hi all,
i just bought a 90 gxe. the front tires are completely (and i mean completely) bald. also, they have never been rotated, so the back tires still have plenty or tread in them. i'm thinking of getting the bridgestone potenzas from costco (the primary negative point seems to be that they handle badly in the snow, but hopefully we won't have too much more of that).

the current tires on the car are (kumho?) 205/65R15s, but i think i'd like to go for a pair of 215s. my questions are:
a. is there a compelling reason to change all 4 (rather than just the front) tires?
b. are 215/65s ok for a 90 gxe?
c. if b. was a "yes," then can i mix tire sizes (215s in the front and 205s in the back)?

as you can tell, i know nothing about these things (look for more dumbass posts in the near future).

thanks a ton,
ged

 

1. No problem with changing only two, I would recomend all four, but if money is tight then two is fine.

2. Yes you can mix tire sizes, just make sure that you don't have different sizes on the same end of the car. If you want 215's go with 215/60 this more closely matches the stock tire diameter.

 

A few weeks ago I got 215/60-15 Michlen Pilot XGT-H4 tires. They seem to be excellent for all season tires. We didn't get enough snow to know how they'll work in deep stuff, but for some slime they are very good. I had them special ordered at Costco, and they are only a few dollars more than the Bridgestone 930i's.
Now, I have a GXE, but got a used set of SE wheels that I had the Michelins mounted on. The SE wheels are a 1/2 inch wider than the GXE wheels, and a better match for a 215/60 tire. I'm not a big fan of mixing tires. With sticker tires up front you can wind up in some situations with the back end coming around at some inconvient times. I certain wouldn't do this if the back tires are not the same. (Before I changed tires my back tires didn't match, although they were the same size, and straight line stability got much better with 4 identical tires.)