[Orangecrush]

Anyone running 205/65/15's running with moderate loads (carry about 300lbs of equipment plus two passengers) can comment on how it effects the power/gearing? Highway, hills? Lot's of hills here. I need to pull the trigger on tires, and that's my one concern. I have 6.5" alloys to use.

It's a work van, and so I don't mind spending money on tires. Looking at either of these two michelins:
1. Agilis Crossclimate 205/65/15C 102 Load rating
2. Crossclimate+ 195/65/15XL 96 Load rating

Thanks!

 

[ChevyNV200]

We had about 20 NV200's in our company and the CVT transmissions had a high failure rate.
Work vans, fully loaded all the time.

The CVT transmission is extremely weak and larger diameter tires will further reduce it's life.
Especially for a work van.

205/65R15's and 195/65R15's are way too large in diameter IMO. They will reduce CVT trans life greatly and really make the underpowered van feel like a dog.
Plus the speedometer and odo will be way off.

205/60R15's Nokian all-weather tires are what we ended up running. They were not load range C but had adequate load and PSI rating for the van and TPMS system.
These were larger diameter, definitely affected the drivability of the van and speedometer readings but were way better than the original tires.
We ran these thru the Calgary winters with no issues.

Nowadays there are several 185/60R15 load range C tires available that are larger, wider and much better than the junk original NV200 tires.
That's what I would recommend. And these will fit on your slightly wider 6.5" wheels fine.

 

[Fummins]

................................

 

[Orangecrush]

Thanks. Unfortunately the commercial grade 185 tires all have a max 6" wheel width due to the stiffer side walls. The alloy wheels I got are really nice direct fit and a lot lighter than the steel wheels. With 195/65-15XL tires I can still come in lighter overall and while they are about 5% larger diameter, lets face it, the 185/60's are sized a bit small as the ODO shows. Probably 185/65/15 is correct but there are no choices in that size. I really would rather have a bit more sidewall.

 

[Fummins]

a

 

[Orangecrush]

I joined a Facebook NV200 group which has a strong UK, European presence. They seems to be doing very well with CVTs. Many with 100,000 to over 200,000 miles with no problems. Their NV200's are made in Spain. Also, a high number of larger tire diameter users. In Spain and the UK, it looks like you have to get the insurance to accept the change in tire size. I wonder if we are just harder on vehicles here in North America?

 

[ChevyNV200]

I really want to hear about all these cvt failures though. ^^

It's been a while since we got rid of all our NV200 vans after about 2 years.
They just didn't suit our needs and the fuel economy was worse than the Dodge Caravans they replaced, plus the ridiculous small fuel tanks

All our vans were fully loaded at or near the GVWR of the van (approx 4500lbs). All hard city miles, all driven hard.
We had about a 50% failure rate on the CVT trans. We had about 20 NV200 vans in total.
The 1st indication was a delay when starting off at a stop. Then the trans would slip worse and worse.
Then Nissan would replace it.
Near the end, we had about 4 vans, including my low mileage van, with slipping CVT trans, we just drove them until the company got rid of them all and back to Dodge Caravans.


Back to tires..

I noticed that OrangeCrush mentioned 2 tire options which were both all-weather tires.

If All-weather tires are required then I would definitely recommend the Nokian 205/60R15's all-weather tires.
As I mentioned, they are not load range C but have the required load and PSI rating for the NV200.
We ran all our vans on these with nearly no issues and pretty good tire life.
The greater diameter did affect the van but much less than the taller tires you are considering.

There are now much better options in 185/60R15 load range C tires for the NV200. These are much wider and taller than the original 185/60R15 JK (junk) tires.
Tirerack.com has info and specs on these tires.


Here is a link to my NV200 van history, including pictures of the larger Nokian tires:

New Chevy NV200 from Calgary...

