What fits best, Weights & Sizes
By tlthehun
#263932 I needed a quick fix for a corded tire on my EG and got lucky with a set of bottlecaps off a BMW 325is with usable 205/60-14 tires for $120.

In hopes of saving someone else time:

205/60-14s rub on a stock fender, camber and height 1995 EX coupe.

E30 bottlecaps are 14 x 6, 4 x 100, +35mm offset

BMWs use conical seat lug bolts.

Hondas use ball seat lug nuts.

I first mounted up with the stock Honda lug nuts without any obvious problems over 150 miles of use but switched to Gorilla pseudo spline drive "small diameter tuner" conical seat lug nuts for a little peace of mind.

IMO, the 5" steelies are too narrow for even the stock 185/60-14s and contribute to inner and outer tire tread wear.

A used 185/60-14 Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S measured 5.5" from outer bead to outer bead after being dismounted from a 5" wide steely. A 185 section tire is about 7.28" wide so a 6" wide rim is nowhere near "stretching" the tire.

I'll probably update with weights and pics when I'm able.
Last edited by tlthehun on Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By Greasedmonkey
#263944 195/60 at the biggest for 14s. 195/55s would be the best choice.
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By teal_dx
#263957 Good info :thumb:
And if you're going to keep the bottle caps, you may want to put some hubcentric ring adapters on. They keep the stress of bumps coming through the wheel off of the wheel studs and on the hub as the factory wheels did. (I'm assuming the bottle caps have a larger center bore.)
By tlthehun
#264024
teal_dx wrote:Good info :thumb:
And if you're going to keep the bottle caps, you may want to put some hubcentric ring adapters on. They keep the stress of bumps coming through the wheel off of the wheel studs and on the hub as the factory wheels did. (I'm assuming the bottle caps have a larger center bore.)


My sausage fingers somehow deleted my original post before I was finished and I forgot to mention the hubcentric aspect.

There's about a 1mm difference between the EG hubs OD and the bottlecaps ID, too small for hubcentric rings.

If it ends up being a problem, a solution could be to bore up the BMW centers to allow hubcentric rings to be used.
By tlthehun
#264028
Greasedmonkey wrote:195/60 at the biggest for 14s. 195/55s would be the best choice.


Good info, thanks.

I'll be back to 185/60-14 BFG gForce Supersport A/S when it makes sense, probably before winter/rain, sooner if I get sick of the lifted, oversized tire look but I'm mostly more worried about having some tread on my faithful, efficient and quick enough utlilitarian commuter beater EG coupe.

The biggest reason for having the bottlecaps on my wish list was their 6" width. With the 185/60 I believe that I will be able to inflate to the maximum 44 psi for minimized rolling resistance without distorting the tire.
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By Greasedmonkey
#264041 didnt quite work. I dont know your password.
By tlthehun
#264050 Damn Google Docs, getting a URL for the image is not intuitive. I'll keep trying.