Which size tires are supposed to go on 1998 SE rims?

P205/55R16

-OR-

P205/65R15

I have a GXE, but the dealership told me it was an SE (it's a long story). They basically said it was an SE because it has rims and a spoiler and a sunroof. Now they are telling me it has the SE rims, and they LOOK like they are, but I don't know if they are or not. Were there different size rims available???

The tires on my rims right now are Firestone P205/55R16 size tires. Isn't that a smaller size? Firestone's site says that the SE Maxima takes the P205/65R15 tire, while the GXE and the GLE take the P205/55R16, which is the tire size I currently have. I'm confused

Can both tire sizes be put on the same SE rims?

Any insight?

if you have the 16" SE wheels the OEM tire size is 215/55/16.

Firestone is on crack.


The 97-99 SE Rims use 215/55/16 tires STOCK.

so if i have size 205 instead of 215 does that mean i dont have 16" rims?

How could you not know if you have 16" rims. It says right on your tire, ie; 215/55 R16

ok, so the 205 and the 215 have nothing to do with that... it's the R16. And mine says R16. I didn't realize that's what that meant. Thanks.

tire sizes are defined as follows:

Width / height / diameter

the 205 or the 1st # just means the tire is slightly thinner than it should really be.. the middle # is the height of the sidewall.. the last # tells you what size rim u have...

Thanks! That's exactly the information I was looking for.

This is just to help swcello. The above info is kind of correct. The first and the second numbers are more like ratio's than exact sizes, although they are measurements. A 215/55 R16 and a 205/65 R16 have almost the exact same sidewall height. The tire will just be wider. Saying that the second # directly determines the sidewall height is incorrect. If the first number and second number increase and decrease respectively, the side wall will remain almost exactly the same. The second # is more a ratio of the first if that makes any sense.

FYI...the calculation for tire sizes goes something like this...

width/height/wheel
e.g. 205/65-15 (tire sidewall reads 205/65R15)

width = 205mm = 205/25.4 = 8.07 inches (round to 8")
height = 8" * .65 = 5.2 inches

total diameter = (height * 2) + wheel = (5.2*2)+15 = 25.4 inches

Calculating the total diameter is required to determine whether or not a new wheel/tire configuration will effect the speedometer/odometer accuracy. I've read that +/- 2% variance (approximate) is acceptable.