General 195/50/15 tyre Panda owners

[Lucio]

Yep no problems. Might not be for a day or so as its dark now and Im still at work!

Thanks..look forward to seeing the photos!

 

[fpan]

I recently changed all 4 tyres for Uniroyal Rainsport 3's and loving them.

There is a nice section of dual carriageway and roundabouts between one of my regular journeys at the moment, (A264 between Crawley & Horsham), and the car has been transformed.

So much more confidence in the handling, both in the dry and wet, its really added a new layer of enjoyment to the 100HP.
Highly recommended.

Same here, I had 4 Rainsport 3s fitted a few weeks ago and I no longer spin the wheels when exiting wet roundabouts, the grip is just phenomenal.

 

[Lucio]

Thanks..look forward to seeing the photos!

Any chance of those photos with the uniroyal rainsport 3's? .. Sorry for being a pain..

 

[IanHuntly]

My car would benefit from having new tyres as the ones on it although still have plenty of tread left, they are 4+ years old and have cracks.

I am tempted to get 195/50/15 not only because they are cheaper but to improve the ride quality at the same time.

However will the increased diameter make the car noticeably slower in gear acceleration and will I loose a lot of steering feedback?

Thanks!

Hmm, I will go back to 45's at the next tyre change, I found out on a regularity rally on Sunday past, my speedo and odometer underread by about 4%, which is pretty hectic when you are trying to stay on time & distance. I agree though for daily use, the 50's are cheaper, ever so slightly less harsh, and slightly more relaxed. Handling is still great, go-kart like.

Good luck

 

[The Panda Nut]

I presume you have a 100hp with 195/45 R15's?

You'll gain 9.75mm of ride height with the 50's over the 45's.
The 50 or 45 in the tyre figure is % of the width not total height in millimeters.
So it's height is 50% of 195mm (97.5mm) compared to 45% of 195mm (87.75mm)

You'll also lose 9.75mm of wheel arch gap.
If the taller tyres don't catch on anything, it may look ungainly on such tall tyres.

Diameter will go from 556.5mm to 576mm, so you will lose a little acceleration as you're gearing it up slightly, but saying that, at cruise it will pull slightly less rpm.

Your speedo will read -3.39%
So reading 30mph you'll be doing 28.98mph, 60mph and you'll be doing 57.97mph.

Ha ha. I think a lot less speed than you say. Fiat speedos are, shall we say, already optimistic.