185/55 R14 or 195/45 R14/R15 For a Zen?

[riffst3r]

Hey, I'm Arif from Hyderabad and I drive a '99 Zen VX. It's been raised about three inches and I'm thinking of getting alloys and low profile tires.

I'm very picky about where I drive my car, I'm paranoid about getting my car's paintjob scratched.. so if there's heavy traffic and congested roads, I take an auto. I mostly cruise around at night.. and the Zen's more of a recreational vehicle than a necessity.

I've chosen the following three tires:

185/55 R14, 195/45 R14, or the 195/45 R15's. The outer diameter of all these tires are less than my stock tires, 145/70 R13.

Price really isn't an issue since these are either Toyo Proxes or Falken Racing tires that I'm having imported. They'll be put on standard 6.5" alloys along with a 30mm wheel adapter/spacer.

With all that in mind, what would fit my car better?

Thanks!

[jesal]

i have seen 195 on a zen with stock rims its too fat and kinda looks good. the point is can the suspension take it and also not sure if 3 inches is ok since the rear of the zen does hit

[Revvmaster]

Hi riff

14 inchers with 185s/195s seem a tad too much for a car like the Zen. Especially since yours seems to be a non-PS non-MPFi one. Also you haven't mentioned having any mods on your car so the actual benefit with such tyres would not only get nullified but actually become negative.

13 inchers should do the job. Look for 165/65s or 175/65s for your car at max. The tyres that you have chosen would not only be a pain on your shoulders, they might also foul with the body if not fitted correctly. Also you will lose performance and FE in the process by a big margin.

Revv

[Shan2nu]

185/45R 14 or 175/50 R 14 would be best.

6.5 alloys?? Are you sure it won't affect the car? Even 5.5 alloys will do, they can handle tyre sizes upto 195mm.

How powerful is your Zen right now? Did they have mpfi Zens in 99 or is yours a carb?

Coz i owned a carb zen and trust me, even with those stock tyres it felt very underpowered. If you're gonna put 195mm (which i doubt will be the best choice) you will have to compensate for the increased rolling resistance by making your car lighter, or else you maynot be able to enjoy your car in a stright line and your corner exists will be heart breaking.

Shan2nu

[Shan2nu]

13 inchers should do the job. Look for 165/65s or 175/65s for your car at max.

Well, i'm not really worried about the 1 inch increase in diameter but 6.5 J alloys are an absolute no, no.

But you have to be prepared to cope with the harsh ride the 14" wheel are gonna give you. Handling will surely improve but, 195s are too broad.

Shan2nu

[riffst3r]

Originally Posted by jesal

i have seen 195 on a zen with stock rims its too fat and kinda looks good. the point is can the suspension take it and also not sure if 3 inches is ok since the rear of the zen does hit

Hmm, I'm not sure if it'll touch at all.. Like i said, these tires are smaller than my stock tires, and there's plennnnnnty of room in the fender. I might just lower it because the car's very wobbly.

---

Originally Posted by Revvmaster

Also you haven't mentioned having any mods on your car so the actual benefit with such tyres would not only get nullified but actually become negative

...

they might also foul with the body if not fitted correctly. Also you will lose performance and FE in the process by a big margin.

I'm planning on having a peformance muffler installed and later an air intake kit. I haven't really thought of anything besides those.

The wheels, tires, adapters will be installed at a local CEAT shop, and balanced & aligned. The rims and tires are said to be lightweight, about 7kgs per rim+tire.. is that lightweight?

The main reason why these tires/rims are looks and handling.

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Originally Posted by Shan2nu

185/45R 14 or 175/50 R 14 would be best.

6.5 alloys?? Are you sure it won't affect the car? Even 5.5 alloys will do, they can handle tyre sizes upto 195mm.

How powerful is your Zen right now? Did they have mpfi Zens in 99 or is yours a carb?

Thanks.. I've been told that the stock wheels are 5.5". I believe mine's a carb Zen.. there's no fancy stickering anywhere with the MPFI logo, lol. Can I tell the difference by looking at the engine? It might be a MPFI, since they were launched in August 99, while my Zen's a September 99 model with the Zen Classic interiors.

As for the engine.. It's very smooth, hardly 50k kms run in, and my buddy who has a 2003 Zen diesel observed that my car's acceleration was far more than his 1.5ltr's.

Thanks everyone, your thoughts are very much appreciated!

[speedsatya]

:***: dude forget about 195 even 145 /70 r 13 will touch in 5.5 j rims.yess i am right 5.5 j rims.its too wide for a zen.front tire will touch inner body on turning while rear tire will touch when any one is sitting on the back


the stock zen comes with 4j rims in the 12 inch avtaar.and it should be the same in the older carb zens with 13 inch .


i have 155/65r13 with 5.5 j rims and it tuches even after i have raised the ride ht slightly.also the handling has suffered.so now i am planning to change my rims to 5j after which the problem will be solved.still under heavy braking the front tire can touch the body with 5j rims.

the downside is that u dont have much variety in 5j rims,but then u have to decide if its looks or handling that matters.for me its the handling ,so i am gonna change my rims.

just forget 195 tires.



still if ur adamant on 14 inch rims,u have to heavily modify ur suspension.

i think our very own ICEMAN had 14inch tires on his E-Zen.

but if you are gonna use it daily ,avoid any mods at all.max is 155/65 r 13 with 5j rims.

but 145/70r113 will be the ebst choice .

