Mixed size stock tires?

Nashco said:

If I could get this turd of a stability control system to allow some oversteer, I'd be in heaven! Opinions that differ are great, that's how I learn new things. Your opinion is interesting and different than mine...why is that your opinion? Do you believe this car is extremely sensitive to tire changes, on the knife edge of oversteer, or ...???

Bryce

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I can't wait until people start tinkering with the electronics of this thing...for one boost the power or let it out...second play with the TC and etc.

This car is screaming for AWD or RWD....it'd be a hoot.

Just had my first 7500 service and the tech rotated the rear tires to the front. Needless to say, the rear rims with the different offset hit the brake calipers as he backed the vehicle up causing damage to the rims (see photo link). He fixed his error, but I was NOT notified of the damage. I noticed the damage the next time I washed the car. Very frustrating. Make sure to check this when you have service done to your car. I have an appointment to discuss the damage with the service writer in a couple days.

Has anyone else had this problem? It seems that Chevy doesn't know what they are doing with our EV.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11749649/IMG_2367.JPG

Jeeman0 said:

Just had my first 7500 service and the tech rotated the rear tires to the front. Needless to say, the rear rims with the different offset hit the brake calipers as he backed the vehicle up causing damage to the rims (see photo link). He fixed his error, but I was NOT notified of the damage. I noticed the damage the next time I washed the car. Very frustrating. Make sure to check this when you have service done to your car. I have an appointment to discuss the damage with the service writer in a couple days.

Has anyone else had this problem? It seems that Chevy doesn't know what they are doing with our EV.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11749649/IMG_2367.JPG

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Tell Chevy right away....tell them what happened...

I just had my car "serviced" last weekend. Not sure what they did except swap the sides of the car the tires on. I've got a tire with a very slow leak, and now i know that they didn't switch the tire pressure sensors because the leaky tire is on the opposite side of what's showing on the dash.

They didn't charge me for the service, so I guess I basically got a free car wash.

Nashco said:

I just had my factory tires dismounted and remounted with the factory (rear) 195s mounted on the front wheels and factory (front) 185s mounted on the rear wheels. I haven't driven with them yet, but a stationary test fit in the shop looks like there may be some very minor rubbing between the inside of the tire and the chassis at full steering lock.

I'll have more feedback after I do a test drive. Keep in mind that I have a modified suspension with different alignment settings (camber!)and (lowered) ride height such that even the factory wheel and tire combination had this same minor rubbing. It rubs *just enough* to squeak a bit and polish the paint off the chassis, so it's really barely touching and only at full lock.

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To follow up on this, as I expected, there is very light rubbing with the 195s mounted on the front wheels (the same as I have with the stock 185s on front with my modified suspension). I haven't had any issues otherwise. The speedometer is within 1 mph according to my phone "Speedometer" app. Having the tires with almost no tread on the back, with tires at almost full tread on the front, seems to have resulted in *drastically* less stability control intervention. I didn't do any controlled A to B testing, just going off my perception.

So, if any of you want to squeeze some more time out of the factory tires, let it be known that rotating the rear tires to the front wheels and the front tires to the rear wheels can be done without any ill effects. Also, if your front tires are bald and you replace the fronts only (while leaving the rears alone), it seems that you should expect significantly less stability control intervention if you get stickier tires for the front only (and leave the OEM tires on the rear).

Bryce

So based on this we should expect generally good results and minimal rubbing by swapping out all 4 tires to 195/55/15 of a version with better grip?

I'm very curious how there is "drastically" less traction control intervention by increasing the diameter of the front tires relative to the rears. If that is so, it'd be a very nice side-effect! Can anyone explain how this might work?

I'm nearing taking out a lease on one of these and the first thing I'd want to do is replace all four tires to something more grippy. I don't care about range I want performance/stability/traction first. Four new 195/55 tires seems like the way to go.

Will 195s all around work, or are 185s safer? Several good choices in 185.

OK, I'll answer my own question...re-read the thread, picked up the part where 195's rub in front. So 185s all around for me.

One question: is it possible that the larger rear tires are for the higher load index rating? I'm thinking of a situation with the vehicle fully loaded, where there would be more load on the rear tires.

If that's a non issue, then I don't see any reason not to run 185 all around.

My work commute (5 days/week) climbs/descends 3000 feet along a windy road; I predict another 5000 miles before the tires will warrant replacing. ugh

Just passed my 5000 mile mark and received an email from the dealer suggesting it's time for a tire rotation.(??)

We had some new furniture delivered this week, later that day I was driving down out hill when I noticed a thumping noise and bizarre steering feedback. I thought I had a flat.

It turned out that a block of wood with staples in it was embedded in my right front tire. Later I found a second one, staples pointing straight up, in our driveway.

I now have a pair of ContiProContacts on the front and the traction and handling are hugely improved.

I just don't get it. How has having different tires on the front vs the rear been normallized? Depending on how different the tires are, your car's handling will be compromised at the limit, which of course is when you really need it. If you feel that the front ContiProContacts have increased grip, then you've just increased the car's tendancy or ability to oversteer. This may be good if that's what you want and can handle it, but go into a corner fast and brake late and you might be surprised to suddenly find yourself spinning around, especially when the road is wet.