Just got the van. Company work vehicle. Bare bones. Not impressed so far. - Those odd ball tires and wheels...:mad: What was Nissan thinking... - lack of power and CVT trans will take some getting used to. To do list: - home built shelves installed. - front license plate bracket...

www.nv200forum.com

 

[Fummins]

a

 

[Orangecrush]

The 205/60R15 Nokian do not meet the load rating. I went with the 205/65R15 Agilis Crossclimates+ on 6.5” direct fit alloys and I couldn’t be happier. The stability and confidence they give to the ride is outstanding. In the city, I barely notice the reduction in power. In fact, acceleration is smoother. On the highway you notice the loss in power on the steep hills but I was still able to maintain 120 kph on the steepest hills on the Coquihalla. While I only carry moderate loads, I am on a lot of rural roads and really like the higher side wall and increased load rating these tire provide. A tiny bit more money than the 185/60R15 C rated tires. If I feel I need dedicated winters I am definite going with the commercial rated 205/65R15 Nokian CR3’s. Stiff sidewalls are awesome on these vans!

 

[Orangecrush]

Update. The speedometer is only 5% out and not the 7.6% as it should be. Was at my Nissan Dealer today and the service department loved the change! Learned today that there have been many changes to the NV200 over the years. So for reference, mine is a 2020.

 

[Fummins]

a

 

[Bigfoot]

I posted here a long time ago regarding tires. I have a 2015 S model I purchased new. I tried a set of 205/65/15 95HXL. They were a cheap set of tires I bought as an experiment after a load of research. They were $327 for a set of 4 installed from Discount Tire. They are a Chinese brand and the tires were made in Thailand. I don't mind spending money on quality tires but I chose these for my experiment in case they didn't work out I wouldn't have too much out of pocket. Well, that was nearly 40,000 miles ago. The tires are about ready for replacement.

The verdict- Great decision. The change in the ride was dramatic! Van rides higher and feels much more stable. I almost never run at maximum payload and I'm at about half load capacity most every day. I'm in Florida and drive a combination of country roads, city roads, and dirt roads every day. I don't run the van super hard but I don't baby it either. I have a little over 90,000 miles on the van and do my own maintenance and repairs most of the time. These tires actually surpassed my expectations being as cheap as they were. If you run similar loads to mine, I think you will be very happy with a 205/65/15 on your van.

Regarding the CVT transmission. I've had a previous bad experience with a 2008 Nissan Versa hatchback. CVT trans went out at 104,000 and had been maintained properly, so I was a bit skeptical regarding the CVT in the van. So far, at just over 90k, I have had no issues with the trans. I change fluid at 20k and have been using Valvoline synthetic fluid. The fluid has looked/smelled/and felt good at each change. So far so good, fingers crossed.

IMO, overall I think Nissan could have done much better with the platform. An extra inch between the wheel wells and another 16" in length and a full 4'x8' sheet of whatever could have fit inside. I ended up building some heavy duty roof racks for those situations. The engine is under-powered. If Nissan would have made the van slightly larger and had some engine/transmission/suspension options to choose from, they probably would have captured the market. That said, I paid 20k for the van new and it has been an overall good purchase for me so I'm fairly happy with it.

If you search my user name, you can find my initial posts regarding tires.
Enjoy the day.

 

[Orangecrush]

I posted here a long time ago regarding tires. I have a 2015 S model I purchased new. I tried a set of 205/65/15 95HXL. They were a cheap set of tires I bought as an experiment after a load of research. They were $327 for a set of 4 installed from Discount Tire. They are a Chinese brand and the tires were made in Thailand. I don't mind spending money on quality tires but I chose these for my experiment in case they didn't work out I wouldn't have too much out of pocket. Well, that was nearly 40,000 miles ago. The tires are about ready for replacement.

The verdict- Great decision. The change in the ride was dramatic! Van rides higher and feels much more stable. I almost never run at maximum payload and I'm at about half load capacity most every day. I'm in Florida and drive a combination of country roads, city roads, and dirt roads every day. I don't run the van super hard but I don't baby it either. I have a little over 90,000 miles on the van and do my own maintenance and repairs most of the time. These tires actually surpassed my expectations being as cheap as they were. If you run similar loads to mine, I think you will be very happy with a 205/65/15 on your van.

