car rub. I don’t know if there is an offset on this wheel.
Dunlop Direzza DZ102. Great tire for street use, feels comfortable in the rain too, I’m in California so it’s not very cold around here.

I do think I could run a 205 and get away with no rub.