195-50-16 Vs 195-50-15

[Stewie316]

Trying to decide whether to either downgrade to 195-50 15 inch alloys to allow more cushion from the road or whether to upgrade my 195-45-16's to 50 profile. What are your thoughts on getting more comfort?

[winemart2]

I testdrove 195-50-15's (i'm pretty sure) without realising it, the ride sold the car to me. The car arrived with 195-50-16's, much harder.

[Shadows Entity]

195 x 45% = 87.75mm

195 x 50% = 97.5mm

so you gain 9.75mm.... That's nearly a whole cm

[Stewie316]

It is very tempting to keep to manufacturer guidelines considering 195 50/15 was the norm for a zetec. I could of sworn also that i drove a courtesy car on 15" alloys and found it to be a little smoother. The 16's are nice and give a stiff ride but comfort considering baby almost here is what I'd like.

[Shadows Entity]

my work fiesta has 15's and feels smoother than my zetec s but then it also has softer suspension than zetec s

[winemart2]

I testdrove 195-50-15's (i'm pretty sure) without realising it, the ride sold the car to me. The car arrived with 195-50-16's, much harder.

My mistake, I believe the testdrive were 195-55-15's.

[Stewie316]

Just afraid of adjusting and finding it not making that much of a difference. i had seen that the new zetecs are 195/55. i know if i was to change to 195/45 16 to 195/55 15, It's a 2.41% change which is below the 3% threshold. Has anyone done this?

[winemart2]

Well, I now use a cushion for driving whilst the missus talks in stingray aquaphibian ;)

[Jeff4155]

I personally would change my 195/45/16 too 195/50/16 once the tyres need replacing, it will still give that low profile look and be a bit softer ride, anyone done this ?

[mikeyd1]

I'm thinking the same thing would like to know if any1 has done this yet.

[Stewie316]

So i decided to give the 195/50/15 -1.03% tyres a try, considering they came with the alloy. If i feel it's better but could do with improving i might upgrade late to 195/55/15 2.41%. I cant seem to find any fiesta's on auto trade or places that have these alloys.

[mikeyd1]

I think they look nice mate.

[Jeff4155]

They do look nice, like a smaller version of a Focus ST

[Stewie316]

So i did a little research and had to go through the old brochures for the fiesta. It's in the 2010 one and they are the 15" Sport alloy. I'm still waiting for them to be delivered to me but it kind of made me a little cautious when i couldn't find them on autotrade. I must of gone through hundreds and i still couldn't find a car with them. I akso read reviews that the snow flake 15" had buckle issues but i can find plenty of them. Didn't pick these specifically, just by a good deal on them.