Zoomit said:

This may be good if that's what you want and can handle it, but go into a corner fast and brake late and you might be surprised to suddenly find yourself spinning around, especially when the road is wet.

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The original problem was poor traction from the LRR OEM tires. Replacing them with any other type of tire would have been an improvement. I did want grippy tires to get better use of the torque available. I like to accelerate briskly.

I appreciate the heads up, and I'll be careful. The car is 18 months old and does not have 3900 miles on it yet. Consider the stereotype of the little old lady that only drives to church on Sunday, I'm the little old man who does not go to church. My exposure to auto accidents is extremely low, in terms of minutes per day in a car.

Fiddling with tire sizes will NOT result in the car having oversteer issues (spinning around), the factory stability control just plain won't allow it. Trust me, I WANT oversteer (for autocrossing) and just plain can't get it!!!

I'm now running the stock rear tires (195/55R15 Bridgestone Ecopia EP150) on all four corners with stock wheels. I expect the rear tires to wear at about half the rate of the front tires based on my experiences so far. 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. This way the fronts are always 40% or better tread, while the rears are always 40% or less tread.

Bryce

Nashco said:

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

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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?

I recall reading on this forum that someone successfully mounted 205's on the front wheels without rubbing. 195's should be fine. The caveat I'll add is that different tire models, in the same size, can have slightly diffferent dimentions so at the limit one tire may rub while another is fine. With a stock suspension and front wheel, I suspect any 195/55-15 tire would be fine.

Found the thread I was thinking of here: Tires

Here are the relevant posts in that thread on 205 vs 195 etc.

tarmactrr said:

SenorChispa said:

Sweet! Thanks for the great info and pics.

Looks like there's a number missing where you wrote the tire size. Was that width of 21 supposed to be 215? Also, can you tell us what the width and offset of the rim are? Any clearance issues?

I'd really like to put wider tires on the stock rims because I don't want to spring for a whole new set. Do you suppose 205s would fit without creating a clearance issue?

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sorry, yes they are 215 width tires. Wheels are 16x7 et45. The offset requires a 2mm spacer due to clearance with the caliper and the rim. No rubbing issues.

I'm sure 205's wouldn't cause any clearance issues unless they were significantly taller than the stock tires. For future reference, this is the stock Spark EV wheel specs.

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Plus:

Nashco said:

nikwax said:

Can I put 195's all around? That would open up some more choices.

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Yes. As I've documented here, it's a tight squeeze but 195s will fit in front. You still won't be able to rotate the wheels front to rear.

Bryce

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and finally...

gomersrocket said:

I have 205/50-15 KUMHO ECSTA ASTs on all 4 stock wheels. There is no rub in the front, I am happy with this size.
I am glad I pushed it and didn't settle for 195 all the way around. Range has slightly decreased, but worth it to be rid of the OEM tires.

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Hi All,
I'm a Spark EV owner in Tampa, FL. I watched the Spark EV for years and had a 2015 shipped to me. I love it, except for the tires. I have read all the posts and downloaded the spreadsheet (thanks, wonderful resource!) I wasn't sure what the rankings meant though, if you could explain to this newbie I would appreciate it. My local Tire Kingdom recommended the BFG GForce Sport comp2 195/55R15 for our local wet, hot weather and to give me a sweet ride. I'm not concerned about efficiency but really want to enjoy speed and cornering while staying put on wet roads. I had sticky tires on a BMW Z3 for years, and am trying to get the equivalent fun fast ride from this little beast. Thanks, I appreciate the guidance.

hipchick said:

Hi All,
I'm a Spark EV owner in Tampa, FL. I watched the Spark EV for years and had a 2015 shipped to me. I love it, except for the tires. I have read all the posts and downloaded the spreadsheet (thanks, wonderful resource!) I wasn't sure what the rankings meant though, if you could explain to this newbie I would appreciate it. My local Tire Kingdom recommended the BFG GForce Sport comp2 195/55R15 for our local wet, hot weather and to give me a sweet ride. I'm not concerned about efficiency but really want to enjoy speed and cornering while staying put on wet roads. I had sticky tires on a BMW Z3 for years, and am trying to get the equivalent fun fast ride from this little beast. Thanks, I appreciate the guidance.

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The spreadsheet I put together references Consumer Reports ranking of tires available in sizes that fit the Spark. CR assigns an overall numerical rating (1-100, higher is better), plus specific rating for various qualities (e.g., road noise, wet handling, braking, snow). There is no one tire that is best for everyone as we all have different preferences, so you would start with what is important to you (" I'm not concerned about efficiency but really want to enjoy speed and cornering while staying put on wet roads."). I think you're looking for a high performance summer tire or high performance all season tire, based on what you're saying. Look for tires that resist hydroplaning. Off the top of my head, the Michelin Premier or General G Max might interest you, as well as the BFG GForce.

Thank you so much nikwax, that's very helpful. Will take your advice, I really appreciate it!

Bryce,

Are the rims the same front and rear or are they different too?