Seeing that my front summer tires were close to reaching the wear lines, I started looking for sales for new tires. I found some at $57 a piece. Unfortunately for my size, a very common one, 185/65R14, it was a whole $13 more. That didn't seem right. If you want to improve fuel economy, it is common to get narrower tires. If you increase the aspect ratio, as I did in my case from 65 to 70, the ride may get more comfortable, but the obvious trade-off is handling as the sidewalls deform more.
Thinking that a small variation up to 185/70R14 would be suitable to save myself $26, I looked up the size difference at http://tire-size-conversion.com/tire-size-comparison/
I thought, after some reading, : "A 3% difference in diameter isn't much at all. I am sure that there is plenty of play in the tolerances of the different parts, the gear shifting, tire inflation, etc."
After unmounting the old tires and mounting the new ones, I installed the wheels on the front. I am aware that new tires should be mounted on the back of the vehicle, as the the deeper tread improves resistance to hydroplaning and overall stability, however I wanted to be assured that I properly balanced the wheels. A shimmy, or vibration in the steering wheel would be felt if the balancing be off.
Within a minute of driving off with the new tires, the increased size was felt. The gear shifting was harsh, especially between 2nd and 3rd. I drove a little bit more with the new tires in the front, wondering if the transmission's computer would measure changes in pressure when shifting, but I could not feel that the shifting had improved.
I moved the back summer tires back to the front with the correct size, 185/65R14. Since the shifting has gone back to normal. The staggered tires look a little funny, but I spend most of my time in the car when I driving. Actually, when I am driving I spend all my time in the car, so I couldn't care less what it looks like...
Saving $26 with an end result of damaging my automatic transmission would be just plain stupid. Were I driving a vehicle with manual transmission, I would have been able to compensate with the RPM at which I shift, and not have any problems.
UPDATE 20/8/2015 : Everything is still fine with the tires on the back. As I went to a wrecking yard to pick up a replacement for my rear view mirror which broke on a cold morning, I was somewhat worried to see so many Ford Focus sitting in that lot. Some had a lot of damage, others, I guess it could be the cylinder head. Nevertheless, I hope to never buy new tires again : tires with very little wear with excellent newish steel wheels for $27 a piece. Quite a deal...
No comments:
Post a Comment