automotive question - tire sizes

[Stu Pidasso]

Buying snow tires.

My mini-van takes 205/75R14 tires. The tire store wants to make me a deal on 205/70R14 tires. Other than throwing the speedometer whats the downside in going to a smaller diameter tire?

Stu

[The Owl]

Check tirerack.com, I save a bunch of money by buying direct and having them installed locally.

[smokingrobot]

your odometer, if calibrated for a 205/75 will also be thrown off, reading higher just like the speedometer.

also gas mileage can be affected, but its such a small difference it may not be a problem

[PhilBeans]

Call tirerack.com. Save money, get the proper size,done deal. You are almost always getting comletely raped at neighborhood tire centers.

[hoksy]

Fuel mileage. Smaller tire = less distance traveled per engine rotation. Probably best to shop around and get the right size to avoid the effects of the smaller tire.

[Ray Zee]

i use different sized tires all the time. but nowadays you must first check with the tire places for each size as most wont remount a tire that isnt on the manufactures specs for that car.

i have to change my trucks tires myself each year. so i am getting more careful of what tires i put on.

a small change in size isnt a problem on most cars.