'92 Accord different tire size then specified by Honda

My '92 Honda Accord LX tires are sadly in need of replacement, and as
they came with the car I hadn't really looked at the size before. I
looked at the inside of the door and the size is supposed to be 195
60R15. I checked the tires and they are 185 70R14.

Is there some funny business going on with the rims? Would there be a
reason I couldn't replace them with the specified size? Is there a
reason someone would have chosen the different size? Thanks.

 

may have had alloys originally, and someone just swapped out some
steelies from a junkyard? anyway, you're best advised to get a set of
the proper size wheels and tires. junkyard is fine as long as you get
the right size!

 

I've been Googling all over on this, & from what I've seen, I think
they were replaced with the smaller size because it's more common, so
cheaper. It also seems to be a common substitute (http://www.rims-n-
tires.com/rt_tire.jsp?
req=newCar&brand=Michelin&model=HydroEdge&carYear=1992&carMake=Honda&carModel=Accord)

However, I have noticed a resonance when driving on the highway with a
window or two open, also it's kind of noisy Perhaps the 195 60R15
size will eliminate this.

 

I'm with Jim on this, someone swapped the wheels, and either kept the
alloys or sold them separately.

the 195 is the only size listed on the door? Sometimes Japanese cars will
have a 'stock' size, mounted on steel wheels for the standard size, and a
larger size mounted on alloys for an optional tire.

The resonance may be because it's a cheap tire, or perhaps just a noisy
compound/belt setup.

 

tire noise is probably more affected by tread pattern than wheel size.
lower profile tires also make for a harder ride,the shorter sidewalls of a
60 series tire transmit more impact to the suspension.(but give better
handling)

Narrower tires give slightly better gas mileage,less rolling resistance.

 

compound makes a huge difference too.

kinda. depends more on the tire itself though. from personal
experience i can tell you that 65 michelin hydroedge will batter your
brains out. 60 dunlop sp sports are like butter. [great tire.]

again, depends on the tire.

assuming inflation is within manufacturer specs, compound has more
effect with radial tires.

 

The 195 60R15 87H is the only size on the door. I don't think the
rims were swopped, as the car only had one owner before me, a woman
med student who kept somewhat meticulous records in the original Honda
owner's book -in doctorscript of course ; ) .

At the TinyUrl link http://www.tiny.cc/qnJlb to the Michelin site
where the tires were selected by model, make & year, they have
P195/60R15 ( 615x195, 24.2x7.7 )
"Correct size for Accord. 87T". They also list P185/70R14 ( 616x185,
24.3x7.3 )
Correct size for Accord. 87T. But the price difference between the
smaller and larger size is $16.35 per tire. This makes me think that
the smaller size choice was due to cost.

As for the resonance, perhaps it was due to the fact that the tires
are the same ones on the car when I bought it (and drove 12,000
miles), alarmingly now-worn BF Goodrich's. From the outside they look
somewhat worn, but the tire that blew had the tread ripped away,
exposing the metal. Definately time to replace all four, as well as
get another rim w/ tire, & get rid of that stupid doughnut!

 

a harder ride? I never thought of that as a factor, but I did have
the suspension checked when I had the exhaust pipes replaced. I
thought something must be amiss because I felt every bump & ragged
road depression. The roads where I live are pretty terrible, and the
car is good on gas, so a smoother ride might be a plus in getting the
195's.

 

And she bought it new?
Somewhere along the line, something got swapped! If the door says a 15",
and you have 14", then something's amiss.

The other possibility is that she wanted to save a few bucks when she
bought the car, and had the alloys 'deleted' at the time of sale, and the
dealer swapped them.

In any case, unless you want to buy new wheels, I would go with the
185/70-14. These will handle OK and will not alter the speedo.

You can also try this:
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

This is a tire size calculator that shows views of the different tire
sizes you plug into it.

I did a 185/65-14 and a 195/60-14 and the difference is negligible. The
195 will give you a slightly wider tread, and the lower profile (/60) will
give you less sidewall flex. This combination will give you slightly
better handling but a slightly harsher ride (probably hardly noticable).

But you'll also have to make sure they will fit on the wheels, widthwise.

And, as it is now, at 60 MPH, you're actually travelling 58 MPH with the
tires you have on. If you go with a 185/60-14, you'll be doing 57.5 MPH.

 

We're only talking a couple millimeters here. Not a significant difference.
Probably more a factor of the compounds used in the manufacture of the
tire.

 

I agree with jim b on this one. The SP Sports are a good tire.
But I haven't owned Michelins for years.

