What size car do my tyres need?

[forddeliveryboy]

This topsy-turvy approach kind of reflects other aspects of my motoring life - for example, having my choice of fuel dictate what cars I run. So instead of old Rovers, Citroëns and Saabs I'm using a strange-green VW Octurdia with a rubber band driving the camshaft and an interior which must be a Europe-wide cause of depression.

 

I also detest getting rid off valuable items which are high*-kwality, Hence a shed full of old car bits, including items of such rarity and excellence that there ought to be a heritage plaque on the doors. The most recent acquisition is a set of nearly-new Vredestein SnowPlusses.

 

Living half way up a steep hill in a remote valley amidst Northerly Moors, we usually have at least a few days of snow when just six miles away it can be a balmy 2C and drizzling. So what autoshite to fit them which is a diesel? - they're the common* 155x15 size with a rolling circumference similar to a 195/65x15, but squeezing these onto a 6" rim would be stretching things.

[Junkman]

When these tyres were contemporary, the World was still a place worth living and Diesel was mostly relegated to where it belongs, namely in farm tractors.

So the only Diesel cars I can come up with, that would suit these tyres, are the Peugeot 403 and 404.

 

They would also be correct for the following shite:

 

VW Beetle

MGA

Saab 95-96

Volvo Amazon

Volvo 140

Citroen DS/ID 19

Jaguar MKI and MKII

Rover P4

Alfa Romeo Giulia, Giulietta Sprint & Spider.

Lotus Elite.

MORGAN Plus Four

Porsche 914/4

Reliant Sabre

Triumph TR2, TR3

Vauxhall Cresta.

Wolseley 15/50

 

and many, many more from that era.

[DSdriver]

Junkman has nailed it for you: A Citroen DS. Front wheel drive and excellent traction. If the drifts get too deep you just raise the suspension.

[dugong]

O NO, rubber suspension bushes!

 

And Amazons are 165 x 15.

 

In all seriousness, Vredesteins are top bits of kit.

[mouseflakes]

Renault 8/10?

 

What better reason do you need to buy an 8G?

[Pillock]

6" rims on a Beetle will take them, provide excellent traction and optionally a place to hold pineapples.

 

I think I used to run 165 fronts and 205 rears because I was cool, but the rears rubbed slightly if I had a full car.

 

Diesel? Erm..... Bugger.

[forddeliveryboy]

Thanks for the grrrreat replies so far... I know diesel engines aren't the autoshite choice, but skint-ness is reduced by using fuel at 0-15ppl. The Saab 95/96 appeals hugely - it's a possibility. Superb cars, just a little short geared for the V4 I've always thought, given the low aerodynamic drag.

 

Junkman, the Citroën D series only ever used this size on the back of the saloons, afaik. 165s on the driven wheels. Totally agree with nothing's not what it was, etc etc. All cars should wear 155R15s...

[dugong]

Thanks for the grrrreat replies so far... I know diesel engines aren't the autoshite choice, but skint-ness is reduced by using fuel at 0-15ppl. The Saab 95/96 appeals hugely - it's a possibility. Superb cars, just a little short geared for the V4 I've always thought, given the low aerodynamic drag.

 

Junkman, the Citroën D series only ever used this size on the back of the saloons, afaik. 165s on the driven wheels. Totally agree with nothing's not what it was, etc etc. All cars should wear 155R15s...

 

Also, Michelin ZXs work brilliantly on DSs. 

They're HORRIBLE on Amazons. 

 

Want to go straight across this roundabout, sir? What? You wanted the third exit on the right? NON

[Junkman]

To all you 165ers, we are talking WINTER TYRES here.

So even if a car was fitted with 165 Summer tyres (or even 180X15s, like the Rover P4, and no, this is NOT a typo),

it would have got these 155s for winter, because in them olden dayse, this size was the only game in town when it came to knobbly stuff.

Next up was the 185X15 Winter, which was good for cars with up to 205X15 Summer, and next up from there would have been yank tyres,

which weren't available as radials.