Hold on Larry. You can easily select a 15" tire with the same or even a
smaller diameter than a 14. If you go for the same diameter on a 15" wheel,
you lose half an inch of sidewall, which translates to sharper steering and
braking response. I have put 205/65/15 Yokohama Avid H4s tires on 15 x 6.5
Mercedes rims on my Weekender and it was transformative! It rides like a BMW
now; crisp handling and a modern elastic ride with vastly reduced road noise
on all surfaces. The high hysteresis rubber leaves the tire on the road
instead of bouncing . I can't say enough about how great the change has
worked out. I have had five sets of tires on my GL, and my mom's Westy has
nes Agilis', but my Yokies were designed in this century and it shows.
Whew! My typing finger is tired now. Seeya, Jake
----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry Chase" <roadguy@ROADHAUS.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, July 08, 2005 11:03 AM
Subject: Re: new tires today!!!

larry chase
roadhaus.com

Jeff,

Gotta run ... so will let others address your questions.

But if you want to see actual user reviews on many Vanagon Tires ...

Go here:

http://roadhaus.com/tires.html

I hope this helps your decision process.

One note ... moving from a 14" to 15" tire with a stock 2.1L engine ... you
need to
be prepared for a 9%-10% decrease in low end performance.

Also ... you might notice ... on the tire page ... there really are quite a
few 14"
tire choices available.

larry chase
roadhaus.com
- - -

Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2005 10:22:39 -0400
From: jeffg jeffg@MIKOEXOTICWEAR.COM>
Subject: new tires today!!!

Help

1989 Vanagon GL Westfalia

last night i had a big blowout on my left rear tire on the highway..pulled
over and after the smoke cleared and i dropped my spare i realized it is all
dried up, probably under the van since 1989.

so i need at least 2 tires to replace, i am running on 185/75/14 goodyear
somethings,

1) do i just replace the 2 tires
2) do i use this as an opportunity to upgrade to 15" and get all new rims
and tires.

$100 compared to ????

what is the benefit if any with changing to 15"