Tire Sizes

Overall, I don't see much point to it on an escort wagon..

What would that

Depends on the surface, what tire you change to, etc....A wider tire might be a little better on some surfaces, and cornering, but on the other hand, the wider the tire, the worse the hydroplaning in wet wx. It's a tradeoff. Depends what you want also..

Will the accuracy of the speedometer and odometer

Yes, they can change if the diameter of the tire changes. Your overall gear ratio changes also. The larger the tire, the higher the gear ratio. IE: If you had a 4:11 rear with 29 inch tires, and then changed to 31 inch tires, it would be like changing your rear to a 3:70 ??? or something like that. I have puter programs that can calculate that...

If so can these be recalibrated for the larger

Yes, usually you change the little plastic speedo gear "tranny" in older cars. But I don't know about these new fangled cars with electronic speedo's...

Myself, unless you have a specific problem with the current size, I'd stick with it. After all, a whole room full of injuneers probably spent 3 weeks and 41 pots of coffee deciding the best overall size... :/ Also, the bigger the size, the higher the $$$$ usually...What I do try to look for is good stiff sidewall construction no matter what size. That probably means as much as anything. MK

I am shopping for tires for my Escort Wagon online at the

What is the advisability of putting larger tires on it? What would that do to the performance? Will the accuracy of the speedometer and odometer suffer significantly? If so can these be recalibrated for the larger tire sizes?

Before you can put larger tires on your car, you must have corresponding size wheels/rims to mount the tires on, OK. For a 1994(as shown in the tire rack link,) 15 inch is a great upgrade. You could get used 15 inch wheels from junk yards, or used wheel shops, or on ebay. Unless you are really into turning into turning your car into a sports machine, getting a larger size might not be worth it.