After hours of reading the FAQ on this site as well as other sites (tirerack.com and tire manufacturers sites) I'm a bit confused. My Cooper has the 15'' wheels (the 8-spoke ones) with OEM 175/65 tires which I want to change. I'm thinking of replacing them with wider tires, so I'm going for 195.
Tirerack as well as Michelin recommendations (indirectly) say that I can't put 195/55 on my wheels, but 195/60. Why?
what this shows is that fitting 195/60 makes the height BIGGER than the OEM, while 195/55 makes it slightly smaller. Both percentages though still fall in the 3% area.
So the question is: what's the big difference between 195/60 and 195/55? Can I fit the second? Personally, I don't really mind if it's 55 or 60, but after hours of reading about tires, the candidates I've chosen seem to only come in 195/55 and not 60. I'm thinking of one of the following:
205? Wouldn't that be really wide? The 175 seem ok on the rim, going to 205 would add 1.5 cm on each side...
Actually, 205 * 0,55 = 112,75 which is closest to the original, but I'm worried of the tire being too wide for the rim. Is it common to fit such tires on the original 15'' rims?
Hey thanks for the reply. But I'm still confused...
I went to two local tyre shops and they told me not to go for the Michelin Pilot Exalto, because first of all they're type V (or W?) which means much higher speeds than my Cooper can reach, and because the tyres will be too big for my rims, so I won't gain anything.
I think the first point here is not correct. Ok, maybe I will never reach the speeds of 240 KPH, but why not go for a tyre that provides better handlling, like the Pilot?
As for the second reason, that's still troubling me. Others say that it's ok to go with 195 on a 5.5'', but yet there are many people to whom I have spoken that claim I shouldn't go wider than 185.
Both of the local stores reccomended the Michelin Energy, but I think the main reason is that:
1) they have them in stock available
2) their net profit is bigger when they sell the Energy, compared to selling Pilot
This is why I don't trust these guys. After all I live in a quite small town for the present, but I can't wait till I go back to my city (which has many more stores) because my tyres are worn so bad it's dangerous to drive long distance with them!
I would go for the 195/55R15 as that is plenty of width for a Cooper and they are easier to fit to the OEM 5.5" wheels.
I feel that a 205 width takes away some of the razor sharp steering feel of the Cooper, and that is one of this car's great attributes.
You may find greater selection in the 205 width, but the models in your first post look to be good ones, though I'm not familiar with the Potenza ER750, did you mean RE750?
If you want performance, do NOT go with the Energy. They suck for performance driving, period. The Exalto are great sticky tires, don't listen to the crap those tire shops are telling you.
Also, I would go to 195/55/15, slightly less sidewall flex, and easier to fit on 15X5.5 rims. The extra width from a 205 tire will have very little effect since the rim is narrow, and you do lose slight bit of agility if the tire is too wide for the rim.
Do not listen to those bull crap those tire shops are giving you, by their logic, you can fit T rated tires on your car because you should never exceed 70mph on public roads?? What a bunch of crazy talk
As SupeRub already showed you, 205 will fit, some tire shops might not have the skill to fit them on a 5.5 wide rim however. You might want to get the tires online and get a performance shop to fit them on the car if those local shops insists on crappy all season good for nothing tires
xtremepsionic - thanks a lot, I guess you're right and in this case I'd rather go with the Pilot since they're much better in performance, since grip is quite important judging the way I drive!
Pocketrocket - wow, the information in that page is awesome! This is what I've been searcing in the internet the past fews days, a page with all this information about tyres and wheels!
Ok, so after all your helpful posts and reading the tyre bible (phew!) I think that it's ok to fit 195 in 5.5 rims. Now the only problem is that Pilot Exalto comes in 195/55, which will reduce the circumference by -2.14%. I've read that up to a ±3% is safe, but is this true?
One more question: if the newer diameter is smaller, can I go to my dealer and have the computer in the Mini re-adjusted to show the correct indications, or will they go nuts if I ask them something like that? I doubt those guys have the expertise to do such a thing...
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Can I fit 195/55 on my R15 wheels? 
