Determining The Tire Size That Is Appropriate For Your Vehicle

You can find the size of the tire that your car was equipped with at the time that it was manufactured, in one or more of these locations: the sticker or plate attached inside the driver's side door, the owner's manual, on the inside of the gas tank door, or on the door of the glove box. The size of the tires that are presently on your vehicle, is represented by a series of numbers, followed by letters on the tire's sidewall. Knowing how to decipher the numbers and letters on the side of the tire will likely come in handy.

You run the risk of purchasing tires that will not work for your vehicle, if you do not follow the recommendations stated by the car maker. If for some reason you decide to deviate from the original tire, either in wheel diameter, size, aspect ratio, or width, there will be a number of factors that must be taken into account.

Whether your tire is narrow or wide represents your tire's width. One advantage to wide tires, is that they provide greater traction when the road is dry, but the disadvantage to them, is that they get fewer miles to the gallon. You may notice that a tire that is too wide for the vehicle can lead to tire deterioration of a problem with the car, due to the tire making contact with the wheel well. One benefit of a narrow tire is that it prevents slipping in cold weather driving conditions, but when the tire is extremely narrow, you are compromising the security of the vehicle's occupants. You must ensure that adequate tire width is present for a safe ride.

The sidewall or tire height is known as the aspect ratio. You will find that your vehicle will experience enhanced cornering with a low aspect ratio, but the disadvantage is a ride that is not as smooth. When you deviate widely from the aspect ratio of the original tires, it may cause a discrepancy between the speed at which you are traveling and the speed that your speedometer says you are traveling. By purchasing new wheels and utilizing the "Plus-One" arrangement, you can maintain precise speed monitoring and also get dependable cornering ability. In this way, you can go with the tire width and size that you prefer, and not worry that your speedometer is not correct.

It can be challenging to veer from your vehicle's original wheel diameter. You can only put a 16 inch tire on a 16 inch wheel. The wheel diameter will change when you go to a new wheel or a new wheel in combination with the Plus-One arrangement. You should also realize that if you should prefer Plus-Two, or Three, or higher, you can utilize an available formula to set these up as well.