Posted by Joel Smith on November 26, 1997 at 18:07:06:
In Reply to: Am I damaging my car??? posted by Debbie on November 23, 1997 at 23:05:50:
I doubt you are doing any serious damage. But, being that you are running an almost 2" taller tire your speedometer will be reading slower than you are actually going. 60mph (or kph) indicated will actually be 64mph. Related to that, you have also lost some acceleration ability with the taller tires (taller tires are equivalent to having taller gearing - although it probably is not a significant difference) Also, most likely your handling will suffer as well. A 205/55/15 is a performance tire size, wheras a 205/65 is not (generally). Lastly, you might want to try a 205/60/15, as they are a quite common size and should be significantly cheaper and closer to the original size. If you do replace them, do all four at once.
Joel