which tire?

[coojoe]

Hey all,

I just bought a set of 16's matrix xr rims and I wanted to know which tires are best suited for my 2003 corolla ce. I currently have stock steelies with 185/65-15 tires on my rolla.

Option 1: 205/55-16
Option 2: 215/50-16

I'm leaning on option 2, but I just want to get a confirmation that these tires will fit, i.e. not too wide for the rim.

Thanks

[Darth Rolla]

Go with the 215s. They should fit the rim, I would think.

I was thinking about going with 215s as well.

[silver04rollas]

My Corolla XRS came stock with 195/55/16 Michellin Pilots on the Matrix 16 rim and now I have BF Goodrich Winter Slaloms in 205/55/16 and work perfectly because of the extra width. Although, I miss the tenacious grip of the Michellins.

[coojoe]

okay, according to this website: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html I should pick
the 215/50-16 cuz the speedometer reading with non-stock tire is 0.0%.
With the 205/55-16, the speedo is 1.7% too slow. Is this tire calculator accurate, trustworthy? I'm just worried that if I buy the 215's, it might be too wide for the rim.

Thanks

[Midnight GSI]

215's will fit the rim but your acceleration will be down due to the larger overall dia.
The exact upgrade for a 16 for your car would be a 195/55-r16.
When ever you go up 1" you increase the secton width by 10 and decrease the sidewall height by 10.
I would put 205/50-R16. Thats what I put on my Matrix (Falkin Zeix ZE-512's).
Rides great, better turn in vr's the 205/55-R16's that came stock and a slight gear reduction due to the 5% drop in sidewall which made acceleration slightly quiker.
Just my 2 cents.
C-YA!!