Gas mileage with wider, shorter tires on 2k + corolla's

[psucorolla]

what kind of highway gas mileage are u guys getting with 185-60-14 or 195-60-14? i have the 175-65-14 and they are horrible. i just want to know what kind of gas mileage it'll drop me down to. hopefully not too much worse. also anything i can do about the speedo? by this i mean any thing to recalibrate it to correctly display the speed in smaller tires? thanks

[Chris Corolla S]

My 2001 came stock with 185/65/14s

I moved up to a 195/60/14

Since the aspect ratio is lower the overall diameter does not change enough to affect the speedo appreciably.

As for the wider part, 10mm is not enough to affect your gas mileage enough so that you would notice. Mine has not changed at all.

[psucorolla]

Thats awesome to hear. These 175-65-14's are horrilbe. the only big negative thing is that they are brand new, so i'm going to feel really bad taking them off and spending money to replace them. i'll probably feel alot better though when i drive around with the new set.

did u notice alot of changes in just that little bit of size change? my corolla seems to move around in the wind pretty easily and the steering wheel resonds to the slightest movement. this is a lot different than my golf that i had before. but then yet it was on wider, shorter tires and had lowering springs/shock combo. will the car handle alot better after i replace the tires?

[Chris Corolla S]

The biggest detriment to the handeling on a stock corolla is not the tire size, but the brand!

The stock Firstone FR680s are total and complete crap. (as well as the goodyears or whatever else they come with) They wander on the highway and have horrible traction in the rain. Every time I tried to pull out in heavy traffic in the rain with my firstones (5-speed) I would spin the tires unless I babied the clutch out.

You should actually be fine with a 185/65/14 which is what came on the LE and S models. I assume you have a CE, which came with the 175s. The 195s actaully stick out a bit, but I like them.

I reccomend the Dunlop SP Sport A2 for a low-cost all-season radial with great wet and dry traction. The tire comparison guide at www.tirerack.com is great for comparing tires even if you don't buy from them. Also check out the tire review thread in the Hardcore/Tech Forum here, which is linked in the Master sticky of that forum.

[psucorolla]

thanks, i'll be sure to check that out