I am currently shopping for new tires for my project car. I have a question regarding the tire's load ratings.
The car is a 190E 2.3. According to Wikipedia, it weights about 2700 lbs. The stock tire size is 185/65/15. I looked on various tire sites and this size usually comes with a load index of 88, which is 1235 lbs.
Five years ago, I installed 195/50/15 Kumho PA31's with a load index of 82 (1047 lbs) on it. I didn't even look at the load index at first, drove the car for a few years and parked it to do major work on it. Never had a problem and the tires worn evenly.
Now that the car is almost ready, it needs new tires as the old Kumhos are pretty much dry and cracked from sitting in the sun for all that time. I am either going with the same Kumho PA31 in 195/50/15 again or with Kumho PS31 in 205/50/15. The 205's have a load index of 86 (1168 lbs).
When considering a tire's load rating, is it with the static load only? Or do I have to consider the dynamic weight transfer when cornering and braking? Since I will probably never load the car to GVWR, I could surely get away with a lower load index, right? Assuming a driver and passenger weight of 150 lbs each and a 60% front weight bias, the static weight on each front tire would be 900 lbs. Therefore, I should be good with the 195's. Is my reasoning good? Or is this totally unsafe?
The look of the 195's is very cool, and since this car will see mostly street driving I don't think I'll see the handling difference between the 195's and the 205's. I plan on attending at least one autocross or track day this year (first time for both). If I like it, then I would buy a dedicated set of tires/wheels.
What do you think?