Its time to change tyres in my 16v turbo, so anyone give me a clue about sizes and brands?
thanks
Anton
BEST TYRES FOR KAPPAS
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Karsten
Re: BEST TYRES FOR KAPPAS
Are you driving with the original 15" alloys?
Standard alloys for the 20V turbo is 205/55R16 and we have them fitted with Michelin Pilot Exalto.
Honestly I can't really say if they are the best fit, but they seem very good and as far as I remember the car was fitted with Michelin from new back in 1999. I think it's very important to read a few tire tests in one or more of the car magazines. Always choose among the top tires in these tests. Surely the price can vary a lot because you need 4 of them, but think of it this way... these 4 tires are the 1,5 ton Kappas only contact with the road so this would be a really bad place save money.
And also remember that the tires needs to be approved to AT LEAST your cars topspeed which is something like 235-240km/h for the 16V turbo. I picked "W"-marked tires approved for 270km/h. Of course I will never ever hit this speed in any Kappa and probably not the 243km/h topspeed either... at least not in little Denmark
Have seen many Kappas where people have upgraded to 17" and I thought of this for summertires and then using the original 16" for winthertires. But the original 16" turbo alloys look smoking good for this car, and I am affraid that 17" would ruin the comfort a bit more. The Kappa is not exactly the least "squeaky plastic cabin sound" car in the world
Standard alloys for the 20V turbo is 205/55R16 and we have them fitted with Michelin Pilot Exalto.
Honestly I can't really say if they are the best fit, but they seem very good and as far as I remember the car was fitted with Michelin from new back in 1999. I think it's very important to read a few tire tests in one or more of the car magazines. Always choose among the top tires in these tests. Surely the price can vary a lot because you need 4 of them, but think of it this way... these 4 tires are the 1,5 ton Kappas only contact with the road so this would be a really bad place save money.
And also remember that the tires needs to be approved to AT LEAST your cars topspeed which is something like 235-240km/h for the 16V turbo. I picked "W"-marked tires approved for 270km/h. Of course I will never ever hit this speed in any Kappa and probably not the 243km/h topspeed either... at least not in little Denmark
Have seen many Kappas where people have upgraded to 17" and I thought of this for summertires and then using the original 16" for winthertires. But the original 16" turbo alloys look smoking good for this car, and I am affraid that 17" would ruin the comfort a bit more. The Kappa is not exactly the least "squeaky plastic cabin sound" car in the world
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Corrado-Roma
Re: BEST TYRES FOR KAPPAS
Hello guys, here is a table from the manual, describing what size and types to use.
Rim size Tyre size Model Front bar(psi) Rear bar(psi)
4x15 125/90 R 15 96M 2,2 (60) 4,2 (60) This is your spare tire.
6,5x15 195/65 R 15 91V 2,2 (31) 2,2 (31)
6,5x15 205/60 R 15 91V 2,2 (31) 2,2 (31)
6,5x15 205/60 R 15 91W 2,2 (31) 2,2 (31)
6,5x16 205/55 R 16 89W 2,2 (31) 2,2 (31)
7,5x16 205/55 R 16 91W 2,2 (31) 2,2 (31)
7,5x16 215/55 R 16 91W 2,2 (31) 2,2 (31)
Actually the brand is not very important and depends a bit on your preference and budget.
I currently run my Turbo Coupe on Michelin Pilot, but I intend to change to Pirelli, which I had on my previous Kappa 2.4 IE. The Michelins give you a better mileage as they are from somewhat harder rubber. I prefer the Pirelli (or anyway a softer tyre) because it improves stability and handling.
Too here in Italy the Pirelli is easier to get.
Major importance is to get the model and speed rating as specified (or better), else you may get a problem with "MOT" in UK or "APK" in NL or "Revisione" in Italy. Your car has to be fitted wth tyres rated to at least the manufacturers specification, which is the basis of homologation. If you fitted a cheap tyre with a rating up to 180 km or so, you (some tyre "specialists" will sell them stating "you are not allowed to drive that fast anyway") you may find also that in case of a severe accident the insurance won't pay up when an investigation into the technical state of the car shows you have wrong rated tyres under it.
Finally, if you have a chance to hit the pedal sometimes, it may kill you, because low rated tires simply explode after losing the rubber cover due to high speed.
Final issue is the width of the tyre, a lot of people mount wider tyres, like 225/50 instead of 215/55.
You can do this, but limit yourself to the next higher size and don't exxagerate. It will not improve handling, in fact when it rains it will promote aquaplaning, especially when the tyres are a bit worn down, and lower tyres especially the 45 and 40 series wil reduce comfort and increase road noise inside, and finally steering will be more difficult and wear of the front tyres edges increases.
When you want to increase size, bear in mind that the outer diameter needs to be as close to the original diameter as possible.
The second number /55 or /50 gives tyre height as a percentage of the width, so a 215/55 will have a height 0.55 x 215 = 118 mm and a 225/50 has 0.5 x 225 = 113 mm. Now this difference will have an impact on speed and speedometer reading because it also reduces the tyre circumference with 32 mm or 1.6 %. This is close enough, but imagine what larger differences could cause......
