^ You can get a 235/50-15 that is pretty much dead on with the diameter, but the only tire in that size is the Toyo R888 & it ain't cheap. There is nothing else in that 195/60-15 diameter range.

 

No issues here at all when they are on stock 15X6 wheels. Basically just 10mm wider and 10mm taller. Enough to make the speedo right on and 5mm less wheel gap all around.
If they are mounted on 7" wide wheels they will look less stretched than the 185s.

 

I stand corrected, from my last post I didn't mean to say tokico, what I meant to say is that I will be putting the Koni sport yellow adjustable shock/struts on. The ones that Tire Rack has on sale right now!

I was also thinking about the tire sizing. 185mm = 7.28" (7 9/32), and 195mm = 7.67" (7 21/32). So if I go from a factory rim width of 6.5" to a 7" wide rim, the rim is 0.5" wider. 185mm to 195mm the tire is 10mm or 0.39" wider. The difference in the proportions of the 195 on the 7" rim, tire is 0.67" wider and the 185 on the 6.5" rim, tire is 0.78" wider. So shouldn't the 195 on the 7" look a little more on the stretched side than the 185 on the 6.5" rim?

The 195 on the 7" will be 0.11" less wider than the rim, compared to the 185 on the 6.5" rim, if that makes sense. I know there will be 6mm taller side wall for the tire to stretch, so this might make it look about the same.

 

i wouldnt reccomend the falken ziex tires if your doing aggressive driving they dont last very long

 

The old 512s maybe but the 912s are gonna last much longer. The user reviews prove it. For the money the 912s are great tires.

 

Anyone have a comment from the last post I made? I hope I made my point understandable.

 

It's going to look about the same as 185 on 6.5, just slightly taller.

 

Thanks everyone for all the help. Since the xB probably won't get lower (if it was mine I would) I'm going to go with the taller tire to give a better ride and help fill the wheel well gap. If it was lower the 185's would look a little stretched and look nice.

Here is the final verdict: Voxx MG3 15x7 +38 OS with 195/60=15 Falken 912s, Koni yellow sports front and rear. I will see how much I want to space the wheels out. I'm thinking 15mm hub spacers in the rear, but I will mount the wheels up first and see how things look.

One thing at a time I will be doing this in stages, mainly due to time constraints. I will take pictures and post the results of how everything works out and rides.

 

Sounds like a nice plan. Waiting to see the results.

 

as I usually do. I don't want you to think I can't make up my mind, I just want to make sure that when these wheels show up they are what I had in mind. I ordered a set for my 1988 camry wagon once and the way the tire looks on the rim took a little getting used to, but now I like them. I don't want to make a mistake and be stuck with it, and there are so many variables to weigh out. The thing that makes it the toughest is the fact that 1st gen xBs rides like crap to begin with. So most (not all) lowering springs and plus sizing wheels will only make things worse. Not to mention this xB belongs to a 68 year old woman who drives around with her friends. They don't want to be bounced to death like riding a hay wagon with no suspension.

My first instinct was to want to plus size by 1", and put 16"s on the xB. I wanted to have a larger rim to make it look a little more sporty, opening things up. But I figured this would make it ride that much worse and was not worth it. But now after doing some research and listening to what you guys have to say, I know there is hope by installing the Koni yellows.

It was also interesting to hear many people say the the stock tire size on the xB is too small, (185/60-15) it looks like it. And that the bB came with 195/60-15 and this is actually the correct size and will actually make the speedometer accurate/correct.

With that being said 185/60-15 to 195/60-15 is a 2%(slower) difference when I enter the numbers on the miata tire calculator. So that got me thinking If I was going to size up to the 195/60-15 and have a taller tire anyway, why not put 16" rims on the xB and look for tires that have the same diameter (24.2"), and same or less side wall height (4.6") as the 195/60-15. But also find a tire that does not have any less height (4.4") than the stock tire, so the ride will stay the same but not any worse. I think the stock tire has good rim diameter to sidewall proportions it isn't too tall, and almost looks sporty.

Also going to a 16" rim opens up a lot more options to pick from, but I think I'm going to stick with the Voxx MG3 (cheap, basic, simple, easy to clean). Plus most of the 16" rims are 7" wide. I wanted at least a 7" wide rim.

Now, here is the latest I came up with using the 195/60-15 as comparison the diameter I want to achieve:

Tire size -------- Side wall ------------- Diameter Compared to 60 MPH

(185/60-15 -------- 4.4" ---------------- 23.7")
(195/60-15 -------- 4.6" ---------------- 24.2")
195/50-16 --------- 3.8" ---------------- 23.7" 0.3% fast - 59.8 MPH
195/55-16 --------- 4.2" ---------------- 24.4" 1.0% slow - 60.6 MPH
205/50-16 --------- 4.0" ---------------- 24.1" 0.6% fast - 59.6 MPH
205/55-16 --------- 4.4" ---------------- 24.9" 2.7% slow - 61.6 MPH

195/50-16 is a perfect diameter match to the stock tire on the xB, but the side wall is smaller than I want to go and am afraid it will negatively affect the ride quality. Speedometer would stay the same as it is now.

