PIRELLI 205/70 VR 15

In 1968 the Jaguar XJ6 was the first production car to fit the modern low profile tires in the size 205/70VR15. At that time low profile tires were so new they were given a far more confusing name, instead of being called 205/70VR15 they were called ER/70VR15.

205/70VR15 PIRELLI CINTURATO™ Tires

Radial tires had been around since the 40's, with an 80 ( - 82%) aspect ration. Meaning that the side wall of a tire was 80% of the width. So the side wall height of PIRELLI's the earlier 205VR15 CN72 CINTURATO ™ HS is 80% of 205mm which is 164mm meaning that this tire would be 708mm. Because there was no choice when it came to the aspect ration of a tire there was no need to mention that it had an 80% aspect ratio; However in todays descriptions it would be called a 205/80VR15.

Towards the end of the 60's when modern low profile tires such as 205/70VR15, came about there was suddenly a need to specify this aspect ration so people knew they were buying the new technology, and wouldn't buy a tire with a different diameter that would change the gearing or speedo reading of a car, so for instance the diameter of a 205/70VR15 will be (70% of 205 X 2 + 380mm =) 667mm.

In the 60's many cars like 250 GT Ferrari, E-type Jaguar, Morgan +8 or a DB5 would have fitted a 185VR15 PIRELLI CINTURATO ™ CA67 tires. A 205/70VR15 tire shares the same diameter as a 185VR15 tire, so often, people want a wider tire, using more modern technology. Under these Circumstances 205/70VR15 PIRELLI CN12 CINTURATO ™ HS will be an excellent option.

It is worth pointing out wider is not always a good option, as an example: when Jaguar started fitting 205/70VR15 tires to their XJ6 in 1968, they did not fit it to the e type, because it did not handle so well on these wider tires. It wasn't until they added power steering with the series 3 XKE that they fitted wider low profile 205/70VR15 tires.