Regarding the CVT transmission. I've had a previous bad experience with a 2008 Nissan Versa hatchback. CVT trans went out at 104,000 and had been maintained properly, so I was a bit skeptical regarding the CVT in the van. So far, at just over 90k, I have had no issues with the trans. I change fluid at 20k and have been using Valvoline synthetic fluid. The fluid has looked/smelled/and felt good at each change. So far so good, fingers crossed.

IMO, overall I think Nissan could have done much better with the platform. An extra inch between the wheel wells and another 16" in length and a full 4'x8' sheet of whatever could have fit inside. I ended up building some heavy duty roof racks for those situations. The engine is under-powered. If Nissan would have made the van slightly larger and had some engine/transmission/suspension options to choose from, they probably would have captured the market. That said, I paid 20k for the van new and it has been an overall good purchase for me so I'm fairly happy with it.

If you search my user name, you can find my initial posts regarding tires.
Enjoy the day.

Thanks Bigfoot, you were my first inspiration to go with 205/65R15's. I am so happy with the change! Thanks for testing them out.

 

[Orangecrush]

Just drove 2000 km through highway mountain passes with heavy rain, rough dirt roads and I got say that I LOVE these tires and size! No decrease in fuel consumption. Tough as nails, 102 load rating and true all-weather with three-peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF) symbol. For anyone in Canada, these are the direct fit wheels I got:

RWC 05

RWC GM05 / NI05 SILVER 15x6.5 5x114.3 ET40 CB66.10 - RW50565S5144066.1

www.canadawheels.ca

They are 6.5" width because that is the max width for this size Agilis tires. Michelin recommends a narrower wheel than normal for their commercial tires due to the stiffer side wall. Actually Nokian does too.

If I feel I need a dedicated winter tire, there are two (studded or non-studded) Nokian Commercial winters in this size with their aramid sidewalls and same 102 load rating.

 

[RogerC]

I posted here a long time ago regarding tires. I have a 2015 S model I purchased new. I tried a set of 205/65/15 95HXL. They were a cheap set of tires I bought as an experiment after a load of research. They were $327 for a set of 4 installed from Discount Tire. They are a Chinese brand and the tires were made in Thailand. I don't mind spending money on quality tires but I chose these for my experiment in case they didn't work out I wouldn't have too much out of pocket. Well, that was nearly 40,000 miles ago. The tires are about ready for replacement.

The verdict- Great decision. The change in the ride was dramatic! Van rides higher and feels much more stable. I almost never run at maximum payload and I'm at about half load capacity most every day. I'm in Florida and drive a combination of country roads, city roads, and dirt roads every day. I don't run the van super hard but I don't baby it either. I have a little over 90,000 miles on the van and do my own maintenance and repairs most of the time. These tires actually surpassed my expectations being as cheap as they were. If you run similar loads to mine, I think you will be very happy with a 205/65/15 on your van.

Regarding the CVT transmission. I've had a previous bad experience with a 2008 Nissan Versa hatchback. CVT trans went out at 104,000 and had been maintained properly, so I was a bit skeptical regarding the CVT in the van. So far, at just over 90k, I have had no issues with the trans. I change fluid at 20k and have been using Valvoline synthetic fluid. The fluid has looked/smelled/and felt good at each change. So far so good, fingers crossed.

IMO, overall I think Nissan could have done much better with the platform. An extra inch between the wheel wells and another 16" in length and a full 4'x8' sheet of whatever could have fit inside. I ended up building some heavy duty roof racks for those situations. The engine is under-powered. If Nissan would have made the van slightly larger and had some engine/transmission/suspension options to choose from, they probably would have captured the market. That said, I paid 20k for the van new and it has been an overall good purchase for me so I'm fairly happy with it.

If you search my user name, you can find my initial posts regarding tires.
Enjoy the day.

I replied favorably to your original post 2 years ago. I'm ready now to give the larger tires a try. So appreciate your follow up. The only complaint I have about this cargo van is how noisy it is, especially on rough pavement. I wonder if these larger tires will reduce it.