Best size tyres for a Mk3 on 15's?

[Gavv8]

Might be just me but the 'turn in' seems slightly sharper on 195's

[thai-wronghorse]

Yeah my 195's also felt better on my last mk3.

[boneybradley]

plus with 195's you can use spacers to fill the arches! (mine had 12mm spacers and didn't rub on 195's but did badly on 205's!)

[lars2.0]

205/50/15 the bestttttt

[JayNesbitt]

Depends on wheel width too....195 on a 9 inch wouldn't handle so good haha

[thai-wronghorse]

Bit of a revival but this thread seemed the most relevant after some searching on the topic.

I'm just about to start checking out some new rubber and was playing around with the tyre size calculator and wondered if anyone ran with 195/50/16?
Nobody ever seems to mention them (apart from Ess-Three as track tyres), from what I can see il gain a touch of space around the edges of my arches (I'm currently running 205/45/16 on 7j BBS RX's) which will allow for a bit more spacer poke and it'll also give me about 5mm ride height gain / arch gap loss which is welcomed tbh.

http://www.willtheyfit.com/index.php?width=205&aspect=45&diameter=16&wheelwidth=7&offset=38&width2=195&aspect2=50&diameter2=16&wheelwidth2=7&offset2=38&Submit=Submit

[thai-wronghorse]

Hmm, ok so I've just discovered that albeit a tiny increase in rolling radius it's enough to cripple the acceleration without dropping the FD. That'll be a big no then and my thoughts of snatching a tad more ride comfort and clearance blown out the window. 

[whileoceanasleeps]

i'm running 195/55/15s. not sure if they're a little to fat though.. had 50s on before

[thai-wronghorse]

I know for sure they are too big, are they mk4 wheels by any chance?

[Ess_Three]

Hmm, ok so I've just discovered that albeit a tiny increase in rolling radius it's enough to cripple the acceleration without dropping the FD. That'll be a big no then and my thoughts of snatching a tad more ride comfort and clearance blown out the window. 

I run 195/50/16 as my road wheels too - Toyo T1-Rs.

I wanted a little more compliance in the sidewall, and a slightly narrower tyre too, as well as the option to fit super-stickies in the same size.
As you say, you need to drop a FD to keep the gearing...I went from a 3.94 to a 4.2 when I moved from 215/40/16s to 195/50/16s...but got exactly the results I was looking for