Tires: tire size interchangeability/ compatibility?, tirerack com, tire sizing

Question
Dear Mr. Smith,

I need to change the tires of my Hyundai Grace van. I am not very familiar with these tire sizes. All I see in the old tires are the following: P195/70R14 90H and I think these numbers and letters indicate the size of the tire.

I have 4 new tires with the following specs: 205/65R15 94S.

My questions: What is the difference between the two sets of tires an will it be alright to use the new set of tires for my van?

Thank you ver much

Answer
Cynthia,

Tire rack has done a good job of explaining tire sizing:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=7

What you should get out of that page is that 15" tires do not fit on 14" rims.

This means that your new tires will not fit on your rims - you have to buy new rims.

There is the additional problem of the size of the fenderwell and whether there is enough room for the larger tires you now have - assuming you get rims that will fit both the tires and the vehicle.

My suggestion would be to get tires in the size already on your vehicle.  This assures that everything will fit.