DJW

How does one determine what range of tire sizes will fit a given wheel/rim? How much wider than the rim can the tire be? How much wider should it be? Are there rules of thumb for this? More specifically, can I put 205/60R15 winter tires on the Passat 6JX15 rims, or do I need a 7inch width?<p>By the way, what does the "J" in the wheel size designate? Also, regarding offset, what does "ET" mean?<p><br>Regards,<br>Dean W.<br>

AJL

There's probably a table somewhere on tire carcass width vs. rim width, but I don't have one. I would (and do) run 195/65 snow tires on stock 6" wide rims. Narrow snow tires are grippy snow tires.<p>As for J, I don't know. Maybe it specifies the little lip on the inside edge of the rim that catches the tire bead.<p>As for ET, maybe it means that the offset is towards the outside of the rim and not the inside? Another guess...<p>AJL<br>98 Passat 1.8T<p>

Marko Litmanen

My experience has shown that narrower snow tire does not necessarily mean more grip. They have higher pressure on the road but the wider tire has more contact surface and so more grip on many occasions.<p>The narrower tire is USUALLY better when there are spores on the road (uneven surface).<p>One should only compare this with the same kind of tire (same manufacturer and model) but different width.<p>Marko Litmanen<br>A3 1.8T Wett 1.0 K&N Nokian Hakka 1 with studs 195/65/15