Quote:
Originally Posted by MYTA21
My 409 came with a collection of 15inch x 6J loose steel wheels, reckoned to be ex Mercedes Benz. The previous owner, Dale Allen, had been thinking of changing the wheels to 15 inch from 16, due to tyre availability. Current tyres are 175 x 16 which I would say are on a rim width of 4.5 J.
Is there any benefit of changing the tyres to the wider 185 size, I wonder?
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I don't think there is any doubt that there would be a benefit in using a wider tyre.
It is worth noting that Setright drove a 409 with 205/70VR15 tyres on 6" or 6.5" Minilite rims and said that they transformed the handling of the car but they also fouled the wheel arch in certain circumstances when fully laden. Maybe you could prevent this by altering the bump stops.
Alternatively, if you can get them, 195/75HR15 may be a safer bet, these will also be a slightly larger tyre diameter than the 205/70VR15, although still smaller than your current tyre diameter.
BUT you need to first consider any offset on the Merc wheels.
PS. Typical disclaimers apply!