Currently on my Supra I have a 205/50-16, as specified by Toyota (I
usually go 10mm wider than spec, but these tires were a deal!)
The Supra is a Pop-Top (Targa) so I was concerned about road noise, but
the tires are quiet. The /50 means a harsher ride; if I had gone with 60's
or 65's the ride would be softer, but I wanted handling!

The tire? Hankook K106. $70 each. Third year on the tire, negligible wear,
really good handling in wet or dry. They are supposed to be All Season,
but you can bet the Supra hasn't seen a single *flake* of snow!

 

For what it's worth, my '93 Accord (Canadian LX, similar to U.S. base DX)
had a specified stock size of 185/70R14 87S. But for higher end models,
195/60R15 was specified (don't remember speed and load rating).

Apparently, alternating between these 2 sizes has virtually zero effect on
speedometer and odometer accuracy. I would get 195's for all-season tires.
If you have winter weather in your area, get 185's for winter tires.

Moreover, you'll have a greater selection of tires to choose from in the
195/60R15 size.

 

Wow, apparently my last 2 posts bit the dust. I checked out the
Dunlop Sports (apparently there are many Dunlop Sports) at the website
where I was reading the reviews (http://www.1010tires.com). All but
the 3000A DSST were reviewed, and the main complaints seem to be about
treadwear, and those who drove in snow
rated them pretty low. While we mainly only have serious snow a
couple of times during the winter, I visit people down south who
regularly have serious snow. So the snow factor is important. My
slipshod notepad chart of the reviews (5/5 =100%) follows:

Dry Wet Snow Handling
Comfort Noise Treadwear R
Dunlop SP Sport 5000 4.2 3 2.2 3.9
3.6 3.4 2.5 3.3
Dunlop SP Sport 5000 DSST 3 3 1 3.5
3 3 2.5 2.8 2 reviews 1 snow n/a
Dunlop SP Sport A2 Plus 3.9 3.2 2.2 3.6
3.1 2.7 1.7 3 14 reviews 9-all treadwr
Dunlop Sport 4000 DSST 2.6 2 1.6 2.2
2 1.7 1.1 1.9 9 reviews
Dunlop SP Sport 5000A DSST 5 4 2.5 4
3 3 2.3 3.4 3 specif on treadwr
Dunlop SP Sport 3000A DSST no review
Dunlop SP Sport 01 4.3 4 2.6 4
4.3 4.2 3.6 4 32 reviews
Dunlop SP Sport 01 DSST 4 4 4
4 4 4 1 review

I decided to go with the Toyo Versado LX
Dry: 4.6 Wet: 4.5 Snow: 4.6 Handling: 4.6 Comfort: 5 Noise:
5 Treadwear: 4.6 8 reviews 4.7

but after hearing the Hanckook spoken so highly about, I went to the
site and found:
Hankook Ventus ST RH06
Dry Wet Snow Handling Comfort Noise Treadwear Rating
4.8 4.7 3.6 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.6 4.6

they are in the running.

BTW, I went out to the car and measured the diameter of the rim.
Definately 15", so I guess there was no funny business about it.

I also went to http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html, had my java
updated, but still had to use the old version. I listed the 195 60R15
as the stock tire, and the 185 70R14 as the new one. The result said
that the reading with the nonstock tire was 1% faster. When my speedo
reads 60mph, I'm actually going 60mph. OK, now I'm confused. Isn't
that the point?

 

Um, where the 'helk' *ARE* you?!?!

When *I* go 'down south', I can ditch my snow tires!

 

lmao! West Virginia has had some serious snows. We took pics of
someone's car which had been completely buried after one nasty storm.
Driving outside of Hagerstown on Rt 81 was so bad once that you just
followed the rapidly disappearing tracks of the drivers ahead of you.

 

LOL! North Carolina has, too. Three inches of snow and they shut the state
down!

I'm from Mass, and when I go down there I can't believe the number of
spin-offs I see! Of course, we're used to it up here!


So when you go 'south', you're heading up into the mountains?

 

Yes, definately serious snow in Mass. You're right, it is amazing to
see people panic at a couple of inches of snow. My fav was the
TransAm in front of me outside of Hagerstownwho couldn't adopt the
concept of driving @30mph or less on snow covered ice during a storm.
Everytime he lost it, went sideways and miraculously straightened out,
up he would go trying to speed.

Lately it hasn't been camping in the mountains of WV, but visiting in
the valley. Martinsburg is surrounded by mountains and gets as much
snow (if not more) than New York, and is hotter in the summers, too.

North Carolina is beautiful, though I've only been through it en route
to FL. I've heard that the Smokey Mountains are awesome.