Pepperpot Tyre Size

Jongriff

Member
Hi,

i have managed to find a set of pepperpots locally for a good price. currently the tyres on them are as follows:

2 x 185/60R15 - these are barely legal
2 x 185/65R15 - brand new, almost no wear

I need to replace the 2 old tyres, but if i put on new 185/65R15 are these too big? i dont want to have to get 4 new tyres when 2 are basically new! I have read a few threads and some people say 185/65R15 are ok but most seem to be running slightly smaller. If anyone can confirm that these will be fine with no rubbing etc that would be great. Car is SE spec suspension so not as low as the sports i understand.

any recommendations on tyres? the 2 new ones are budgets so would get a couple of decent brand ones and put them on the fronts probably, put the budgets on the back.
 
185/65x15 on pepperpots does fit, I ran them for a while and they were very comfortable! A bit tight at the back with mudflaps on but no rubbing at either end even on full lock. Bear in mind though that I was pretty much always solo with no major load on board: your experience may vary if you regularly carry the whole family and/or heavy stuff.

That size is however something like +6% over OEM rolling circumference, whereas the known standard speedo error is only about 3% over-read. So with those tyres on your speedo will likely under-read by about 3% which is about 1mph in 33. You could need to beware going through cameras at an indicated speed equal to the applicable limit, in case they are set with little or no margin of tolerance.
 
Hi,

i have managed to find a set of pepperpots locally for a good price. currently the tyres on them are as follows:

2 x 185/60R15 - these are barely legal
2 x 185/65R15 - brand new, almost no wear

I need to replace the 2 old tyres, but if i put on new 185/65R15 are these too big? i dont want to have to get 4 new tyres when 2 are basically new! I have read a few threads and some people say 185/65R15 are ok but most seem to be running slightly smaller. If anyone can confirm that these will be fine with no rubbing etc that would be great. Car is SE spec suspension so not as low as the sports i understand.

any recommendations on tyres? the 2 new ones are budgets so would get a couple of decent brand ones and put them on the fronts probably, put the budgets on the back.

Don't use budget tyres, as they are a false economy.

Fit four new quality tyres, which can still be economical.

185/60R15 is probably the most popular tyre size for the 6Jx15 ET38 pepperpots amongst A2 owners.

Vredestein Quatrac 185/60R15 88H XL



Good all-season tyre brands include Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear, Hankook, Michelin, Vredestein.

2021 all-season tyre test
 
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Always put your best tyres on the rear!

Oversteer is much more dangerous than understeer
 
Always put your best tyres on the rear!

Oversteer is much more dangerous than understeer
Don't use budget tyres, as they are a false economy.

Fit four new quality tyres, which can still be economical.

185/60R15 is probably the most popular tyre size for the 6Jx15 ET38 pepperpots amongst A2 owners.

Vredestein Quatrac 185/60R15 88H XL



Good all-season tyre brands include Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear, Hankook, Michelin, Vredestein.

2021 all-season tyre test
On a rear wheel drive or high performance car I would agree and do follow this practice.
On a lightweight A2 I don't agree and personally always have the best two tyres on the front for the best traction and to aid even wear as tyres on the rear of an A2 barely wear which I then rotate back onto the front when the front tyres wear a little πŸ‘

I would also suggest not buying extra load 88 index tyres as that somewhat defeats the purpose of using 15" pepperpots.
Best to fit a lower load index, softer sidewall tyre around 81 for maximum comfort but some sizes are only available in 83 or 84 loads which are ok but try to avoid the stiffer 88 if possible as the lightweight A2 doesn't require this extra load capacity πŸ‘
 
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On a lightweight A2 I don't agree and personally always have the best two tyres on the front for the best traction and to aid even wear as tyres on the rear of an A2 barely wear which I then rotate back onto the front when the front tyres wear a little

If the object of tyre management is to ensure even wear across all four tyres, you'd be spot on. If on the other hand, you want to maximise grip and handling throughout the life of the tyres, rather less so. If buying only one pair of tyres, they should always be mounted on the rear axle, and allowed to 'break in' gently. When the front tyres need replacing, the wheels should be swapped, so that the new pair of tyres can once again be put on the rear axle.

There's nothing new in this, most major tyre manufacturers promoted the practice of start on the back, finish on the front as long as I have been buying tyres, and that's going back sixty -odd years!
 
Will 175/60/15 fit a pepperpot? I have these on 5.5j special edition alloys but wondered if they would go onto the 6j pepperpot?
 
If the object of tyre management is to ensure even wear across all four tyres, you'd be spot on. If on the other hand, you want to maximise grip and handling throughout the life of the tyres, rather less so. If buying only one pair of tyres, they should always be mounted on the rear axle, and allowed to 'break in' gently. When the front tyres need replacing, the wheels should be swapped, so that the new pair of tyres can once again be put on the rear axle.

There's nothing new in this, most major tyre manufacturers promoted the practice of start on the back, finish on the front as long as I have been buying tyres, and that's going back sixty -odd years!
I don't wish to get into an argument about this, so I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.
I stand fully by what I said regarding the lightweight front wheel drive A2 though.
On my other powerful vehicles as I said yes new/best on the rear but not the A2.
Have you never been on a wet hill and struggled to get traction with poor tread tyres on the front?
 
Have you never been on a wet hill and struggled to get traction with poor tread tyres on the front?

Those tyres clearly need replacing. Either through wear or an inappropriate tread pattern. Try Michelin CrossClimate2.
 
Will 175/60/15 fit a pepperpot? I have these on 5.5j special edition alloys but wondered if they would go onto the 6j pepperpot?
Yes they will fit fine and a spare pepperpot with that size of tyre will also fit under the false floor, just but not quite as perfectly as the 5.5j rim with the same size tyre.

