205/50/15 or 195/50/15 What's best and why?

[jesse888]

As above.
Will be buying new track tyres soon and wondering what size tyre will be best.
205/50
195/50
195/55

Obviously I'm after the tyre that can offer me the most grip.
205 is wider and slightly less diameter than 195/55, so should give a small acceleration boost.
But then 195/50 is even smaller side wall. So would make the tyre more stiff?
I've noticed the 195/50 are a fair bit cheaper aswell but I don't want price to play a part. If performance is negligible between the sizes then price will come into it, but performance 1st.

May be worth noting cars a 200hp ek9, 4.9fd. Main tracks are brands hatch and nurburgring.

 

[egshane]

ive always gone 195/55/15 i think looks the best and is what they come on as standard

 

[jesse888]

ive always gone 195/55/15 i think looks the best and is what they come on as standard

No arch liner issues? I've only ran 205/50 on track so wouldn't know what A bigger size is going to do to my arch liners lol

 

[Darragh]

Taking a 7''JJ wheel for example the 195/50 will usually run the fastest on a warm dry track.

For all round use , the 195/55 is pretty good , the sidewall giving you a bit more slip angle to play with if using in the cold/damp track.

Thats my view and experience

 

[jesse888]

Taking a 7''JJ wheel for example the 195/50 will usually run the fastest on a warm dry track.

For all round use , the 195/55 is pretty good , the sidewall giving you a bit more slip angle to play with if using in the cold/damp track.

Thats my view and experience

Interesting you think the smallest tyre will be the best. Will be on a 7j rim aswell.
So you'd have the 195/50 then 195/55. Leaving the 205's last?
Will take anyone's view or experience.

 

[Darragh]

Interesting you think the smallest tyre will be the best. Will be on a 7j rim aswell.
So you'd have the 195/50 then 195/55. Leaving the 205's last?
Will take anyone's view or experience.

Yeah , in general Ive found the more stretched sidewall to give better response = less slip angle , which is much easier to judge on a track with good heat in it.

Ive ran 195/50 , 195/55 and 205/50 square on the same wheels and staggered F 205 R 195/55 + 50.

Its down to personal preferance , conditions , car setup etc but thats what Ive found and reflected in lap times and g force logs

 

[jesse888]

Cool.
Anyone else opinion on this?

 

[ali-c]

Neither is best IMO. Depending on which brand of tyre you are buying anyway isn't always consistent with the indicated width.

i.e. I believe Yokos are always a bit wider then others, so a 195 will be more like a 205 anyway. especially with the likes of r888's.

Also not all brands make their tyres available in both size. The federal 595-rsr's which i am going for very soon only cannot be found in a 195/50, but are available on 205/50.

I don't believe you will notice the extra 1cm of indicated width and minimal diameter increase. with a 205>195 and vise versa....

Pick your tyre you want first, take which of the two sizes they actually make secondly. and if they make both sizes....just select the cheapest (tyres are just consumables at the end of the day)

Personally tough to say on the 55 profile, that is oem size after all so technically cant go wrong there. If you find your getting through your gears too quick the the 55 will help..

and they are just my thoughts on this....

 

[Kipper]

Also not all brands make their tyres available in both size. The federal 595-rsr's which i am going for very soon only cannot be found in a 195/50, but are available on 205/50.

My dad runs RSR's in 195/50 on his DC2.

I run x4 205/50/15 R888's on track and 195/50 Hankook RS2's before them, Found the R888's a better tyre, but that was expected.

I would be very interested to try 205's up front and 195's on the rear. If it were me personally I couldn't wouldn't say the performance gain's of the 205's justify the price difference.

I was worried about running 205's as my arches around rolled, but cleared fine on a 6.5J ET38 wheel.