[mterry127]

I have a 2009 Smart Car and I am having some abs issues. ABS light comes on and off under 55mph and constantly on after 55. I feel the abs kicking in during braking as well.

The car came with 15 inch wheels in the front and 16 inch wheels in the back. Tire Sizes Front = 175/55/15 Rear = 205/50/16. Diameters are 22.58 in the front and 24.07 in the rear making it a 6.6% difference.


The brabus has 175/55/15 in the front and 215/35/17 in the rear making it a 5.3% difference.

My question is....what tire size should I run?

I have 4 brand new (less than 200 miles) on the tires on the car now. I am thinking about swapping the rears out to make the percentage difference as close as possible.

Here are my options. I am now running hancook v2s. I could keep the hancook in the front and swap it for a crosswinnd tire (economy china tire =/) 215/40/16 in the rear making it have a 22.58 diameter in the front and a 22.77 diameter in the rear (0.9% difference)

or...

Keep the same hancook in the front 175/55/15 and another hancook tire size 205/45/16. tire diameters front = 22.58 rear = 23.26 (3% difference)

obviously, I would want to make the percentage close as possible but they do not make a hancook in the 215/40/16 and I like to try to keep the same brand tires if I can.

Any input would be Awesome. Thanks again.

 

[jzchen]

Maybe try 175/65 15 in front? (I’m afraid no personal experience with these sizes)....

 

[mterry127]

Maybe try 175/65 15 in front? (I’m afraid no personal experience with these sizes)....

I thought of that too but I'm afraid of rubbing. Does anyone on here have any input? if I ran a 175/65/15 in the front, I would have a 23.96 inch diameter.

 

[jzchen]

Do you have the widths on the wheels? Kind of blind with just the diameters...

 

[mterry127]

Do you have the widths on the wheels? Kind of blind with just the diameters...

I know the Rears are 7.5 and I believe the fronts are 6

 

[Mailman]

185 55 15 in front is 23.0" diameter, 205/45/16 in rear is 23.2" diameter


I just got a winter set for a 453 and summer and winter sets for a 450 and the 185 55 15 fits in front of the 450 and the 450 front is the smallest wheel well of them all.

 

[jimvw57]

moved to 451 tires and wheels forum

 

[jzchen]

185/60R15 on front and live with a barely noticeable rub. I believe one of our esteemed moderators Miss Mercedes is very happy with this size, ran in all four positions last time I saw IIRC. There are a lot of different tires in that size but extremely few matching fronts and rears for you I’m afraid:

General Altimax RT43 all season and two winter sets:

Firestone Winterforce 2 and Michelin X-ICE XI3

 

[mterry127]

185/60R15 on front and live with a barely noticeable rub. I believe one of our esteemed moderators Miss Mercedes is very happy with this size, ran in all four positions last time I saw IIRC. There are a lot of different tires in that size but extremely few matching fronts and rears for you I’m afraid:

General Altimax RT43 all season and two winter sets:

Firestone Winterforce 2 and Michelin X-ICE XI3

Thanks for the info. I appreciate the help. Now since I’m going to be running the 205/50/16 in the back and if I run a 185/60/15 in the front, the diameters are a 1.6% difference. Will that trigger the abs to come on at highway speeds or should I be good?

 

[jzchen]

Thanks for the info. I appreciate the help. Now since I’m going to be running the 205/50/16 in the back and if I run a 185/60/15 in the front, the diameters are a 1.6% difference. Will that trigger the abs to come on at highway speeds or should I be good?

I’m honestly not sure, I could find extremely close diameters if your tires are worn and you are ready to change both front and rear,but given changing front or rear, quite limited. This is a snap shot of original tire sizes from smart, and the 185/60R15 and 205/50R16 combo.

65 - 65.8 MPH for the stock wheels
65 - 65.9 MPH for the proposed setup

It’s very close but yes outside the range

175/55R15 and 195/50R15 came with optional wheels:

65 - 65.3 MPH

16/60R15 and 195/50R15 came with my optional wheels:

65 - 64.7 MPH

Ideally keep it between:

65 - 65.8 and 65 - 64.7, if that makes sense, (it’s how I gauged a staggered setup), as those came direct from smart on various wheels offered by smart.

 

[mterry127]

So....

Ended up going with the 175/55/15 in the front, and 215/40/16 in the rear. No more abs light. Car seems to shift better and overall very happy.

From a friend that works in a Mercedes dealer, he says as long as your staggered wheels do not exceed 1.5% difference you will not trigger the abs

 

[SAM101]

I have a 2009 Smart Car and I am having some abs issues. ABS light comes on and off under 55mph and constantly on after 55. I feel the abs kicking in during braking as well.

The car came with 15 inch wheels in the front and 16 inch wheels in the back. Tire Sizes Front = 175/55/15 Rear = 205/50/16. Diameters are 22.58 in the front and 24.07 in the rear making it a 6.6% difference.


The brabus has 175/55/15 in the front and 215/35/17 in the rear making it a 5.3% difference.

My question is....what tire size should I run?

I have 4 brand new (less than 200 miles) on the tires on the car now. I am thinking about swapping the rears out to make the percentage difference as close as possible.

Here are my options. I am now running hancook v2s. I could keep the hancook in the front and swap it for a crosswinnd tire (economy china tire =/) 215/40/16 in the rear making it have a 22.58 diameter in the front and a 22.77 diameter in the rear (0.9% difference)

or...

Keep the same hancook in the front 175/55/15 and another hancook tire size 205/45/16. tire diameters front = 22.58 rear = 23.26 (3% difference)

obviously, I would want to make the percentage close as possible but they do not make a hancook in the 215/40/16 and I like to try to keep the same brand tires if I can.

Any input would be Awesome. Thanks again.

Check your tire sticker and go with the original setting if keeps showing the same light then you might have a ABS problem.