Thoughts on 185/60-14 vs. 195/60-14 tires?

[Petebee]

Hi all,

I am seeing the end of the tunnel on my 14x6 Momo Altair mesh wheel refinish (never again!). I am now thinking about tires. I'd like to run a tire that looks less "ballooned" than the stock size - which is 195/60-14. I currently put some Vredestein Quadrac tires on the stock turbine wheels in 185/70-13, holy moly looks like I'm driving on marshmallows (and kinda feels that way, too).

I can get the Vredestein Sportrac tires in either 195/60-14 or 185/60-14, and I'm leaning towards the narrower width. Reason being on a 6-in. wide wheel, I think the 185 width tire will stretch slightly, and combined with a shorter sidewall look a lot less pudgy. I'd get a bit better steering response, but give up a bit of overall grip vs. the 195s. I realize that my speedometer will read a fast, but the overall difference in diameter is only 2.2%. I'm on H&R Sport springs with Bilstein Sport struts/shocks (still quite a bit of gap in the front).

I temporarily mounted a 185/55-14 wheel/tire combo that my buddy let me borrow. Now that looked stupid.

I can be swayed if the 185 size is dumb. It is hard to find any good 14-inch wheel/tire reference photos.

[wally509]

If you're looking for the modern car "rubber band" look, not sure if you're going to be able to get there with 14" rims.

I have 195/60-14 BF Goodrich g-force super sports on 14x6 Panasports and don't think they look balloonish or pudgy. The sidewall look is going to differ depending on the tire design somewhat in addition to the size, one tire with a stiffer sidewall in a 195 might end up looking less "pudgy" than another with a softer sidewall in a 185. I can try taking some pictures if you want but I see BFG discontinued these tires so not sure if they will help you, let me know.

[Petebee]

Thanks Wally. No I'm not looking for rubber bands, but something where the sidewall doesn't actually push out beyond the wheel lips. I've had 195/60-14 on my E30 with the 6.5-in wide OEM basketweaves and they looked decent. I wish I could find the g-force super sports but you're right that they are NLA. I could go with Falken Azenis in the 195/60-14 size, but I know for certain those would be a bit too stiff and aggressive for my use.

I am concerned about the Vredesteins, because I am somewhat disappointed in the 13-in Vredestein Quadtrac tires I purchased. The sidewalls flexed and felt extremely flimsy before mounting tires, akin to what cheap Doral tires I had before felt like. Alas there are no decent performance oriented 14-in available (in a known brand) outside of the Vredestein Sportracs. Plus the sidewall designs on these Vreds are silly - huge letters and weird patterns, amplified on the chubby 13-in tires even more so.

Pics of your setup would be great if it's not too much of a hassle. Thanks!

[wally509]

Petebee,

Until the rain subsides (snow and ice apparently coming later), hope this gives you what you're looking for:

Post #163 https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ght=Panasports

My car at a show a few years ago with the aforementioned BFG 195/60 on 14x6

Let me know if this shows you what you want to know.

Wally

[okieflats]

[Petebee]

Here are the wheels in question. All four centers stripped of the horrible ivory white paint, upper right with lip polished, bottom two with lips sanded, upper left with no finishing on the lips yet. Once pollen settles (and I finished polishing) centers will be sprayed with primer, gold paint and 2K clear.

momo meshies.jpg