Do wider tires increase that feeling of 'stability?' how does it affect steering? (We're talking 175/65R15 vs. 195/60R15)

The tire I'm thinking about is the Continental TrueContact Tour 195/65R15 in the category "Standard All-Season" (rolling diameter 24.2", weight 16.7 lbs.)
Your subject line says 195/60/15, but then your post says 195/65/15.

Anyway, I'm guessing you meant 195/60/15, judging by the rolling diameter figure.

As for the differences between the two sizes, I doubt it'll make a whole lot of difference. If you're looking for a more sporty feeling, choose a more sporty tire, regardless of size. Granted, size 195/60/15 may offer better selection of such tires.

In general, the Fit is a light car with short wheelbase, so it may never be as "stable" as larger cars.
 
Your subject line says 195/60/15, but then your post says 195/65/15.

Anyway, I'm guessing you meant 195/60/15, judging by the rolling diameter figure.

As for the differences between the two sizes, I doubt it'll make a whole lot of difference. If you're looking for a more sporty feeling, choose a more sporty tire, regardless of size. Granted, size 195/60/15 may offer better selection of such tires.

In general, the Fit is a light car with short wheelbase, so it may never be as "stable" as larger cars.
Maybe he’ll get the inside rear tire off the ground like in the old vw’s or neon srt4
 
Going from a 175 to a 195 will make a very noticeable, beneficial difference.
On my old Rabbit it made a big difference. The car handled much better and was more surefooted. My girlfriend at the time didn't like to drive my car because the wider tires made turning the steering wheel a lot harder at very slow speeds. There was no power steering.
 
Back in 1985 when I had a brown stock 77 VW Rabbit, and I was cleaning up on the autocrosses running the then new Yokohama A001R tires, running a 175/70-13. They were extremely sticky back then with a DOT tread rating of 000. When you can get 2 wheels in the air, that's the most traction you ever need. As long as you can bring them back to ground, that I actually did one time, which is not a good spot to be in.
The 1955 Chevy in my profile picture is running sticky 275/40-17 tires front/rear on a C4 Corvette suspension. It's my back to the future car.
 

Attachments

  • B85656BF-04F3-45AC-8686-1979E4365552.JPG
    B85656BF-04F3-45AC-8686-1979E4365552.JPG
    91.6 KB · Views: 14
Last edited:
This is for a 2012 Honda Fit which came stock with 175/65R15 tires on a 15x5.5 steel wheel (with wheel covers, of course!)

I have since replaced the wheel with an alloy aftermarket wheel (Konig Helium 15x6.5 size) on those same tires.

I wonder if go wider promotes that feeling of 'stability'

The tires current on are Sumitomo P02 A/S in the category "Performance All Season" (rolling diameter 24", weight 17.9 pounds)

The tire I'm thinking about is the Continental TrueContact Tour 195/65R15 in the category "Standard All-Season" (rolling diameter 24.2", weight 16.7 lbs.)
----------------------
Addendum: What about steering, do wider tires increase steering radius (= more effort when steering?)

Given an appropriate wheel (width), yes. Stability will benefit and steering effort will increase a bit.
Not an issue given the car has power steering.
Your 15x6.5 wheel will easily accommodate a 195 mm wide tire, however 195/65 R15 is noticeably
taller compared to stock 175/65 R15. 195/60 R15 is what's appropriate for your car. The "65" isn't
millimeters, it's the percentage of the tire's width. If you'd retain the stock wheels I'd suggest you
going 185/65 R15 which is pretty common.
Tire size isn't everything. The kind of tire is even more important. No A/S will match a proper UHP
summer tire when it comes to steering feel and stability. I'd suggest to run summers on your new
wheels and dedicated winter tires on your stock wheels. No A/S will match a proper winter tire in
the snow. It's even no added expense in the long run, since you're wearing just one set of tires at
a time. Beyond that 15" tire choice is actually an issue when you're seeking after performance and
steering feel. 15" UHP tires are rare, but some do exist.
.
 
