QuestionMy son owns a 99 Mercury Cougar with P215/50VR16 low profile tires on it. Can he replace them with normal profile tires? How do you convert to normal tires, any ideas, hints or suggestions?
AnswerChuck,
The rules are that you are supposed to use the same tire size and speed rating that ca eoriginally on the vehicle, that way the tires are compatible with springs, shocks and sway bars that the vehicle manufacturer chose and there won't be any handling issues.
But I can understand why you might not want to spend a lot of money for just a daily driver, so I'll outline how to chose a tire with a different size.
The first step is to know that the Cougar came with 6 1/2" wide rims.
The next step is to find the load index of the original tires (Hint: It was 89!)
Then you need to find a web site that has a tire calculator (www.1010tires.com) and play with the calulator until you find a tire that has the same or larger Load Index , about the same overall diameter and fits the rim.
Well, I went ahead and did it, and it looks like a P205/55R16 is a good fit - which isn't much of a change. Honestly, nothing else really works.
The enxt step
