I need new tires for my 90 Loyale 4WD wagon. I've gotten differing recommendations for size. The placard on the drivers column says 165/13 when talking about load. I currently have 165/80/13 on the car. TireRack recommends 185/70/13. Other on-line stores say 175/70/13. What gives?

I put 185/70/13's on my GL-10 Wagon - been using with my work and pleasure with no ill effects other than the minor discrepancy in speedometer and actual speed - bit bigger tire, going bit faster (5mph) than what speedo states.

 

I went with these larger tires - and had them siped - to accommodate my frequent driving on gravel and sometimes muddy roads in my computer consulting business.

 

I gained a bit more road clearance while keeping decent gas mileage and good road handling.

 

It's a good compromise for me, and siping makes good difference on wet road handling.

 

I may someday be able to dedicate an "offroad" Subé, lifted, knarly tires, and so on, but this solution gives me good gravel road handling and better survivability on some of Oregon's wet slimy logging-type roads and byways.

 

Thanks and regards,

 

- Carrick

 

I need new tires for my 90 Loyale 4WD wagon. I've gotten differing recommendations for size. The placard on the drivers column says 165/13 when talking about load. I currently have 165/80/13 on the car. TireRack recommends 185/70/13. Other on-line stores say 175/70/13. What gives?

My understanding is that part of the problem is that 165r13 & 175/80R13 are getting harder to come by. A friend of mine had a really hard time finding 175/80R13s in a major name brand for his Mazda...and had to get an off-brand. Most cars in the US have 14-16 inch tires and most manufacturers are cutting back at producing tires in your original size because they don't sell that many...so each successive new model of tire may not have the smaller 13 inchers in the production plan. Maybe other people here can point you somewhere these sizes are still available.