195/55r15 on all 4 corners for over 7000 miles. UPDATE!

[StEVen]

Hi everyone. A bit ago I posted a question here if anyone had any numbers on running a 195 up front. Well I went ahead with my project and here are the results.
I picked the General Tire RT43 because it is very well rated and there is a 185 profile so if I didn't like the result I could put the stock size back on the front. The tire also has a tread wear rating of 600 A A so a good bit higher than even the stock "LLR or efficient" tires. Ultimate goal was 4 same wheels/tires for a standard rotation. Purchased two extra fronts
My miles per kilowatt hour before the switch was 5.2 over the course of 500 miles. I did this twice in a row just before I got the new tires and got the same result. After the switch to the larger tire up front & all around I am now getting 5.3 mi/kwh. Same thing run twice now. So about the same thing. I think the rolling efficiency of the new tire is offsetting any loss due to the larger tire. I do notice that the green trending dots above the center GOM estimator fluctuate up and down quicker but my overall miles has stayed the same and fluctuates between 77 and 85 miles depending on who drove it last.
Lastly besides the obviously more comfortable ride from having a larger tire up front I notice that my headlights are at exactly the right height now too Lol. The car handles better than ever and It will be a joy to rotate the tires like a normal car.
GM really could have put the same size tire on all four corners on this thing.

 

[NORTON]

Good report !

Only this: "Ultimate goal is 4 same wheels/tires for a standard rotation. Purchased two extra fronts"

Are you saying you bought an extra set of front wheels?
You know the front and back wheels are different and you can't rotate the stock wheels front and back.
You know lots of cars don't allow any tire rotation at all because of direction tires and different wheel sizes front/rear.

 

[StEVen]

Hey. Yes. I am saying that I purchased two used front wheels. The rear wheel is the wheel that can't be mounted up front. The front wheel can be mounted on the rear with no trouble at all. So now YES, I have the same exact tire and wheel combo on all 4 corners that can be rotated like so many cars on the road today. I did not purchase tires that can only be run in one direction. The rear to front wheel offset is within 5mm per side and the width is now 6" wide vs. 6 1/2". You literally cannot tell by looking unless you knew to begin with. Also not rotating all 4 tires in a standard rotation cuts your tire warranty in half. This way I keep my 60k mile warranty. And on an electric car with 300+ pound feet of torque I will be using this warranty. Its absolutely wonderful, the car feels balanced and totally normal in every respect and I love the convenience of pulling in for a STD rotation and not having to peek my head out to make sure things are done right. Or do it myself because I don't have to peel and remount the tires.

 

[NORTON]

"The front wheel can be mounted on the rear with no trouble at all. So now YES, I have the same exact tire and wheel combo on all 4 corners that can be rotated like so many cars on the road today. I did not purchase tires that can only be run in one direction. The rear to front wheel offset is within 5mm per side and the width is now 6" wide vs. 6 1/2". You literally cannot tell by looking unless you knew to begin with. Also not rotating all 4 tires in a standard rotation cuts your tire warranty in half. This way I keep my 60k mile warranty."

Good stuff to know!!!
Thanks !

 

[Anonymous]

I'm looking a installing 16" tires and aluminum wheels. Has anyone done this? I see in the other post someone matched the size on all four wheels with no ill effect.

 

[NORTON]

I'm looking a installing 16" tires and aluminum wheels. Has anyone done this? I see in the other post someone matched the size on all four wheels with no ill effect.

Keep searching. There are some great pics and specs in a thread here.

Of cause fatter tires are not going to be as good as LRR tires for range.. But great on grip !!

Go forth and find that Cooper S
Silently !!! :mrgreen:

 

[StEVen]

An update on my set up. I have 4 front OE wheels on all four corners of my Spark EV (I purchased two additional used front wheels and mounted them on the rear). I did this because the front wheel fits on all 4 corners of the car without issue and allowed total clearance of the wheel and tire. I mounted the General tire RT-43 195/55r15 which is the stock rear tire size on these 4 wheels and have been rotating them several times now. I am getting outstanding results with anywhere from 75 to 85 miles on this little guy with each charge depending on how I drove for the week. My commute is ideal with back roads and city stop and go which is what this car was made for. I find the tire to preform very well in both wet and dry conditions and have no regrets, no rubbing or any issues at all. I know its popular to try to put expensive performance wheels and tires on this little hot rod but it really is no more than a 4 seat golf cart with 10 airbags so its not really practical in my book.

 

[an7mal]

I think 195/55R15 on the front are a good idea.

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipMRYiMVOM40SPlZpP9s6aVJz3r0XOZ6E1IzVFEV
I Installed 195/60R15 on all four corners per above pic (hopefully my pictures work here). I did this because the stock tire size seemed like roller skates on the bumps I encouter on my daily commute and I wasn't real happy with traction of the low rolling resistance tires. I found a good deal on Cooper Evolution Tour TR tires that were rated M+S and high mileage as my Spark had cord showing on the 2nd set of stock fron t tires within 39k miles.

I wanted 195's because the 185's on the front allow the rims to hit before the sidewalls on curbs - the 195's help considerably with curbing.

The larger 60 series tires are only ~10mm (3/8") bigger radius and do rub slightly at extreme turning angles. The speedo now reads ~3% low. They ride considerably 'softer' over the bumps and have a lot better wet weather traction. Efficiency/range seems to be down a few percent.

If I had to do it over again, I'd probably try to find a high mile, high traction tire in the 195/55R15. There were more options in the 60 series, such as the Pirelli P4 and Cooper tires. I've also considered getting smaller wheels (Honda Fit, Mini Cooper, Miata all come with 14" rims with 4x100 bolt pattern) and trying a taller profile tire, such as 185/65R14, which opens up options. On the smaller, narrower rims curbing the rim with a skinnier tire is less of an issue but tire footprint wouid be reduced.

