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Fri Jul 20, 2012 10:19 pm

I want to run 135s in front and 165s in rear.....what american tire size would be roughly the same??

Fri Jul 20, 2012 10:50 pm

Those are tire sizes we use in America.

Maybe you mean the full size name? 135R15 and 165R15.

R typically means 82 so for the rear - As close to 165/82/15 you can get, the better.

Sun Jul 22, 2012 5:54 pm

Ok american tire size to me is 195-50-r15
or 225-35-r22

165 on bug is height of tire. 165 in america is width of a tire.

So my question is what tire size would be the same width height and diameter of a 135 15

Sun Jul 22, 2012 8:51 pm

135 is the WIDTH of the tread pattern. R is standard radial designation which if not noted typically stands as 82 as sais above so a 135r15 is effectively 135/82/15 if it were to be listed like most others such as a 195/50/15.

there are now TONS of tires with VERY similar overall diameters as the 135r15 and 165r15. for example the 165/65/15 and 165/60/15 are both really close in overall diameter to the 135r15 but have a treadwidth of 165mm instead of the 135mm treadwidth of the 135r15. better treadpatch better traction yet same lower rolling diameter. the 195/65/15 and 185/65/15 are both slightly smaller in overall diameter than the 165r15 and are both good choices for vw's.

there are many great sizes available for use to us now. people used 135r15s on vw's in the past because they were the best option at the time. not so anymore...ken....

Sun Jul 22, 2012 9:06 pm

So the problem im having is the front end is lowered with adjustable front and 165s and I dont think its gonna turn very well without hitting fenders so i need a lower tire and was always under the impression the 135 was lower not slimmer. Any suggestions other then lifting or buying another new narrowed beam??

Sun Jul 22, 2012 10:01 pm

chopped 65, there are different ways manufacturers have used to describe tire sizes, and I think this may be confusing you.

Lets start with a common size, say 195/65/15
The first number is the section width, the treads width in mm, so 195mm.
The second number is the aspect ratio, and shows the tires height. The aspect ratio is shown as a percentage, for this size: .65x 195mm= 126mm. So the sidewall is 126mm tall.
The last number is the wheel size. A 195/65/R15 simply designates that the tire is radial construction.

195R15 is a different, older way of labeling size, called euro- metric. 195 is still the section width, and 15 is the wheel size, but the aspect ratio is fixed at 82. 82 is a pretty big damned sidewall, so back in the day, the only way to get a short sidewall to drop your car was to go with a skinny tire. A 195R15 would have a 159.9mm sidewall by the way. And, I was told that when talking euro-metric sizes, that the R doesn't mean radial, but I can't find anywhere on the net to verify that.

These days, you want a shorter tire, go down a size or 2 on the aspect ratio, keep the width, and keep the tread on the road.

I hope this clears some of your questions up. SD

Sun Jul 22, 2012 10:18 pm

esde wrote: chopped 65, there are different ways manufacturers have used to describe tire sizes, and I think this may be confusing you.

Lets start with a common size, say 195/65/15
The first number is the section width, the treads width in mm, so 195mm.
The second number is the aspect ratio, and shows the tires height. The aspect ratio is shown as a percentage, for this size: .65x 195mm= 126mm. So the sidewall is 126mm tall.
The last number is the wheel size. A 195/65/R15 simply designates that the tire is radial construction.

195R15 is a different, older way of labeling size, called euro- metric. 195 is still the section width, and 15 is the wheel size, but the aspect ratio is fixed at 82. 82 is a pretty big damned sidewall, so back in the day, the only way to get a short sidewall to drop your car was to go with a skinny tire. A 195R15 would have a 159.9mm sidewall by the way. And, I was told that when talking euro-metric sizes, that the R doesn't mean radial, but I can't find anywhere on the net to verify that.

These days, you want a shorter tire, go down a size or 2 on the aspect ratio, keep the width, and keep the tread on the road.

I hope this clears some of your questions up. SD

Thank you

Mon Jul 23, 2012 8:51 am

chopped65 wrote: So the problem im having is the front end is lowered with adjustable front and 165s and I dont think its gonna turn very well without hitting fenders so i need a lower tire and was always under the impression the 135 was lower not slimmer. Any suggestions other then lifting or buying another new narrowed beam??

A 135 (135/82-15) is an evil little piece of rubber, short (23 1/4") and about 5 3/8" wide; I believe the tire industry calls it "section width" or the width from sidewall to sidewall when mounted on the right width (about 4") rim. A stock 155 (proper designation-155/82-15) is about 6 1/4" wide and because it's taller it also has a "longer footprint", so total road contact area is much bigger. Because the 135 is so skinny (about 3/4" narrower than a 155) and with it's shorter footprint it doesn't brake or handle as well as a 155 (or anything wider). I found in a Callook bug with disc brakes and 135's on the front and 185/70's on the back, it was really easy to lock up the front brakes when the pavement was wet or the road was loose. Even on clean, dry pavement it only took a reasonably hard stop to lock up the front. Going to type 3 brakes in the rear helped balance the braking somewhat, but nothing could help the car's handling (except a wider front tire, which weren't made at the time).

155's and 165's are made in a bunch of aspect ratios now (44, 50, 60 and 65, and I believe there's even a 155/70-15 which is about the same height as the 135) so there are a bunch of choices for a 4-5" wide rim. For a 5 1/2 or 6" rim there's a bunch of 175's and 185's in different heights as well.

We ran 135's and 145's because there was nothing else available; if you have a car that sees any street time at all and you want to be safe there are so many better choices today.

As usual, just my 2 1/2 cents (I'm Canadian, eh). Al