I have a 2006 Base hatchback with 5 speed that needs new tires. Right now it is riding on 175/65/15s, 2 are Bridgestone Ecopia, one is a General Altimax and one is a Toyo Versado (purchased as used tires). I am giving the car to my son because I bought myself a Miata now that the kids are grown. I want to buy 4 new tires that will perform/corner well and also be useable in the Wisconsin Winters. When I bought the Miata it was outfitted with some ugly aluminum rims with 195/50/15 Hankook Ventus Concept 2 Tires. I replaced those ugly rims with factory alloys and ran the aftermarket rims and Ventus tires on the Mini until I sold those rims and tires. The Mini handled like a Go Kart with those rims and tires. Is there a tire in the 175/65/15 size that will provide similar performance, or were the performance gains related more to the size and configuration of the temporary rims and tires?

 

For the 15s, best and longest lasting was the Continental that i ran.

 

Thanks. As I Look at the tires I have, and have had, I suspect the shorter sidewall and bigger contact patch of the 195/50/15 tires were a bigger factor than the brand. Do you agree?

 

I kept it 175/65r15. Did not run a fatter tire. I did got to 17" wheels (205/45r17) and the handling/ride did change a bunch. Not that bad on the ride, but looks and the tacking/steering improved.

On 15" the ride is the softest, don't have to worry about pot holes, but the crisp handling is not the best.

The larger tire patch might improve handling but with 15" it feels a little sloppy compare to 16" and 17" (biggest improvement). 18" is were on the older MINIs the ride quality will go down, then you have to change out to KONIs or coilover to make up for the harshness.

When you have 15" tires you want the best traction/ mileage. As handling is not that much different per tire brand.

 

I had been running 16x7 wheels with 205/55 Yokohama Advan Sport V105 - a size that they do not make anymore - and the ride quality on the street was fantastic. They have a tread wear rating of 240. They stick really well as they are summer only tires but they are great. The size is close enough to the factory size in radius so the speedometer will be close enough to be accurate. I really like these.

When I ran on the stock 15's (shown in the sig below) I had Falken Ziex ZE-512 in if I remember correctly in 185/55.

Those were very good for a High Performance All Season tire. They were predictable on street and track. Good in the wet and light snow. Since they were a little wider, and thought the tread wear rating was higher than the stock Continentals that they replaced, they had more grip, partly due to the wider size but more so due to the rubber compound. Very good tire for what it was.