Last edited:
True, but he's going for more side wall not less.

113.75mm tall for the 175/65
117mm tall for the 195/60.

IIRC he could decrease the amount of flex in the sidewall by staying with current size but going up in load rating. That would improve tire response..
Tires are an interesting tuning tool. I'm finding subjectively that the taller sidewalls of the 195/65(Michelin defender 91H 25"dia) tires I'm running aren't sloppy at all compared to the 195/60(old goodyear eagle RSA 88H 24.2" dia) I had on before. With both at 32 psi I wonder if the extra load capacity of the bigger tire is making the tire resist distortion equally as well as the lower profile tire with a lower load rating?
I also have a set of 195/55 (bfg sport comp2 85V 23.4" dia) which need 35psi on the fronts on the street and need 40psi cold for autocross to keep them off the sidewalls, but maybe if I ran the larger tires at 35psi they might be almost as responsive as the bfg's?, without the higher absolute grip of course.
 
May use 185/65-15 ( T ) winter w/ studs for the Fit that are sitting upright in the barn . Rotate them on occasion so not to get out of round .
 
All things equal, wider tires would increase parking lot steering effort a bit, but not an issue with power steering.
[...]

I recently have reverted to 2 cm narrower tires (from 225 to 205) and the steering wheel feels much lighter. Tire width can definitively make a considerable difference.
 
If you're jerking the steering wheel back and forth then I will agree with 930.engineering that a wider tire will help with stability, but with all things equal. The model and sidewall height of the tire would matter more. However, you may notice the wider tires will tramline more.
 
However, you may notice the wider tires will tramline more.
That and wind resistance increases and the wider tires are heavier. You also have a higher chance of picking up a nail or screw etc with wider tires. Whether any of those factors are practically relevant is another question.
 
If you want to feel a big steering/dry traction difference, get some different wheels so you can run fat low profile tires. 👍
 
Years ago I went from 195/70-14 to 205/60-15 on a Subaru Legacy, upgrading from 14“ steels to oem 15” alloy takeoffs. The 205 tire was slightly taller than the 195, and certainly 10mm wider. I absolutely loved the change and it transformed the cars handling. That was a 10mm increase, again with oem parts (used). The car’s poise and responsiveness were great. The acceleration was hurt a little in the 2.2L boxer. braking required more attention as pavement imperfections were transmitted to the wheel, definitely.

As an alternative, does honda offer an alternative oem wheel more accepting of a wider tire so you stay within known margins? 20mm will have a notable difference, I think. Some good, some probably not. Hard to say, and you won’t know until it’s on there.
 
Tires are an interesting tuning tool. I'm finding subjectively that the taller sidewalls of the 195/65(Michelin defender 91H 25"dia) tires I'm running aren't sloppy at all compared to the 195/60(old goodyear eagle RSA 88H 24.2" dia) I had on before. With both at 32 psi I wonder if the extra load capacity of the bigger tire is making the tire resist distortion equally as well as the lower profile tire with a lower load rating?
I also have a set of 195/55 (bfg sport comp2 85V 23.4" dia) which need 35psi on the fronts on the street and need 40psi cold for autocross to keep them off the sidewalls, but maybe if I ran the larger tires at 35psi they might be almost as responsive as the bfg's?, without the higher absolute grip of course.
I definitely believe load rating has something to do with it and I think it's often overlooked when people shop around.
 
I went from 195/65R15 tires with steel rims to 215/45R17 tires on alloy OEM rims, (speedo is spot on as 17" in this tire size were optional on the sport package) and the difference on highway was substantial. The Elantra on the 15's would bounce, and "jitter" all over the place on the thruway, and now with the 215/45's the car feels very well planted, and corners much better.. The snow traction will probably suffer though with the wider tires.
 
Back
Top