tires 195/75R14 versus 205/70R14

the extra width will give you better dry traction, wet traction could go either way. Some tires evacuate water better than others. In general a wider tire will be more prone to hydroplaning but some tires are more prone to hydroplaning than others so as I said, it can go either way.

It will effect gas mileage. I wouldn't imagine you'd lose any more than 1 mpg if even that though.

The 195's in general should handle better in the snow because the tire will "bite" into the snow better than a wider tire. Just like a wider tire is more likely to hydroplane, a wider tire is more likely to slip on snow.

-Bruce

| Any thoughts?

mysterious posters ( Mr. know all ) get no info fr me

Thanks for the reply. When I did find brands that had both sizes, the less popular 195/75R14 was always about $10 less than the more popular 205/70R14. Less rubber meets the road?

I gather you meant that since the slightly wider 205/70 are far more popular, then, one has more choices and perhaps that equates to a cheaper tire in the long run?

I found this so looking at Pep Boys Futura 2000 LTE which was (equates to a Cooper's Lifeliner Classic II with 70,000 warranty) less than others but only available in the 205/70R14. It looked like a sturdy tire with 2 plies in the sidewalls where most others had only 1 ply. That may not matter much until the end of the tire's life. However with driving 2 minivans, I noticed some bumps in the sidewall where it meets the tread so I wonder about the minivan and sidewalls - not heavy cars, but not that light, around 3300 pounds.

When I said cheaper tire, I meant by price, not by construction. If you go to tirerack.com you can search by tire size. Searching on 205/70/14 you'll get 36 hits, 195/75/14 gives 26. I expected much fewer hits in the single digits. I compared the first tire I could that showed up in both lists and that was the dunlop 40 A/S which came up $45 for the 205 and $43 for the

The advantages of 205 is a wider tire and more choices. Disadvantages is extra cost, higher chance to hydroplane and lower gas mileage. You must remember that these advantages and disadvantages are minimal.

-Bruce