Xantia tyres

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Nikolaymk
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Xantia tyres

Post by Nikolaymk »

Hi,
Would anyone know if 195/55R14 tyres will fit my 1995 Xantia Hatch and will it affect comfort? It is currently equipped with 185/65/H14.
Many thanks
Kered
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Post by Kered »

I read an article several years ago now about car design. The car designer (engineer) tunes the suspension of the car for road holding and comfort. The flexing of tyres is taken into account in the overall design. Perfect job! Along comes the marketing department and want to differentiate the top model from the rest. They fit larger diameter alloys with low profile tyres. The suspension isn't changed. The resulting ride is poorer - but hey - it looks GOOD.
Low profile tyres haven't the "height" of tyre wall to flex over bumps. You are moving from a 65 to a 55 and it will be noticeable. For the same reason the road holding will be better as there is less sidewall to flex on cornering.
My 95 Xantia TD VSX had 55 tyres and I vowed never to have them again - but I'm old and crotchety!
Derek
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Post by NiSk »

A classic case of the power of the marketing men over the engineers was when Volvo launched their first attempt at a 4-WD estate. The engineers managed to beef upp the suspension and raise it about 4 cm to give better (off road?) ground clearance. The marketing guys didn't think it looked "cool" enough, so they fitted 45-profile tyres - and immediately remove 3 of the hard won 4 cm!!
//NiSk
Robin
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Post by Robin »

My local ATS will not fit any other than the origianl specification tyre to Citroens. For the Xantia this is a Michelin tyre. There is some sound reasoning in this. I had a courtesy car on Dunlops and the car was bloo** awful. The Citroen system is tuned to a particular tyre response and for reasons of comfort and road noise the fitting of a lower profile tyre will affect both. Also you mention the tyres are the same rim size so reducing the profile on the same rim size will reduce the rolling diameter leading to an increase in fuel consumption and an inaccurate speedo. Robin
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Kowalski
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Post by Kowalski »

A 195/60 14 would give a closer rolling radius to 185/65 14 than a 195/55 14 you would be losing about 3mm of radius.
Interwired

Post by Interwired »

Yes, always ensure you match (or as close as possible) the rolling radius. You can use this handy calculator : http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
Changing from 185/65/14 to 195/60/14 will give a marginal reduction in Ride comfort, but will also give you a bit more grip and response(less sidewall flex). Its all down to personal taste. If you prefer a slightly sportier ride/handling go for the wider tyres. The reduction in ride will be minimal, and you may prefer the ride with less sidewall flex and reek the benefits of grip and response.
Interwired

Post by Interwired »

oh, and another thing...the quality of ride can be affected by the Tyre Brand/model just as much as by the size (as well as tyre pressure)
oilyspanner
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Post by oilyspanner »

I fitted 195/65 14s to my TD BX and now have a five speed flat spot, lovely on the motorway though, with the original 185/65s every gearchange dropped it back into the "sweet spot" I will try them with the 1.9TD engine though as the extra torque might suit them.
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Post by xantiaBFY »

hi oilyspanner,
sorry for my ignorance..but what do you mean by sweet spot. I am currently using a 185/65/14 and considering to try out the 195s.
regards
BonceChops
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Post by BonceChops »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">My local ATS will not fit any other than the origianl specification tyre to Citroens. For the Xantia this is a Michelin tyre. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Mine is a 1996 Xantia.
Michelin no longer make the original tyre model fitted to my car as new.
I think your local ATS is trying to force people to buy Michelin tyres.
Did you know that Michelin just happen to own ATS.
Robin
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Post by Robin »

Yup, I know they own ATS. The car is OK on a range of tyres but if you push it hard or ask it to perform to the limit then you could be in a for surprise or two.
Several years ago I was contracted to a couple of insurance brokers on vehicle inspections and the tyre fitment was a popular query especially if they could demonstrate that the behaviour of the car was affected by choice. Equally the tyre pressures came into this argument. The favourite was the wide wheel fitments adopted by our younger 'go faster' cousins. Wide wheels, wet or icy conditions and well the answer is obvious.
The net result if proved, was an amended payout on the grounds that the car had been 'modified' without their knowledge or approval.
On the question of tyre type no longer available, Citroen do produce a trade list of acceptable fitments. They still prefer the Michelin because I understand they put a lot of money into developing the range. This may be rumour of course.
However market forces, personal choice and driving style all go to make the final choice your own![;)]
Robin
James.UK
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Post by James.UK »

Its worth bearing in mind that wider tyres give your car a "softer" footprint. i.e. less lbs per square inch on the road, all well and good untill you drive on very wet or slippery roads. But then it becomes tricky! Cars don't look so good upside down! ;-)
jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

I have a roadtest of an early BX TD (downloaded). That car was on 165/70x14's which is the same size as the BX19 RD. The comment was that the car understeered as the tyres were too small. I believe that all subsequent cars run on 175/65x14 tyres, mine certainly does. There is no mention of this size in the handbook (except possibly for snow tyres) nor is there any on the door sticker.
So much for careful testing!
jeremy
BonceChops
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Post by BonceChops »

Michelin also used to own either all of or at least a big lump of Citroen.
Ok this is where I sound like a sad B*****d.
I found this out while visiting the Michelin museum in Clermont Ferrand France. ( Not that sad really I used to work for Michelin and had a tour of the museum while over there working )
So maybe there is more to the Michelin recomended tyres than we would first think.
Neil
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Kowalski
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Post by Kowalski »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by James.UK</i>

Its worth bearing in mind that wider tyres give your car a "softer" footprint. i.e. less lbs per square inch on the road, <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
The tyre pressure decides both the contact pressure and contact area of a car, tyre size and profile has NOTHING to do with it, this is very basic physics.
A wider tyre will give a different shaped footprint rather than a different sized footprint with the same weight of car and same tyre pressure as a narrower tyre.
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