195/45R15 Tires & Tire Size

195/45R15 refers to the size of the tire. It’s a standard which is used by car and tire manufacturers. By having the standard, tire manufacturers are able to manufacture same size tires independently and users can buy same size tires from different manufacturers.

Here’s an explanation of what these metrics mean in practice:

195 The tire width is 195mm.
45 The aspect ratio of the tire is 45. Aspect ratio refers to the height of tire sidewall in relation to tire width in percentages.
R The letter in the middle refers to tire construction. Practically all tires sold for cars are radials.
Sometimes you also see tires with RF or ZR. RF indicates the tire is run flat, whereas ZR means the tire has speed rating higher than V. These tires are also radials, as the R indicates.
15 Rim diameter for the tire. 195/45R15 tire can be mounted only to a 15″ rims.

Best selling 195/45R15 tires

What is 195/45R15 tire size in inches?

Because the width of 195/45R15 tire is stated in millimeters and sidewall height in percentages, you have to make calculations to see what the true size of 195/45R15 is in inches. Luckily, we have made these calculations for you.In this table you can see size of 195/45R15 in inches, as well as few additional metrics:

  In inches In millimeters
Section Width 7.7″ 195mm
Sidewall height 3.5″ 88mm
Diameter / Height 21.9″ 557mm
Circumference 68.8″ 1748mm
Rim Diameter  15″  
Revolutions  921 per mile  572 per kilometer

Recommended Rim Sizes for 195/45R15 Tires

For 195/45R15 tires you need to have correct size rims to install the tires to. There are different width rims available in the market, and you can run into problems by installing 195/45R15 to a too wide or too narrow rim. Here are the recommended rim sizes for 195/45R15 tire:

Diameter Width Range
15″ 6-7.5″

195/45R15 – Variations

When you look at the tire code on 195/45R15 tires, you may see there are additional numbers and letters after the code 195/45R15. These numbers and letters refer to speed rating and load index of the tire. 195/45R15 has at least following variations available on the markets:

195/45R15 78V
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