Clearance of the stock front wheels with 195/60R15:
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipM8pTFaZvJHcXJKCPuH8J71JM2Yt7_AwrZuVJXP

Brakes on front/rear appear to have almost no wear with 40k miles:
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipN8wa2Tm7hHNtG1OUgqDRMaxFRHiEFFqQWD1guf

 

[MINITSLA]

an7mal,
And idea why I can't view any of your Google pics when clicking the links? All that comes up is an error page stating "404. That's an error." and "The requested URL was not found on this server."

 

[an7mal]

Update: the Cooper 195/60R15 front tires wore extremely quickly. They were looking sketchy after 8k miles and I replaced them at 10k. Despite a long Cooper warranty, they aren't eligible without rotating (kind of funny that they wore out before the rotation recommendation!).

I replaced the front's with General Altimax RT43 195/55R15. Very slight run on full lock turns, but better than the 195/60R15's. Still do better on curb rash than the 185's, and hoping the slightly wider/taller than stock provide better life and ride. I'm pretty happy with them and they seem to be wearing much better than the Cooper tires. Would like to pick up an extra set of front rims for the back and run 195/55R15 everywhere so I can rotate them.

 

[Porsche]

I did not purchase tires that can only be run in one direction...

...Also not rotating all 4 tires in a standard rotation cuts your tire warranty in half. This way I keep my 60k mile warranty.

Maybe I'm stating the obvious, and maybe you already realize this, but I just wanted to point out that whether the tires are directional or not has nothing to do with the warranty. Directional tires can still be rotated, but front to back only, not side to side. This is still standard and does not affect the warranty. There is no other way to rotate directional tires, so of course the full warranty would apply.

,,,And on an electric car with 300+ pound feet of torque I will be using this warranty.

Yes, your full warranty still applies, twice as long, but even more importantly, your actual tire life is also twice as long!

 

[user 2476]

As an alternative to buying extra front wheels for the rear, I installed a spacer on the front hub I purchased on Ebay. Allows rear wheels to be mounted on the front hub. So far works perfectly. 5 mm thick, 4 x 100 lug spacing, 59mm hub opening, 12mm lugs.

 

[SparkE]

What brand 195/55r15 did you use? I just had a rear puncture and could find NO 195/55r15 that were Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) , so I put Ecopia 185/55r15 on all four. (My front tires had NO tread left and really needed to be changed.) It was heart-breaking because the rear tires had almost no wear on them and would have lasted another 30K miles, easily.

 

[Porsche]

What brand 195/55r15 did you use? I just had a rear puncture and could find NO 195/55r15 that were Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) , so I put Ecopia 185/55r15 on all four. (My front tires had NO tread left and really needed to be changed.) It was heart-breaking because the rear tires had almost no wear on them and would have lasted another 30K miles, easily.

Just thought I'd mention, I got the General Altimax RT43's at Walmart in the original stock sizes, both 185/55R15 and 195/55R15, about 7 months ago. There were some problems getting them on time, specifically with the 195's, but I did eventually get them. They seem to be available now at Walmart, Tirerack, and Amazon.

 

[SparkE]

What brand 195/55r15 did you use? I just had a rear puncture and could find NO 195/55r15 that were Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) , so I put Ecopia 185/55r15 on all four. (My front tires had NO tread left and really needed to be changed.) It was heart-breaking because the rear tires had almost no wear on them and would have lasted another 30K miles, easily.

Just thought I'd mention, I got the General Altimax RT43's at Walmart in the original stock sizes, both 185/55R15 and 195/55R15, about 7 months ago. There were some problems getting them on time, specifically with the 195's, but I did eventually get them. They seem to be available now at Walmart, Tirerack, and Amazon.

How is your mileage with the General Altimax, compared to the std Ecopia ? I looked for the GAs locally, nobody had them - since I had to order them, I ordered the Ecopias. BTW, the Ecopia 185/55r15 has the same load rating as the 195s, and the stat sheet says that they fit on the wider rims. No problems so far.

 

[Porsche]

How is your mileage with the General Altimax, compared to the std Ecopia ? I looked for the GAs locally, nobody had them - since I had to order them, I ordered the Ecopias. BTW, the Ecopia 185/55r15 has the same load rating as the 195s, and the stat sheet says that they fit on the wider rims. No problems so far.

I'm very happy with the RT-43's, quiet and grippy for an LRR tire. I don't think there was any noticeable difference in mileage, but it's hard to say. I bought the car for my son while he still had his learner's permit. I drove the car for a year before he could drive solo, and bought the tires shortly before he started driving it (Boy, do I miss it!). Now, I'm seeing maybe a 5 to 7 mile loss on the guess-o-meter, but he drives it a short distance to school. I was driving it to work. Different drivers, different routes, and lower utilization, and I do generally get better efficiency driving than he does. Also, I got the new tires at the end of the winter, so I'm comparing to data from the year before, 51k miles now, vs. 37k miles when we got the car.

I should also mention that when I first got the Spark, the front tires were not the original Ecopias. The fronts had already been replaced with Goodyear Integrity's, which were nearly shot, but passed inspection so I didn't change them right away. The rears were the original Ecopias. The tread was like new.

I will say, if you just search "Altimax" on this forum, you'll find several really good discussions about tire choices. For example, here's one:

https://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4755

Several people have praised the Altimax and have confirmed little or no change in range. The Kumho Solus TA31 also came up here with good reviews and was another I was considering. Occasionally, the Kumhos are available at BJs.