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tire size question -- 195 vs 185

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by [email protected], Nov 24, 2009.

  1. bill@bfv.com

    [email protected] Junior Member

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    A friend is upgrading cars and wants to give us (4) snows -- 195/65 R-15 ... Our current Prius tires are 185/65 R-15 ... Can I use these slightly larger snows -- either 2 of them or all 4?

    We have 4 extra aluminum rims, so I could have them all mounted ... or just use a couple on the front.

    But it's the 195 vs. 185 question that I'm really looking to answer.

    Thanks in advance for your help.

    Bill
     
  2. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Some people run 195s on the Gen II Prius. That said, narrow snow tires are better than wide snow tires.

    Tom
     
  3. chimo

    chimo Junior Member

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    Should be OK. Your spedo will read about 2.1% slower than you are actually going.
     
  4. craigk

    craigk Member

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    the only change above is in tire width (195 v. 185), how does that affect speedometer reading?
     
  5. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    The Height of the tire is expressed as a percentage of the width, 65% in both these cases. (Other tires may have other percentages, also called profiles) 65% of 195 is just larger than 65% of 185.

    105/80R13 is as tall a tire profile I found.

    315/35R17 is as short a tire profile I found. (Neither fit a Prius)
     
  6. craigk

    craigk Member

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    thank you for correcting, my mistake, i thought it was a percent of something else.
     
  7. rposton

    rposton Member

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  8. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    Actually, his speedometer will most likely be more accurate than stock because stock reads about a couple of percent high.
     
  9. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Yep, but the odometer will still be a bit off.
     
  10. Ryanpl

    Ryanpl Active Member

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    For some odd reason only in the US Toyota supplies 185 with the Prius rest of the world gets 195. I recently replaced my tires and went with the 195/65 size and noticed the car handles much better.
     
  11. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Yes but please note that it's generally195/60/15 (not 195/65/15) that's the factory fitted standard outside of the US.
     
  12. Ryanpl

    Ryanpl Active Member

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    Thanks for the correction UART. My bad :doh:
     
  13. BAllanJ

    BAllanJ Active Member

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    We got the 185s too, and we actually aren't part of the US.
     
  14. Hal W

    Hal W New Member

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    I tried 195/65/r15's on my 206 and I found the car liked the standard 185/65/r15 better. Better FE and much better driving auto with standard size. My 2 cents! Hal
     
  15. MarvinHC

    MarvinHC Junior Member

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    In Europe the standard size is actually 195 / 55 / 16
     
  16. ursle

    ursle Gas miser

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    The 185 is 24.5" the 195 is 25", no big deal, more torque with the 185 better mileage with the 195
    Run all 4 the same size, either 185 or 195 don't switch them up, winter driving and braking will go smoother.
    In the tools menu on you screen you can adjust for larger or smaller tires to adjust your speedometer error.
     
  17. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    The MFD should read higher mpg with the 185s because they are smaller in rolling diameter than the 195s. This is assuming you are comparing the same model tires with the same wear condition.
     
  18. striker308

    striker308 Three time Prius owner

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    Bought my Prius in Jan 2008, used with 30k on it with the OEM 185's I drove it for the remainder of that winter (Buffalo NY) and thought about getting a four wheel drive before the next winter. I replaced the tires when they wore down with 195 60-R 15 Bridgestone Turanza LS-T tires from wal-mart in Sep 2008. I have now driven two more winters on them and haven't bought a four wheel drive for winter yet. I just replaced them today with four new tires same make from wal-mart for only $10 more than I paid two years and 80 some thousand miles ago. I'm not sure if it was the tread change or the tire size but I know these tires have done the Buffalo winters and the buffalo to Boston trip once a month for the last two winters with no issues on the highway. On side streets nothing moves in Buffalo without more ground clearance or four wheel drives.
    as far as mileage or speed changes I have noted a 1MPG drop over what I was getting with the 185's (I remember reading on this here so I kept track the first few months) I also noted a 2MPH change from what the "speed in Zone" signs say I'm going compared to the dash display.

    I don't know if any of this helps answer your question or not but it’s what I have noticed with my Gen II and my tires.
     
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