I have 175/65 15 on my pepperpots atm πŸ‘
 
Yes they will fit fine and a spare pepperpot with that size of tyre will also fit under the false floor, just but not quite as perfectly as the 5.5j rim with the same size tyre.

I have 175/65 15 on my pepperpots atm πŸ‘
Thanks! Great news.
 
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Will 175/60/15 fit a pepperpot? I have these on 5.5j special edition alloys but wondered if they would go onto the 6j pepperpot?
Evening Ed,

I always (only twice so far) have 185/60/15 fitted to the Pepperpots on Project OEM. This size gives a glorious ride quality to the car with tires Sport suspension.

Some months ago I purchased another set of Pepppots that have 175/60/15, not used them in a vehicle yet but they do look better on the eye than the 185 width tyres. The 185 width tyre walls do bulge out a bit, which I never really noticed until I see the Pepperpots with the narrower tyres on.

175 width:
5E1772A0-777F-49F0-BF2E-D1A954EDAE02.jpeg


185 width:
222DFA82-90BF-4A88-9B3B-D52E3C47C8EB.jpeg

The walls of the 175 tyres don’t look to bulge out as much.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
Evening Ed,

I always (only twice so far) have 185/60/15 fitted to the Pepperpots on Project OEM. This size gives a glorious ride quality to the car with tires Sport suspension.

Some months ago I purchased another set of Pepppots that have 175/60/15, not used them in a vehicle yet but they do look better on the eye than the 185 width tyres. The 185 width tyre walls do bulge out a bit, which I never really noticed until I see the Pepperpots with the narrower tyres on.

175 width:
View attachment 96335

185 width:
View attachment 96334
The walls of the 175 tyres don’t look to bulge out as much.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Tom
Remember though Tom all tyres, even of the same size look and fit differently.
A better comparison would be two tyres of the same make and model πŸ‘
 
I don't wish to get into an argument about this, so I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.
I stand fully by what I said regarding the lightweight front wheel drive A2 though.
On my other powerful vehicles as I said yes new/best on the rear but not the A2.
Have you never been on a wet hill and struggled to get traction with poor tread tyres on the front?
I'm with you Sir.
Steering, braking and traction come first. It's an each to his own (opinion) of course.
Mac.
 
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Steering, braking and traction come first. It's an each to his own (opinion) of course.

Logically, this means that you spend a lot of time and effort swapping the wheels around, to ensure that the tyres with the most tread are on the front, and end up with all four tyres down near the limit at the end of their life. How safe is that?
 
Logically, this means that you spend a lot of time and effort swapping the wheels around, to ensure that the tyres with the most tread are on the front, and end up with all four tyres down near the limit at the end of their life. How safe is that?
Not at all!

Buy four new tyres,

Remove the four old tyres and old valves from the wheels,

Fit new valves and spin all four wheels on a wheel balancer paying particular attention to the inside rims to ensure non are buckled or flat spotted (you would be amazed how many are) and always put the best wheels on the front axle of the car as you don't want to feel any vibrations through the steering wheel which you will (and another reason to have the best tyres on the front too to avoid this). On the rear you would probably feel nothing even if the tyres weren't balanced and the wheels flat spotted.

Balance them on a dynamic setting which is good for 200mph (weights on inside of both inner and outer rims)

Fit on the car and then just rotate once from front to back when the fronts have worn down 2 or 3mm or so giving you nearly new tread tyres on the front again and 5-6mm still on the back, simple!

Replace all four when down to 4mm for optimum results obviously depending on their age and the mileage you do πŸ‘

Do I practice what I preach? No, not always as our cars don't cover many miles atm and I'm forever swapping wheels and tyres around 😁
 
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Extract from ETRTO manual
65 Series
175/65 5.0-5.0-6.0
185/65 5.0-5.5-6.5
60 Series
175/60 5.0-5.0-6.0
185/60 5.0-5.5-6.5

As you can see above, the standard rim width for a 175/65 or 175/60 tyre is a 5J rim (highlighted in bold).

For 185/65 and 185/65 tyres, the normal rim width is 5.5J.

Fitting tyres to wider rims makes the ride harder, as the sidewalls don't flex so easily.

Fitting tyres to wider rims also leaves the rims more exposed to kerbing damage.

I would never fit a 175/65 or 175/60 tyre to a 6J rim. 5J or 5.5J is fine, but never 6J.

Car manufacturers usually fit 175/65 or 175/60 tyres to either 5J or 5.5J rims, rarely 6J rims.
 
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Extract from ETRTO manual
65 Series
175/65 5.0-5.0-6.0
185/65 5.0-5.5-6.5
60 Series
175/60 5.0-5.0-6.0
185/60 5.0-5.5-6.5

As you can see above, the normal rim width for a 175/65 or 175/60 tyre is a 5J rim (highlighted in bold).

For 185/65 and 185/65 tyres, the normal rim width is 5.5J.

Fitting tyres to wider rims makes the ride harder, as the sidewalls don't flex so easily.

Fitting tyres to wider rims also leaves the rims more exposed to kerbing damage.

I would never fit a 175/65 or 175/60 tyre to a 6J rim. 5J or 5.5J is fine, but never 6J.

Car manufacturers always fit 175/65 or 175/60 tyres to either 5J or 5.5J rims, never 6J rims.
Just to say if you reference the original Audi A2 sales/spec brochure you will see that Audi themselves actually fit 175/60 tyres to the optional 15" 6 spoke SE wheels as standard for the A2 which are 6J! 😏
 
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