Wheel/tire change question

[DoubleJ]

I have a 2016 Toyota Corolla LE Eco.  It came stock with 195/65 R15 wheels/tires.  I know it came with the thinner tires for increased gas mileage.  Well, after 19 months, I'm averaging 46 mpg so losing a bit of gas mileage won't be a problem.

The stock wheels are steel with plastic hub caps (Ugly as hell)

I'm considering going to an alloy wheel and wanted to know from the car people, if I went to a 16"x 7" wheel and went to 205/55 R16 tires, would that be an issue?  I've done the calculators online and saw that the MPH and stuff is similar.  It's a lower profile tire that will look better, it's a bit wider and that should perform better, right?  I would just be losing some MPG because of more rubber/concrete contact right?

Thoughts?

[tlake]

205/55-R16 tires are 0.1 inches (2.6 mm) smaller in diameter than 195/65-R15 tires and the speedometer difference is 0.4%.  I don't see any issues other than more rolling resistantance that mentioned.

[DoubleJ]

205/55-R16 tires are 0.1 inches (2.6 mm) smaller in diameter than 195/65-R15 tires and the speedometer difference is 0.4%.  I don't see any issues other than more rolling resistantance that mentioned.

That's the same thing I saw.  Basically the same size tire, with a bit more rolling resistance because of the increased rubber/road contact but the positive trade off would be better control BECAUSE of the rubber/road contact

[thinkingman]

Less grip in snow, ice, and rain.
More likely to hydroplane.

[spoonman]

Wider tires in Washington rain means more likely to hydroplane. They don't look that much wider but just a little on a light car  will do a lot!

[C-Money]

I am pretty sure 205/55-R16 is the size that I am running on our 05 Sentra...

[DoubleJ]

Well, I decided to stay with the 195/65 R15's. 

I went to Les Schwab (against my better judgement) and got the Toyo Eclipse tires.  Hands down the absolute WORST tires I have ever driven on.  Heavy, made my car slower, lost about 6mpg just by having them on, no grip as the car slid all over the road even on dry pavement, and LOUD. 

So, today, I went to Costco and got the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus.  Cheaper and WAY better.  A bit loud and some vibration but I think most of that will smooth out when they get broken in.  LOTS of grip and my car went from a base of 44mpg with the OEM tires, to 38mpg with the Toyo's, to 47mpg with the new Bridgestones.

So tomorrow, I'll take the Toyo's back to Les Schwab and throw them through the window like the Discount Tire Company commercial

[Special T]

Lol I think tires  are fairly subjective except when it comes o hard metrics like mileage, stopping power and such. If this is a computer, why did you move away from OEM with such great numbers?

 I moved to snow tires only when the wife's commute went to less than 5 miles...  in the Nazi wagon I still do great but put on a LOW amount of miles ea h year so traction is more important.

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[DoubleJ]

Lol I think tires  are fairly subjective except when it comes o hard metrics like mileage, stopping power and such. If this is a computer, why did you move away from OEM with such great numbers?

 I moved to snow tires only when the wife's commute went to less than 5 miles...  in the Nazi wagon I still do great but put on a LOW amount of miles ea h year so traction is more important.

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OEM tires were garbage.  I'm at 45,000 miles but they really needed to be replaced at 35,000 miles.  Good mileage but, if I can get better mileage with a tire that at least has a chance at going further than 35,000 miles, then I'm all for that

[Special T]

Most oem tires try and maximize mileage so I'm surprised to hear that... or I should say MPG.... 

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[DoubleJ]

Most oem tires try and maximize mileage so I'm surprised to hear that... or I should say MPG.... 

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OEM were Hankook Optima.  Basically Wal Mart specials.  It was a lease car so I'm sure Toyota didn't put too much in to tires expecting to replace them in 3 years anyway.  But I bought out the lease and now own the car so, I ended up buying low rolling resistance tires designed for hybrids.  I don't have a hybrid but I have the Toyota Corolla LE Eco.  Best non-hybrid mileage car on the market.  I wanted a non-hybrid car that got great mileage so I could maximize my 75 miles per day commute but still be able to work on it in 10 years.  I can handle regular combustion engines.  I would not be able to work on a hybrid

[Calvin Rayborn]

Shelton pavement is terrible, make sure it isn't TOO low profile!

[C-Money]

The Ecopias are good tires...

[KFhunter]

I had the opposite experience with toyo eclipse.   It was on a Neon commuting on rough back roads and dirt roads, they were about the only thing I found that would hold up and not puncture on the gravel roads and corner after corner after corner, not much for a piece of straight road on this commute.

[biggfish]

I've had a pretty decent experience with Hankook tires, but that's about the only tire made for my truck. They only get cheaper from there, quality not price.

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[Dhoey07]

Well, I decided to stay with the 195/65 R15's. 

I went to Les Schwab (against my better judgement) and got the Toyo Eclipse tires.  Hands down the absolute WORST tires I have ever driven on.  Heavy, made my car slower, lost about 6mpg just by having them on, no grip as the car slid all over the road even on dry pavement, and LOUD. 

So, today, I went to Costco and got the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus.  Cheaper and WAY better.  A bit loud and some vibration but I think most of that will smooth out when they get broken in.  LOTS of grip and my car went from a base of 44mpg with the OEM tires, to 38mpg with the Toyo's, to 47mpg with the new Bridgestones.

So tomorrow, I'll take the Toyo's back to Les Schwab and throw them through the window like the Discount Tire Company commercial

I got the ecopia's on my wife's forester in November, they were loud to start but are smooth sounding now.