Thread: Tallest Tire for 01 Non T

Ha you sound just like me. Reliability and good mpgs. That's all I'm really about. I don't mess with suspension or any of that stuff. I do not mind swapping rims though. But only for other stock wheels . I have a sport with the 16's. While I love the size of them they are too soft so I'm looking for some other one.

I'm glad you got the issue fixed and didn't have to resort to more serious measures.
How would you say it compares to the BMW on the highway now?

The body style doesn't need improving. It's look modern even by today's standards and a classic looking car that is well proportioned. My wheels are minty with only one slightly curbed. It makes no sense to replace something that already looks great and is fully functional. Just because I like something else 10% better.

My last car had 18" Rondells that were powder coated black. I personally stripped the powder coating in my garage, and had the 4" lips polished and I refinished the interiors myself. Looked great, but what a PITA the whole thing was.

Nah, my wheels are fine and while you guys are rollin' on your 20's with your teeth chattering from the vibrations I'll be in my passenger seat takin a nap on my 15's.

Very different Ben. Tomorrow will be a good test at about 120 miles all highway. This is the first highway trip with it.

All I can say right now is that I'm not as comfortable at 70 with the g20 as I was with the e39 at the same speed. Of course I went from and e34 to an e39 and it was almost like driving the same car. It could be that I'm not accustomed to the car at that speed.

No way would the G20 be my #1 choice for highway. That would have to go to the e320 hands down but the e39 is a lot more fun to drive.

I bought the g20 for the gas mileage and hoped I wouldn't have to give up too much comfort. I don't think I really gave up much comfort in town but the highway may be a different thing. I'll know more tomorrow after I return.

I don't do 20's. Ha I don't go bigger then 16 . Nor any stiffer suspension then stock.

As far as mpg's go I'm seeing about 27ish with mixed driving on an 02 automatic.

The regular non-touring G20 can take both (the sticker on the door well had both sizes listed).

Touring size is 195/60/15's. What's funny though, every single G20t that I've owned came with 195/65/15's. When I switched to 195/60/15 on my wife's car the speedometer started reading faster then I was really going.


Now lets get down into geeky stuff, since you mentioned you want your G20 for gas mileage, like me, accept I like snail power too. Since your on a Base model your stock size will be 195/65/15 for these comparisons

195/65/15
Circumference: 78.5"
Revs per Mile: 807
Difference: 0.0
Actual Speed at 60mph: 60

195/60/15
Circumference: 76.1"
Revs per Mile: 833
Difference: 3.1% too fast
Actual Speed at 60mph: 58.2

205/60/15
Circumference: 77.6"
Revs per Mile: 817
Difference: 1.2% too fast
Actual Speed at 60mph: 59.3

205/65/15
Circumference: 80.1"
Revs per Mile: 791
Difference: 2.0% too slow
Actual Speed at 60mph: 61.2

Calculator can be found here.

I'm about to buy new tires and I think I will be getting 205/65/15's. 205 for added traction, which would slightly hurt the gas mileage due to a wider tread. If I get 205/60's, then my speedo will only be 1% off, but revs per mile will increase. That means higher RPM reading, which means worse gas mileage. 205/65's should regain the gas mileage for me since they have the lowest revs per mile compared to the others .

Now you tell me.

I know this is a tire thread but here is something I found and saved as this project car unfolds.

"When I first bought it, it was only getting about 26-27 mpg. Since then it now had a cat-back and cai new plugs wires cap rotor pvc fuel filter and did a engine oil flush.... now I get 32-34 mpg driving conservatively. Stock wheels n tires running 40psi. Otherwise all stock. And i only run 92 octaine."

That's a lot to discuss.

Let's take the easy one first. 92 octane better mpg vs. cost difference per gallon? If 92 indeed gives better gas mileage does the cost of 92 outweigh it's savings?

Not better mileage unless you advance the ignition timing.... If anything you will probably loose a little since it runs fine on 87

I just found that out myself yesterday. But you don't need 205's for an NA car.

You will loose gas mileage if you use higher octane gas then what your engine is tuned for. Simply because higher octane gas is harder to ignite, aka it takes a lot more compression for it to spontaneously combust.

Free flowing intake and exhaust are supposed to increase gas mileage, but on our cars I've never really seen a difference UNLESS you floor the car a lot.

Cheap things are seldom good, but I guess in our case, it is good.