195/55-16 is a good choice, but the tire options are limited. Side wall is a little smaller than stock not sure if this small amount will make a difference. Diameter is very close to 195/60-15 that I was going to change to. This will bring speedometer to correct spec.

205/50-16 is what I have on my camry wagon on a 16x7" rim. So I know exactly what it looks like, and I like the look. There are many tire options in this size. Side wall is slightly smaller might affect ride quality. Diameter is very close to 195/60-15.

205/55-16 same sidewall height as stock tire, ride should be about the same, no worse. Many tire choices. Diameter is a little bigger than 195/60-16 might affect gearing and speedometer too much?

Good news in the Falken 912 comes in all these sizes.

Now I'm not sure what tire size would be the best for the 16" rim. This is what I want to put on the xB after further thought. What do you guys think?

These are the three I'm thinking of getting:

195/55-16 seems to be the best choice having just slightly smaller side wall than stock 185/60-15 and just slightly larger diameter than 195/60-15. The tire stretch between the 195/60-15 and 195/55-16 will be the same because both are 195 on a 7" wide rim. I just worry about future tire replacement options.

205/50-16 less tire stretch, would have to go to 7.5" rim to look the same as 195 on 7". Many tire choices for future tire replacement. Diameter is almost identical to 195/60-15, not a problem. But the side wall height is even shorter than the stock 185/60-15, will this be a noticeable problem?

205/55-16 less tire stretch, would have to go to 7.5" rim to look the same as 195 on 7". Many tire choices for future tire replacement. Diameter is a little larger, might be to big, will this be a problem? Side wall height same as stock 185/60-15, ride should be the same.

I didn't realize that a rims width is measured to the inside of the mounting flanges. I wondered why a tire the same width as the rim will look stretched. If the flanges are about 1/4" thick, then this is why a tire that is about 1/2" wider, the side walls look "square" to the rim (no balloon, no stretch).

I know this is a lot to take in, but thanks for your patients and suggestions!

 

Well I took the xB through town and out on the highway with the Garman to check the speedometer against the GPS. In town at 25 MPH on the speedo I was going 24 MPH on the GPS, 4% difference. On the highway 60 MPH was 58 MPH, 3.3% difference, 70 MPH was 67 MPH 4.3% difference. These are not perfect percentage differences, but the average would be 3.8% difference, the tires are turning faster, the vehicle is moving 3.8% slower than the speedometer reading.

Comparing a 185/60-15 to the 205/50-16 is only 1.4% difference not enough to correct speedometer or throw it off to make it read slower than the vehicle is traveling. This is O.K.

Comparing a 185/60-15 to the 205/55-16 is 4.8% difference. This would be 1% over making the speedometer correct. Now the vehicle would be traveling faster than the speedometer reading. I don't want this!

The sidewall on the 205/50-16 is calculated at 0.4" (about 3/8") higher than the 185/60-15. When I measured the 205/50-16 sidewall and 185/60-15 sidewall there is about 1/4" measured difference. I don't think this will affect the ride quality much. It will affect how harsh a pot hole feels, but I believe it will have little affect on the "bouncing" when traveling on the highway. The bouncing will be corrected with the strut/shock compression/rebound.

Here are some picture of the xB with the 205/50-16s off my '88 camry wagon. The are not sitting flush with the hub flange because the bolt patterns are different. So they are sitting about 1" further out than they would normally. I also have the xB sitting on jacks and I measured the wheel well to the ground, so it is sitting at stock ride height. I don't mind the way this looks, even without it lowered. The slightly larger tire (23.7" to 24.1" diameter) definitely fills the wheel well better.


Stock:



205/50-16, 16x7 +38mm sitting about 25mm further out, equivalent to a +13mm OS:







That got me thinking I would like to lower it just an inch, but not affect the ride quality, get the same quality as with the Koni yellows would do. Now I'm thinking about coil overs, or a sleeve style coil over on the Koni yellows. Any thoughts on them? What are guys running, I will have to check the suspension section.

I made up my mind, after weighing the pro and cons, for wheels I'm going to do Falken 912 on Voxx MG3 16x7" +38mm.

 

Curious as to what you have that rear jack under? Hopefully it's not the rear beam axle.

 

oh yeah that would add some mice toe in.....

 

Yes, it is under the axle beam, as near to the edge as I can get it, under the spring. I know the owners manual says not to jack under the rear axle. I would think that jacking in the middle would definitely cause some bending. But I wouldn't think jacking by the spring would be a problem. The spring perch is where all of the vehicles weight is being put by the spring.

To the naked eye I did not see anything flexing. But since two of you were concerned, I don't think I did, but I hope I didn't ruin anything. I guess once I do the suspension work and take it in for an alignment I will find out.

 

The wheels look good. Get some Tien H-Techs, little over an inch drop, and ride great. Coilovers are great, but spendy if your not gonna take advantage of them and ride low. Stay away from the cheap sleave over type on E-bay!

 

I hope you didn't bend anything. I only jack mine up in 2 spots out back. Under the rear frame rail straight in from the middle of the rear doors and under the rear tie down hooks which are bolted to the rear frame.