Good luck.....
Rim size Tyre size Model Front bar(psi) Rear bar(psi)
4x15 125/90 R 15 96M 2,2 (60) 4,2 (60) This is your spare tire.
6,5x15 195/65 R 15 91V 2,2 (31) 2,2 (31)
6,5x15 205/60 R 15 91V 2,2 (31) 2,2 (31)
6,5x15 205/60 R 15 91W 2,2 (31) 2,2 (31)
6,5x16 205/55 R 16 89W 2,2 (31) 2,2 (31)
7,5x16 205/55 R 16 91W 2,2 (31) 2,2 (31)
7,5x16 215/55 R 16 91W 2,2 (31) 2,2 (31)
Actually the brand is not very important and depends a bit on your preference and budget.
I currently run my Turbo Coupe on Michelin Pilot, but I intend to change to Pirelli, which I had on my previous Kappa 2.4 IE. The Michelins give you a better mileage as they are from somewhat harder rubber. I prefer the Pirelli (or anyway a softer tyre) because it improves stability and handling.
Too here in Italy the Pirelli is easier to get.
Major importance is to get the model and speed rating as specified (or better), else you may get a problem with "MOT" in UK or "APK" in NL or "Revisione" in Italy. Your car has to be fitted wth tyres rated to at least the manufacturers specification, which is the basis of homologation. If you fitted a cheap tyre with a rating up to 180 km or so, you (some tyre "specialists" will sell them stating "you are not allowed to drive that fast anyway") you may find also that in case of a severe accident the insurance won't pay up when an investigation into the technical state of the car shows you have wrong rated tyres under it.
Finally, if you have a chance to hit the pedal sometimes, it may kill you, because low rated tires simply explode after losing the rubber cover due to high speed.
Final issue is the width of the tyre, a lot of people mount wider tyres, like 225/50 instead of 215/55.
You can do this, but limit yourself to the next higher size and don't exxagerate. It will not improve handling, in fact when it rains it will promote aquaplaning, especially when the tyres are a bit worn down, and lower tyres especially the 45 and 40 series wil reduce comfort and increase road noise inside, and finally steering will be more difficult and wear of the front tyres edges increases.
When you want to increase size, bear in mind that the outer diameter needs to be as close to the original diameter as possible.
The second number /55 or /50 gives tyre height as a percentage of the width, so a 215/55 will have a height 0.55 x 215 = 118 mm and a 225/50 has 0.5 x 225 = 113 mm. Now this difference will have an impact on speed and speedometer reading because it also reduces the tyre circumference with 32 mm or 1.6 %. This is close enough, but imagine what larger differences could cause......
Good luck.....
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Peter
Re: BEST TYRES FOR KAPPAS
Hi, Corrado
I like my 225/50 tires (Michelin) on my Kappa. They were perfect from -3 C to +43 C, at dry and wet condition too.
I like my 225/50 tires (Michelin) on my Kappa. They were perfect from -3 C to +43 C, at dry and wet condition too.
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Corrado-Roma
Re: BEST TYRES FOR KAPPAS
OK! But you did (as I also suggested in my story), limit to the next size up. If someone would go to say 250/45 or so, you will really get a different picture......
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Corrado-Roma
Re: BEST TYRES FOR KAPPAS
My suggestion: either take the standard size 215/55 or if you want to go to a wider size take the next one up i.e. 225/50 in the correct speed range 91W (or better). Just shop and see if there are any special offers with the correct speed and temp. rating in the size you want. Take a Branded Tyre, and not the cheapest offer of any unknown brand. There are lots of good tyres around, Michelin generally wil give you the best mileage but is usually the most expensive. I've used Michelin, Continental, Fulda, Bridgestone, Firestone, Vredestein and Pirelli, and as stated prefer a tyre with softer rubber than Michelin. The latest models with the V shaped profiles which need to be installed in the correct rotational sense are excellent. I have had a VERY BAD experience with Toyo, under a BMW 3 litre, these tyres proved to be eccentric.....and too I would not go for Hankook or other Chinese/Korean tyres. That is my personal opinion, but of course the rest is up to you.....Good luck.
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Peter
Re: BEST TYRES FOR KAPPAS
The 225/50 is the Thesis tyre size, I bought these tyres with the used Thesis alloy wheels.
The 225/45 is the perfect tyre size for the Kappa.
The 225/45 is the perfect tyre size for the Kappa.
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Corrado-Roma
Re: BEST TYRES FOR KAPPAS
Dear Peter, I am afraid I disagree with you. Let's do some simple calculus, on Kappa Turbo's you would see 205x55 or 215x 55 tyres, the tyre heights are resp. 113 and 118 mm. Your proposed 225x45 has a height of 101 mm, and theoretically this would reduce the circumference by 4%. If you accept that: Fine. But using 225x50 gives a height of 113 mm which is right on the dot........