lowered on stock rims - Honda Prelude Forum

munscher · 06-25-2003, 05:41 AM

For those of you 4th gens who are dropped on stock rims, do you run 55 series or 50 series tires? I've got my GC coilovers on the way and right now i'm running 205/55/15 but am in bad need of tires. Was thinking about going with 205/50/15 this time for a thinner profile. Anybody have any pictures of their car dropped on stock wheels and can specify tire size?

And to keep this technical related.... is the sidewall stiffness of a 50 series tire gonna be weaker than a 55 series? (Kuhmo 712 in both cases) What kind of handling differences are to be expected, however slight i'm sure?

DOHCVTEC190 · 06-25-2003, 08:01 AM

Hey, I replied to your thread over at HPOA.

Tola · 06-25-2003, 09:14 AM

I've ran both 55 and 50 series tires on my car. The 50's definately made steering slightly more responsive, but then again it might be the tire all together (Kuhmos). If you run 205/50, it'll throw your speedo off by a good amount. I think the best tire size for stockies would be 225/50/15, you'd get more contact patch, lower profile and the speedo would not be off by much at all. At the time I was loocking for tires, I couldn't find Kuhmo 712's in 225/50, so I just went with the 205/50. I'm sure I'd be much happier with the 225.

munscher · 06-25-2003, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tola
I've ran both 55 and 50 series tires on my car. The 50's definately made steering slightly more responsive, but then again it might be the tire all together (Kuhmos). If you run 205/50, it'll throw your speedo off by a good amount. I think the best tire size for stockies would be 225/50/15, you'd get more contact patch, lower profile and the speedo would not be off by much at all. At the time I was loocking for tires, I couldn't find Kuhmo 712's in 225/50, so I just went with the 205/50. I'm sure I'd be much happier with the 225.

Does this quick math make sense? I'm brain-dead here at work...
55 series = 858 rev/mile
50 series = 875 rev/mile

so say 50 miles an hour... it thinks its gone 50 miles after one hour...

50 miles on a 50 series is 43750 revs
50 miles on a 55 series is 42900 revs

so the 50 series revolves an extra 850 times in that hour.. essentially one mile
so although your speedo reads 50mph, you're actually going 49?

munscher · 06-25-2003, 11:13 AM

Nevermind, found this...
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

willmbrk · 06-25-2003, 12:28 PM

I am running 50 series

Tola · 06-25-2003, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by munscher
so the 50 series revolves an extra 850 times in that hour.. essentially one mile
so although your speedo reads 50mph, you're actually going 49?

I didn't do out all the math that you did, I just used one of those tire size calculator. If you compare it to 225/50, you'd have pretty much no difference. As for my speedo being off: my car in 5th gear at 4k goes 80mph with 205/55. When I put on the 205/50, at 4k I'm only going about 73mph.

munscher · 06-25-2003, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by willmbrk
I am running 50 series

That's wonderful.. do you have any pics or comments to add to this?

prelude styl · 06-25-2003, 06:19 PM

The stock size is 205/55/15, which is what I'm running right now. I'm perfectly happy with them, better than the 195's that were on there before. Though I'm not using Kumho's, I'm using Potenza RE730's. Since our speedo's are already off, I like to stay as close to stock size as possible to make it as accurate as possible (which it will never really be).

SlowSi · 06-25-2003, 06:56 PM

Bah, don't get Kumho Ecstas...they suck. I had them in 215/40/17 before and there is too much sidewall flex. My brother also has them on his 95 Integra in 205/50/15 and he agrees with me.

And 225/50/15 don't look all the great on a Prelude...they seem too wide. It looks as if they would not benefit because our rims are 6.5 inches wide and not 7. That's my experience with them anyway.

Tola · 06-25-2003, 11:52 PM

I don't think the sidewalls on the Kuhmos had too much flex, comparing it to my previous Dunlop SP9000's and my all season Yoko Avid V4's. I find that the Kuhmos had the stiffest sidewall out of those three. They also do rather well while autocrossing.

I'm not sure how 225's would look, as I've never seen it in person. But I've talked to a few people running it on their ludes while I was looking to buy tires and they absolutely loved it.

munscher, I just remembered, I have 50's on the front and 55's on the rear of my car right now (long story why I'm running this). I'll take pics for you tomorrow.

munscher · 06-26-2003, 04:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tola
I don't think the sidewalls on the Kuhmos had too much flex, comparing it to my previous Dunlop SP9000's and my all season Yoko Avid V4's. I find that the Kuhmos had the stiffest sidewall out of those three. They also do rather well while autocrossing.

I'm not sure how 225's would look, as I've never seen it in person. But I've talked to a few people running it on their ludes while I was looking to buy tires and they absolutely loved it.

munscher, I just remembered, I have 50's on the front and 55's on the rear of my car right now (long story why I'm running this). I'll take pics for you tomorrow.

Thanks man, i'd appreciate that

SlowSi · 06-26-2003, 12:52 PM

Pirellis are real stiff.

Tola · 06-26-2003, 01:44 PM

205/55:

205/50: