Cracks after 5 years. Grip in dry and wet conditions is okay, but not good. The inexpensive purchase is offset by rapid cracking. A friend of mine had small cracks appear all around his Nexen tire after just 3 years. Therefore, I don't recommend it.
185/50 R15 Tires
Everything we know about the 185/50 R15 tire size: 7 owner reviews covering 95,700 miles of driving, and EU label data for the tires you can actually buy in it.
- 7owner reviews
- 95,700 milescovered on them
- 2tires made in this size
185/50 R15 EU tire label data
EU label values are declared for each individual size, so the figures here are exact for 185/50 R15 rather than a range across a model. 1 tires carry label data in this size. The most common load index is 79 (up to 437 kg per tire). Speed ratings on offer: V (240 km/h).
69dB Quietest tires
The quietest 185/50 R15 tires are labelled at 69 dB external noise:
- Sunny NP226 Summer
Label values come from the EU EPREL database and apply to the EU market versions of each tire. Wet grip and rolling resistance run from class A (best) to E; noise is the measured drive-by figure. A good label is a floor, not a verdict - the tests and owner ratings above tell you far more.
What does 185/50 R15 mean?
A 185/50 R15 tire is 185 mm wide, its sidewall is 50% of that width (93 mm) tall, and it fits a 15 inch wheel. That gives an overall diameter of roughly 566 mm.
| Section width | 185 mm |
|---|---|
| Sidewall height | 93 mm |
| Rim diameter | 15" (381 mm) |
| Overall diameter | ≈ 566 mm |
| Circumference | ≈ 1,778 mm |
| Revolutions per km | ≈ 562 |
| Revolutions per mile | ≈ 905 |
Also written as
185/50R15 185/50 ZR15 185-50-15 185 50 15
Figures are calculated from the nominal size. A loaded, rolling tire runs a few percent smaller, and true widths vary slightly between makes.
What cars use 185/50 R15 tires?
The cars most often running this size in our owner reviews. Each links to the best rated tires for that exact car.
What drivers say about their 185/50 R15 tires
The most recent owner reviews fitted in this size, in their own words.
Tires are better than i expected. They are quiet and comfortable, strong sidewalls (i bought XL), They have good decent grip in the dry.
bad points:
In 4,000 miles they are at 5mm. they were all 8/9mm new - and im not a harsh driver.
in the wet, sometimes i can feel it slide over and i have to make more of an effort to steer correctly. The road feedback is naff, you cant really feel much.
I’d rate them a 5 overall. cheap, comfortable, quiet. Its no gold star but they are better than i expected.
185/50/r15 88 XL
bad points:
In 4,000 miles they are at 5mm. they were all 8/9mm new - and im not a harsh driver.
in the wet, sometimes i can feel it slide over and i have to make more of an effort to steer correctly. The road feedback is naff, you cant really feel much.
I’d rate them a 5 overall. cheap, comfortable, quiet. Its no gold star but they are better than i expected.
185/50/r15 88 XL
I've had the Nokian Hakka Green2's for 2 seasons now, I drive on a mix of city, country roads and motorway The tires are not really budget and not really premium, it sits somewhere in between. The grip is really good, now I just have a Fabia so I don't take it on track days or drive aggressive with it. But at times I've taken corners at a fairly high speed and notice that there's still a lot of grip left, very predictable. In the wet it really shines, lots of grip and economic despite the higher resistance of water. The comfort level is not what i wanted it to be. I'm not really sure if it's the car or the tires, but I think its very noisy at low levels of speed, so from 10-50 km/h. When the speed goes over 50 km/h, the noise doesnt increase, so it actually feels more quiet at higher speed, from 60-110 km/h. The tires are very consistent and dont give much surprises, which as we know are the mark for good tires.
For me, I just want comfort and economic (not low budget) tires, because I mostly go on long drives, so next time I'll try a different set of tires, thats why I put a 5 on the (would buy again) option.
The best of these wheels was the lifespan, in Bogota (Colombia) the holes are a nightmare but these wheels supported them very well for about 3 years, they are very resistants, but... I always felt uncomfortable because they didn't have a good wet grip nither dry grip.
The Tires are good on dry conditions. Even on high Speeds (190 Km/h) the feel save. Only on Wet Roads they get a little slippy but not critical. After 14.000 KM the had around 5,5mm Profile. They carry me and my Family through Bad Roads in Turkey and i can surely say theay are good tires for cheap Price!
Drive on 185/50 R15 tires?
Review your tires and help the next driver choose. It takes about five minutes, and every review on this page came from a driver who took them.
Where this data comes from
Owner ratings are submitted through the review form on this site, naming the tire, the size and the distance covered, and are checked by hand before publication. Test results come from independent published tire tests indexed by size, and label values from the EU EPREL database.
About the TR Score
The Tire Reviews Score rates each tire out of 10 using independent test results and the full body of owner reviews, so you can check a car-specific ranking against the wider evidence.
Who does the testing
Every test published as a Tire Reviews test is run by Jonathan Benson, who has been testing tires independently since 2007.