Mixed size stock tires?

[Nashco]

With the same, larger, tires on all four corners, I can rotate the fronts to the rear if I wish to in the future. This should be convenient if I want to run the front tires to about 40% tread remaining, then rotate them to the rear and put new tires on the front. Rinse and repeat as necessary.
Bryce

Bryce,
Just to be clear, you are talking about taking the tires off the rims for this rotation because the rims are different front to rear and must remain in their positions, correct?

The 195's work fine in the front? I thought there was talk of them rubbing the strut, or something?

As stated multiple times on this forum by multiple people, if you are using the factory wheels you absolutely cannot rotate the front and rear WHEELS. I am only referring to moving tires (which requires dismounting, mounting, and balancing).

With aftermarket wheels and spacers, it's possible to rotate the wheels as well, but that requires a pretty significant investment.

Bryce

 

[NORTON]

oooooooooooooo

 

[mvly]

Also for noobs out there, make sure you change tires ASAP if you are on a lease. Everyone I talked to who has a spark EV had to replace their front tires because the ECOPIA are crap. I swapped mine at 8500 miles, though it would've lasted to 10K miles. No way it would make it to anywhere near my lease mileage limit.

Point is, replace them ASAP and take back the OEM to sell on ebay or something. Again this requires you replace them right away so you don't have much tread loss on the OEM. Replace with something like the Avid Acsend which is guaranteed for 70K miles if you rotate them. Since you can't on the Spark EV, I surmise it will last 35K - 40K at which you can just return the car and call it a day.

 

[NORTON]

..> because the ECOPIA are crap. I swapped mine at 8500 miles, though it would've lasted to 10K miles.
>>Replace with something like the Avid Acsend which is guaranteed for 70K miles if you rotate them. Since you can't on the Spark EV, I surmise it will last 35K - 40K at which you can just return the car and call it a day.

> I bought my Spark. I replaced the stock tires at ~4000 miles and I'm saving them for later. I installed some 'high performance' Kuhmos. Fun !!
I don't know if the Ecopias are that 'crappy'. They're just 185 LRR tires on a powerful 3000 lb EV.
It's hard duty. You can hear them trying to break loose even at 30-40 mph and full throttle on an entrance ramp. Traction control is always working on this little Hot Rod !!

>> Good luck with the Avid Acsend and getting the 'guaranteed mileage'. I doubt any 185's would meet their mileage rating on this car.
Maybe that's the way to go! Buy a tire that makes big claims like "70k miles" and take advantage of the warranty.

 

[CSW]

can somebody post a pic of what a 195 tire looks like mounted to the 15x6 front wheels? I am curious how it looks when wrapped around the rim and how the wider tire on the wheel sits relative to the body of the car.

 

[nikwax]

can somebody post a pic of what a 195 tire looks like mounted to the 15x6 front wheels? I am curious how it looks when wrapped around the rim and how the wider tire on the wheel sits relative to the body of the car.

it's less than a 1/4" wider on each side. I don't think a photo would show that.

 

[EldRitch]

it's less than a 1/4" wider on each side. I don't think a photo would show that.

Probably not, but visually it does look a little meatier. I just had a set of summer tires installed, 195x50F & 205x50R, and they do look more natural than the OEM tires in front. I do like to have a bit of tire shielding the wheel from curbs, and this will help.

No rubbing, BTW, on my 2016 with Dunlop Direzza DZ102, and they run quiet, for performance tires. After a few miles, they are already very grippy - almost no wheel-slip when you floor it, and the non-slip-diff steer is almost gone, since the wheels aren't slipping.

The need for a decent size tires at the back isn't so much that it's heavy, as the EV is static-balanced close to 50:50 F:R. The issue is that the weight that is back there is waaay back there - the rotational inertia is quite high as a result, compared to a mid-engined ICE car, where the weight distribution is also 50:50, but most of it is much closer to the center of the car.