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Is there a problem with putting 195/65/15s on a 544?
TIA, Fran
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Another source for 165x15 tyres is:
http://www.tiresunlimited.com/default.htm
They carry Vredestein tires. I use 185x15 Vredesteins on my P210 with wheels widened to 5 1/2". I did not use this source, but bought them locally several years back. They seem to hold up well.
Bob
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On old cars there is a tendency to put on tires which are much too wide for the rims, 165 is really too wide for the stock wheels on a 544, I had 165 on 5 inch rims on a PV and that worked beautifully, I have had 185's on 5.5inch rims which was fine, for a 195 you really need a six inch rim, I had 205/65-14 on the back of the PV at one stage on Ford rims I think about 6.5 inchs they fitted ok, slowed the car down though.
Hans
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Yes, on my 544 these tires look ridiculously wrong....and I believe they are on the original rims! The speedometer is goofy cuz of them too, I doubt the car goes over 55 with them. And it seems to suck up the gas, as well.
Fran
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that would be a very appropriate size in diameter... but a bit on the wide side for stock 4" wide wheels... Ideally for a 195 width, you'd want 5.5" width, or at least 5"...
I honestly wouldn't do it on stock wheels, but I know it's been done.
--
-Matt I ♥ my ♂
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Isn't the stock size 165/65/15s? I can't find them available in my area (N. AZ)...what are others using? Right now there are 205/65/15s on her and they need to be replaced. I hate the feel of floating on those wide things.
TIA, Fran
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If you're stuck using tires that are a little too wide for your wheels, try to get tires with a heavier sidewall, so they will not flex so much and give you that "driving on grease" feeling. At one time you could get tires that actually had a 'stepped' sidewall. They were designed for racing applications, but worked great on the street.
I'm currently using Michelin X-One All Season tires in 195/65R15 on stock PV544 rims. They look good and the speedometer is spot on (when it works!)
Although these are technically 'mud & snow' tires, the tread isn't aggressive enough to be noisy on pavement.
Recently I tried to buy a matching tire for a spare, only to be told that Michelin no longer makes this particular tire, and a 'nearly-the-same' replacement would be $154.00 each. OUCH! That's about twice what they should cost!
For now I'll keep my slightly-worn spare, thank you!
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Stock size is 165/15... any tire without the sidwall aspect ratio can be considered to have that at 80... so, stock would essentially be 165/80-15.
You'd probably like the handling better though if you got wider wheels and went with the 195/65-15... they really are a good size for these old Volvos is you got the right wheels.
--
-Matt '70 145s, '65 1800s, '66 122s wagon, others inc. '53 XK120 FHC
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posted by
someone claiming to be shayne
on
Thu Jun 16 08:18 CST 2005 [ RELATED]
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It surprises me when folks can't find 165/15's. Don't these tire shops get to re-shoe an old VW Beetle weekly at least?
Tell 'em you have VW bug and let them look up the tire size (165/15).
Best,
Shayne.
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I just talked to a guy at PepBoys in PHX...they do not keep the Futura Euro Metric in stock any longer but can still order them for $31ea. Even he was surprised that they didn't keep these in stock for the VW people.
Thanks!
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22 million Beetles can't be denied!
--
I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.
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Strangely enough, when I came out from grocery shopping this afternoon, I had a 1963 vintage VW Bug parked next to me....The 72 year old man who belonged to it walked up as I was getting in "my other car", not the Volvo, and I had already checked out his tires. They were made in Brazil... Hallmark Euro Metric 165R15s! They looked pretty good so I asked him where he had found them. He proceeded to tell me the story of a garage in Prescott Valley, AZ that had a dirt floor and carried these tires in stock, of course, this was back in 1992 and they had since closed! So, I told him he could special order them outta PepBoys in PHX. He said, that made his day!
So, many thanks to all today!!!!
Fran
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165R15 ... Pep Boys euro metric, or order a set of Kumho Powerstar 758 from Tirerack.com - search 165/80/15.
-- Kane
--
While I would never deliberately mislead anyone, take into consideration that any information and advice provided was at no cost to you.
6 Volvos in SoCal, from '64 to '94. See profile for fleet infomation.
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In spite of the numbers there is a wide range of sizes between brands.
If you could find some "smaller" 195s they would certainly be better than
the 205s.
--
George Downs Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!
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185's are the widest I'd try to squeeze onto stock 4 inch rims. 165R15 (I think that signifies the 'classic' sidewall ratio of something like 83?) tires are/were used by VW beetles, so are tending to linger on in production longer than they would if just old Volvo's used them. I have two sets of Firestone F-560's in 165R15 - one on the PV's steel wheels and one on the 1800. Nice enough tires - decent traction, although you aren't going to win any autocrosses on them. But without suspension work too much tire doesn't feel right on an old Volvo anyhow.
--
I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.
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There seems to be some confusion over what the numbers in a tire size signify. It's actually easy to break down, and with a little math you can translate the whole thing into numbers that mean something to us consumers!
As an example, let's work with 165/90/R15. The 'R15' means it's a Radial tire on a 15-inch rim. Pretty simple so far.
The '165' means the tire is 165 millimeters wide, or about 6-1/2 inches.
The '90' refers to the ratio of the height of the sidewall as compared to the width of the tire, or 90% of 165 mm. 165 ÷ 90% (or 165 X .9) = 148.5 mm, or about 5-15/16 inches high.
The lower the ratio number, the lower the sidewall: a 165/50R15 tire would have a sidewall height of only about 3-3/8 inches!
You can also calculate the circumference of the tire in order to figure out what size will keep you within reason on your odometer:
Figure the radius of the wheel and tire assembly by taking half the wheel size (15 ÷ 2 = 7.5 inches) and adding the tire height (6.5 inches in our example). You now know this tire will have a radius of 14 inches.
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