What would happen if I used 205/70 15r tires on a car that uses 215/70 15r tires?

Barking_Dog

Everything kostagh said is spot on only one small are was missed and that is the circumference of your 205's would be smaller than the 215's , that means you would be revving higher at any given speed and use more juice

wvparanormal

Tire and car manufacturers, recommend that you only change the original tire size by one size, up or down. Since a 205 is one size smaller than a 215, it is perfectly OK to do. It is safe and won't change handling or your speedometer significantly.

While it's good to know all of the other stuff in the answers here, it's all pretty irrelevant.

kostagh

First of all it's useful to know that 205 is the tire width in millimeters. So, using 205 tires means they are "narrower", less wide tracks than, by 10 millimeters (less than half an inch).
The issue here is whether the tires are wide enough to create good adherence on the wheel rim. In order to see that, you can check with a local tire service. Also, your car documents should list whether it can handle 10 mms narrower tires. This is particularly important if these are tubeless tires (as I'm confident they are).
The worst case scenario is that you won't be able to seal off the tire on the rim and won't be able to inflate it or it will quickly loose pressure.
At any rate, mounting the tires on the wheel rims should be done in a specialized shop. You should also have your wheels balanced there, after assembling them on the rim.
On the other hand, maybe the wheels on your old car can be moved in their entirety (tires and rims altogether) on your newer car. This could also save you the money for paying the removal and remounting of the rims and tires.
For a straightforward answer, it would definitely be necessary to know the brand, model and manufacturing year of your "newer" car.

Howard L

ksotaghs' information is correct but you should have no problem putting on the 205s. Most wheels will accommodate two steps from the recommended size and you're only changing 1 step, and since you are going smaller there won't be a problem with fender clearance.

What is most important that was not mentioned is that the narrower tires will have a lower load rating. Ordinarily that is not a problem unless you regularly keep your car fully loaded with people or cargo or tow a trailer and drive at high speed. Overloaded tires could cause a blowout. One size doesn't change the load rating much but you should be aware of it in case the 215s are smaller than the manufacturer recommends. Then again, the 215s might be wider than recommended and the 205s were recommended to begin with. Visit tire rack and check what size is recommended for the car and the load rating of the tires you have.

The narrower tire will result in your speedometer reading a bit faster than it did. You will be going about 1- 2 mph slower than the speedometer indicates.

akse

Simply go ahead

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