AboutBarry Smith Expertise I have over 30 years experience in the design, manufacturing, and
testing of tires. I have served as the technical advisor to the "800"
number. I have authored or co-authored many publications - usually
without credit. I can answer almost any technical question, but
please don`t ask me to compare brands. I probably have prejudices because of
my work experience.
Experience Member SAE (Society of Automotive
Engineers)
Member Tire Society (Tire Technical Organization)
SCCA Regional Competiton License holder
Authored many training manuals on tires, their care and use.
Expert: Barry Smith Date: 6/28/2008 Subject: Different Size Tires
Question Have a 2001 Nissan Altima GXE Special Edition. Door jamb calls for 205 tires. Costco installed Bridgestone 195`s said there`s o difference. Seems to run great, should I be concerned that about 1/16 of the rims seem to show? Runs great so far with the 195`s. Had 205`s on previously.
Answer TK,
Tire sizing consists of 4 important elements:
There are sometimes letters in front of the tire size that indicate the type of service the tire was designed for. P for Passenger car, LT for Light Trcuk, ST for Special Trailer, etc. If letters don't appear in front of the tire size, then the tires were designed to metric standards - which is a slightly different system, but close and nothuing to worry about.
The secong thing is a set of 3 numbers that are the width of the tire.
There will be a slash (/), the a third set of numbers that indicate the aspect ratio.
Then there will be a letter indicating the construction - radial bias, bias belted.
And last a number indiacting the rim diameter.
I can't answer your question unless I have all 4 of those. There are things that would make this not OK, but I have to know what both sizes to be sure.
