185/60R15 on all four corners

[Okie Boy]

I just had a set of 4ea 185/60R15 installed on my 2008 Passion. I found a set of like new rear wheels on ebay. The rears have great clearence and the fronts pretty much fill the wheel-well. The fronts clear the springs and appear to have enough room in the wheel-well to articulate without rubbing.

I don"t think you could put a larger tire on the front. The car rides smoother and you dont feel the harsh bumps as much.

The speedometer changed by about 3%.

I selected the 185/60R15 after a lot of research and found there to be a lot of affordable choices in that tire size.

A set of four, Falken, installed, lifetime road-hazard, lifetime rotate and balance, and new TPS install kits came to $347.59 out the door.

[RussBarnes]

I did the same back in March with Michelin 186/60-15's. That actually corrected my speedometer so now it reads exact with the radar boards, GPS and stopwatch on Interstates. However now my odometer reads low so to get true MPG I need to multiply by 1.03 and divide by gallons to get an accurate reading. Several runs of at least 20 miles on the Interstate will give you the odometer error.

Sears mounted and balanced mine and sold me the lifetime balance, can't remember the cost. I bought my TPS units ($71 ea) from Tire Rack with the tires and they all worked great.

Okie is right - it sure rides smoother.

[smartskate]

I WAS TOLD AT THE DEALER IF YOU INSTALLED ALL 4 TIRE THE SAME,THE CAR WOULD NOT TURN IN THE RAIN ?

I don"t think you could put a larger tire on the front. The car rides smoother and you dont feel the harsh bumps as much.

The speedometer changed by about 3%.

I selected the 185/60R15 after a lot of research and found there to be a lot of affordable choices in that tire size.

A set of four, Falken, installed, lifetime road-hazard, lifetime rotate and balance, and new TPS install kits came to $347.59 out the door.[/quote]

[smartskate]

Does antone have a problem with car not turning in the rain with all 4 tire the same size?

[mikie]

I think that Smart is concerned with safety. The car has smaller tires on the front to aid in steering. While I've thought about putting wider tires on the front, I figure that the engineers knew what they were doing. Mine's all original!

[Okie Boy]

Originally Posted by smartskate

Does antone have a problem with car not truning in the rain with all 4 tire the same size?

I suspect that the smart has smaller tires on the front to force it to under-steer so it is less likely to roll over in an extreme manuver. Please understand that the employees that you talk to at the dealers are not necessarily knowledgeable about the smart or cars in general.

[Bill Marshall]

Originally Posted by Okie Boy

I suspect that the smart has smaller tires on the front to force it to under-steer so it is less likely to roll over in an extreme manuver. Please understand that the employees that you talk to at the dealers are not necessarily knowledgeable about the smart or cars in general.

Exactly.

[MPrice2984]

I have 195/50 x 15 all the way around and the car handles great with better control. The optional sizes outside the US put 175/55 x 15 on the front and 195/50 x 15 rear.

[Wizco]

Originally Posted by smartskate

Does antone have a problem with car not truning in the rain with all 4 tire the same size?

As Okie Boy mentioned, the smart seriously understeers with the factory setup. I've been running 4 factory rear wheels and tires in the summer weather with no problems in rain or dry. It actually makes it turn in sooner, as it has less understeer.

[fortow]

Originally Posted by mikie

I think that Smart is concerned with safety. The car has smaller tires on the front to aid in steering. While I've thought about putting wider tires on the front, I figure that the engineers knew what they were doing. Mine's all original!

As has been mentioned, the smaller width tires are installed on the front not to aid in steering but to induce understeer. It's safer for unskilled drivers to have a car understeer. Also, the short wheelbase of this smart car would tend to exacerbate oversteer making it react suddenly which can surprise an unsuspecting driver. That's not to say that the same width tires front and rear would make it dangerous, however.
The choices made for things such as tires are mandated by many compromises. The choice of narrower front tires may not be the best solution for everyone.