[riffst3r]

Whoa.. Can you tell me what the J is for? I always thought of it as the width of the rims? As in 5.5 J is 5.5" in width? The auto shops here said that 5.5 would work fine on the zens with no problems, and I've even seen them in a few cars.

And where will the rims touch? On the inside? It's because I really dont see how they can touch on the top or sides of the wheel well.

I'm not too keen on paying for tires that aren't low profile, so it's either going to be 45 or 55 height.. or nothing at all, lol.

And I will be using wheel adapters, they bring out the rims by about 30mm. Here's what I mean by a wheel adapter:



They're very well made, and sort of expensive at 3.5k each.

As for the 195's.. dude, they're too hot to forget about:



EDIT:

How can a wheel, thats smaller in diameter touch in breaking, when the original doesn't?

[riffst3r]

Here are some pics of the wheel well in my zen.. I apologise for the crappy nature of the photos, but its like 8pm here and flash is my friend.

[Shan2nu]

And where will the rims touch? On the inside? It's because I really dont see how they can touch on the top or sides of the wheel well.

Yes, even i can't see how they can touch. I have 5.5 J in my Vtec and 175mm tyres, if the rim has to touch it will have to bulge out more than the side wall ofthe wheel but, this doesn't happen.

If at all anything touches, it has to be the tyre.

still if ur adamant on 14 inch rims,u have to heavily modify ur suspension.

Why will it need a suspenssion mod? As long as the overall circumference and diameter of the wheel/tyre combo remians the same, it won't affect the suspenssion geometry in anyway.

But yes, if you're gonna use that adapter to bring out the tyres beyond the wheel arch wells, that will surely affect the suspenssion as the tyre will now be further away from the suspenssion, don't do that.

Shan2nu

[drifter]

Have you all ready done some mods with the suspension? coz ur car looks as if its raised compared to regular zens?

Drifter

[riffst3r]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

But yes, if you're gonna use that adapter to bring out the tyres beyond the wheel arch wells, that will surely affect the suspenssion as the tyre will now be further away from the suspenssion, don't do that. Shan2nu

The wheel adapters were only if I settled for 195/185 tires. I was using it to compensate for the huge positive offset of the rims I had planned:

.

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Originally Posted by drifter

Have you all ready done some mods with the suspension? coz ur car looks as if its raised compared to regular zens?

Yep, I had the car raised up a bit.. but I wasn't around when the mechanic was working. I'm not sure if he put in new springs, or if he just heated/stretched them. He did charge 2k for doing it though.

[Vulken Auto]

Heated???................................

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

Yes, even i can't see how they can touch. I have 5.5 J in my Vtec and 175mm tyres, if the rim has to touch it will have to bulge out more than the side wall ofthe wheel but, this doesn't happen.

If at all anything touches, it has to be the tyre.



Why will it need a suspenssion mod? As long as the overall circumference and diameter of the wheel/tyre combo remians the same, it won't affect the suspenssion geometry in anyway.

But yes, if you're gonna use that adapter to bring out the tyres beyond the wheel arch wells, that will surely affect the suspenssion as the tyre will now be further away from the suspenssion, don't do that.

Shan2nu

shan,

:***: why the heck do u bring a VTEC into every topic.here we are talking about the zen.and in a zen 5.5j has to touch ona stock car.

on where will it touch,on the front the inner edge of the tire will touch when u turn and on the rear the tire will touch depending on the size when anyone is sitting in the rear.

maruti says that they have tested the zen and have found anything wider than 145 will touch the RHS rear.
and that is absolutely true,as 155/65r13 with 5.5j touches.but it will not touch if u use 4.5j or 5j rims.
as i have mentioned earlier even the stock 145/70r13 can touch if u use 5.5j rims.
the reason tire dealers say taht 5.5 j rim is okay ,is beacuse they dont have much to sell in 5j.


now i dont know about ur adapters nor do i know about what will happen when u raise by 3 inches.
urs will be the worst handling zen ever.as after raising my car slightly i have a lot of oversteer with wider 155 tires that was not there previously with thinner 145 tires.

i think u should contact Dom or Iceman to know about Iceman;s mods as he too had a 14inch rim.


still i feel 145/70r13 will give best results though it may not look cool to u.

[Shan2nu]

on where will it touch,on the front the inner edge of the tire will touch when u turn and on the rear the tire will touch depending on the size when anyone is sitting in the rear.

Exactly, so how does reducing the rim size solve your problem of the tyres touching? The width of the tyre remains the same whether it's 5j, 5.5J or 6.5J.

I said 6.5 J is too big since the mentioned tyre can very well be fitted onto 5.5 J, not bcoz they touch. Why buy 6.5 J when you can fit the same tyres on a 5.5 J rim?

Shan2nu