tire size

Hello everyone, I tried using the search for this question, although there was lots of great info, i could not answer the question myself, maybe someone here could explain better for me. My question is, tire size on my stock 93 ex has 235/75/15 tires on it, i would like to go alittle taller without having any rubbing issues, i don't wanna go huge just alittle taller, I honestly don't understand what 235/75/15 means, so could someone please tell me what sizes i could use. Primarily used as my daily driver with the occasional minor offroad adventure. Also will going to a taller tire kill my gas mileage further, will my speedometer be correct? Thanks for any information. Love the site, I don't post all that often but I lurk almost everday, have gotten lots of great info from here.

 

[MDPuckett84]

235/75/15 is your tire size in width/ratio/rim in other words, your tire is
235mm wide
75% ratio, that is, 75% of the width is how big the sidewall is
15 is the rim, you must use a 15in rim
if you decide to go bigger, but not "huge" I dont think you'll notice a huge difference in gas mileage. But your speedo will be off. You can probably live with this however. I suggest you go with 255/70/16 which was a stock size offered on the explorer, so it isnt "huge" but bigger than what you have. Of course you'd need newrims for that, not sure what the equivalent on a 15in rim is (255/75/15 perhaps). These will make your speedo off about 5%, which is still only 3mph at 60mph. If you want to just compare sizes, use this link http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

EDIT: Just realized you have a 93. Dont know for sure that 255/70/16 would fit a first gen as i have a 2001 and dont know much about the other years. seems likely they would however

 

[BigBadWimp]

Hey Justin,
The general consensus is that on our 1st gen you can almost definitely fit a 30x9.5x15 and sometimes we can fit a 31x10.5x15. What I'm going to hopefully buy someday are some 265x75x15 which comes out to about a 30.6" tall tire (your stock tires are about 28" tall).

 

[CDW6212R]

Tire Change, Diameter Calculations

The 1991-1994 stock 235/75/15 is 29 inches tall.

A general rule of thumb is:

(1) Every 10mm change in section width(235-245), changes the diameter by 1/2" in diameter.
(2) Every 5% change in profile(75-70), changes the diameter by 1".


DonW

 

[huskyfan23]

That number is just the metric measurement for the tires. I wish I would've gotten 32's.. I ordered 31's from TireRack and put my lift on. There's enough space for 32's. The gap isn't too big but it's something I notice. I'm willing to bet you can fit 30's and maybe even 31's.

 

[CDW6212R]

If you care much about acceleration, braking, and gas mileage, then be a little conservative. I believe that once you get over 30" in diameter, the performance starts to suffer.
The factory wheel/tire weighs just over fifty pounds. Most factory 16", 30" tall combos weigh closer to sixty pounds. I went from a 58.5 pound 17" tire to a 71.5 pound 18" tire(30.6" tall). The performance and fuel mileage are noticeably less.

I'm just saying take your time, and think about how much you are willing to give up. Good luck,
DonW

 

[wheelinkid]

you can fit 30's easily i got a 94 sport and i just got my 30's put on couple of weeks ago i wish i woulda went with 31's but i like the way it looks its not to cramped and it still articulates good. i would go with 30s if i were you

 

[1stgenxsport]

This may be a stupid question but...what are 30" tires in metric terms? 255/70s?

 

[live2_4x4]

Try this

I believe you would want 255/75/15 = 30.6 tall 10.04 wide
Check out http://www.bc4x4.com/calculators/default.cfm

 

[Brandon1993Sport]

'93 with 2" lift and 31x10.5 BFG AT's on stock rims, never been close to rubbing.

 

[somewhiteguy05]

could you fit 30 inch tires on the stock rims with the stock suspesnsion or would you have to lift it?

 

[Mbrooks420]

30x9.5x15 should fit no problem.

 

[birdman]

30x9.5 will fit perfectly.