Originally Posted by faramir9
Originally Posted by LeakySeals
Thanks. The fresh bought Malibu classic has a current inspection sticker in New Hampshire so I guess they don't look at tire sizes. It's a 2005 so it has abs. It will only be for a month or two before I can get the back ones or what do you think about the condition of the tires I just posted? Can I get by with them for a couple of months till I can get all four? I will be out on the highway
First, studded snows on the front and all-seasons on the rear is bad. That's a case where the argument about "best tires on rear at all times" makes sense. (Sometimes it's overblown, but not here.)
I owned an '04 Chevy Classic for 6.5 years and know this car well. Your car likely does *not* have ABS. Mine did not, nor did any I read about in forums. (The one option some had was power seats.) Check if the ABS light comes on when you start the car. If not, you do not have ABS, so be careful to pump the brake rather than stomp and steer.
Also, the car is specced for 205/65R15, but with that tire size the speedo and odometer are off by 2.2. to 2.3%, I found. (Drive 307 miles and it reads 300.) Chevy kept things as cheap as possible when adapting the '97-'03 Malibu for the rental Classic. The Malibu had 215/60R15 tires and standard ABS. For the Classic, they bagged ABS and went to a slightly cheaper tire size, but without recalibrating the odometer. It still should not be off by as much as it is, but so it goes.
I ran 195/65R15 Pirelli P4 the last three years I owned the car. The speedo and odo were within 0.4% and it passed PA inspection, even though the tires were 91 load index and the OE tires were 92. (No clue why tires that size are 89 or 91, but never 90.)
Can you buy four tires now, and sell the four that are now on the car on CL, maybe? The Altimax Rt43 has a $50 rebate going. If not: How much tread is left on the rear tires?
Sorry to ramble on. I learned a lot about the '04-'05 Chevy Classic, good and bad. Good luck.
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Your inspector likely didn't know, missed it, or didn't particularly care about such a small difference. It really isn't a big safety issue if you go down so slightly in size/load index, but it's where PA draws the line. Many tire shops that don't do inspections in PA don't adhere, and many inspection stations/workshops that don't specialize in tires don't know, either. And many small shops won't bother potentially losing a customer over something so minor in inspection.
Interesting about the reading differences. The 205/65 is slightly taller than the 215/60, which is a tougher size to buy. I understand why GM changed the size for the fleet-only Classic. Not recalibrating was a cheap move. I suppose certain GM systems are more forgiving that average. Also a good point about the spare, since GM is famous for providing TINY minispares with their cars. Most other manufacturers give you a skinny spare that's roughly the right diameter. GM gave out these little 12-14" spares even in full-size cars with 17" wheels. And you're right-they never really cause big errors in ABS/traction control in normal short-term use. Not sure about long-term mixing on bad roads, though.
FWIW, my '99 Avalon runs the same 205/65R15 size as the Classic is supposed to have. I have 4 Vredestein Quatrac 5s on it, which I bought online last May for $208 shipped. They were 2016 DOT codes, but were apparently stored correctly. I have been thrilled with them. I installed them myself.
