Putting wider tires on my car?

Question

I have a 2002 toyota echo and if you ever seen that car it just looks like it would tip over when making a sharp turn. I just drove down the mountains and it handles turns good, but comapre to a honda civic that was infront of me it sucks. All i saw was that honda had a stabalizer and some wider tires. So heres what iam planning to do and just need some edvice from the pros. I want to get wider tires not bigger just wider, maybe bigger rim but that just les clearence between the rim and the road. so what should i get and what should i keep in mind. by the way i messured the space where the tire soposed to go and messured the clerence when steering and there is plenty of room. so no i just need wider rim and tires. what do you think, what do i need to know before i do this?

Answer 1

If you wanted a sports car or even a sporty car your in the wrong vehicle, I hope you understand that. Tall vehicle with a short wheelbase, simple strut suspension and a narrow track is what it is. The Civic you were chasing by contrast has a low center of gravity and a very sophisticated suspension. It should have run, not walked away from you.

But if you insist here it goes...

Your OE size is P175/65R14 81S at 32 psi on a 5.5-inch wide wheel.

You should be able to install a P195/60R14 85H or 195/60R14 86H with no difficulty and at the same inflation pressures as stock. Always mount one tire and test fit it all the way round first though to be sure you won't have clearance problems. This will provide you with a tire that has a wider contact patch, stiffer sidewall and higher speed rating for improved grip in dry cornering in braking while the size is so close in overall diameter to the stock tires that you should notice little or no difference in speedometer and odometer readings. These will also fit on your stock wheels although a 6.0 inch wide wheel is preferred for improved sidewall stability.

On the negative side this tire will reduce fuel efficiency (why the Echo exists in the first place) and the extra grip will create additional body roll by overpowering the stock suspension so that you may not in the end like the "improvement" in handling so much. Being that this car is an Echo and not a Celica there probably isn't much in the way of suspension upgrades available off-the-shelf to help tame that tendency. Replacing the OE struts wouldn't hurt as strut performance drops measurably after 50k miles. KYB does make an OE-performance aftermarket replacement for your vehicle - nothing in their high-performance line though.

The other option would be to replace your existing tires with something a bit sharper handling but in the Oe size. Unfortunately this is not a size favored by tire manufacturers for their performance tire lines. The ONLY option I know of that would give you a worthwhile improvement in handling is the Sumitomo HTR H4 Performance All-Season tire.

ASE Certified Automotive Service Advisor working in the tire industry 5 years and high-performance driving instructor for 15 years.

Answer 2

No, your car is built for those tires. To com
pair the Echo to the CIVIC is nuts. Com pairing them is com pairing apples to grapefruit, it does not work. Also the wider tire rs will damage the front tie rods. Learn to except the differences, and live with it! You have a sound safe car, now keep it that way!

Answer 3

Toyota Echo Rims

Answer 4

well, all the cars should be ok in the way they are disigned. but think about it, you dont want to spend a lot of money on an Echo just for that turn. plus, if yours are alloy rims. they cost about $300 each plus the ok-tires are about 70-80 bucks each. plus labor you have to pay for the shop. i sugest you invest that money to make more money.

Answer 5

Go to the tire/wheel shop.
They have seen all cars and can tell you how wide you and your wallet can go. Then, look online for sway bars. A thicker sway bar will keep your car from leaning as much on turns.

Answer 6

wider tires won't do much. its that sway bar your after.