Tire Question

What's the difference between a P205/60R16 and a 205/60R16 tire. I know that
the "P" stands for P-Metric Passenger Car tire, but what differences are there
in diameter, width, wear, and air pressure?

Thanks,
John

 

In short, it depends. They will basically be the same tire, and as far
as dimensions go, they should be the same. 205 is the tread width in
millimetres. 60 is the sidewall height expressed as a percentage of the
tread width. In this case your sidewall is 60% as tall as your tread is
wide, or 123 millimetres. The R stands for radial construction, and the 16
is the rim size on which the tire mounts in inches (no I don't know why this
is the only imperial measurement.) Air pressure will be specific to a car.
This can be found on an information sticker on (usually) the driver's side
door jamb, or inside the glove box. There will be small dimension
differences between manufacturing companies (i.e. Good Year, Bridgestone,
etc.)

Hope this helps,

Rob

 

Because in the old days, everything about tires sizes was "imperial" in some
fashion or another. And larger pickup truck tires sometimes still are. I
assume that when they started using metric tires, they just kept using the
same "standard" size wheels in most cases. I have seen some older BMW
wheels that were metric, 390. Tires for those are expensive around here
though.

car.

 

None.

 

P just states that it's a passenger tire. W/o the p is just a general size.

 

Dimensions should be the same. There may be differences in the load rating.
Wear, speed, and maximum pressure ratings may differ between different tire
models also (regardless of the "P").