ATV and UTV Tire Sizes Explained
An ATV or side-by-side can reach places many other vehicles can't. Their size and wheelbase can get you a long way off the beaten path, and the tires play a significant role in that.
If you're in the market for some new UTV or ATV tires, you might want something more aggressive with a larger diameter. When shopping for offroad tires, you’ll want to know what those numbers printed on the sidewalls mean. Watch the video above or read on below to learn about choosing ATV and UTV tire sizes.
Standard vs Metric Offroad Tire Sizes
Standard
The standard offroad tire sizing format looks like the image below, which is a 27X11R14 tire. You may also see that same size as 27 X11x14 on other standard tires.
Standard sizing is pretty straightforward: three measurements in inches to represent the three different dimensions of the tire. The first one in the example above is 27, which represents the outside diameter of the tire, from the bottom of the tire to the top.
The second number, in this case 11, tells you the width of the tire tread across the tire.
Metric
The metric sizing is a bit trickier and involves some math. Metric sized tires are more commonly found on trailers than ATVs or side-by-sides. The metric size example pictured below is 205/75 R15, and the slash is the giveaway that it’s a metric tire.
On a metric tire size, the width of the tread comes first, and in this case it’s 205, which represents 205mm from top to bottom.
The second number, 75, is the sidewall height, and this is where the math comes in. It’s not actually a measurement, but a percentage. The 75 in this case tells you that the sidewall height is 75% of the width of the tread, so 75% of 205 = 153.7.
The R indicates that the tire well is radial, and the number 15 is where the measurement switches back to inches. That means the tire fits on a 15in rim.
How to Choose ATV and UTV Tire Sizes
The tire size you should choose for your ATV or UTV depends on what the machine can handle and how you want to use it. Obviously putting the same size tires as the OEM factory tires is guaranteed to work, but you can play with different configurations (more on that later).
On a sport ATV, a typical tire size is around 20-25 inches in diameter.
On a utility ATV or SxS, the typical tire size is around 24-28 inches in diameter.
When an ATV or UTV is used for riding in tough terrain to handle situations like climbing rocks or running in deep mud, the tire size should typically run from 27-36 inches in diameter, depending on how much you want to modify your machine.
When it comes to the width, a wider tire provides better grip, while a narrow tire provides better control. ATVs and side-by-sides generally have a wider tire on the back for added grip, and a narrow tire up front to get the best of both worlds.
However, you can't just pick a width based on how you want to ride. The tire has to physically be able to fit on the SxS or ATV. To be on the safe side, a general rule is to NOT get a tire that's more than 2 inches wider than the width of your offroad machine’s factory wheel.
Side-By-Side Note
On our Yamaha YXZ1000R project, Partzilla’s powersports pro John Talley decided not to go with a staggered setup, which has the larger rear tires and the more narrow front tires.
Instead, he went with a square setup, where it's the same on all four corners, but with one minor change. He used the same size tires of 27x11x14 in the front and back, but with a trick to maximize the tire tread.
For the contact patch, he went with a slightly wider rim. When you look at it from the side, you can see how one tire looks a little bit stouter than the other.
The tires are the same size, but one is stretched a little bit on a slightly wider rim. This combination is for optimizing tire tread on the GP track, and serves as an example of slight modifications that can be done when setting up ATV/UTV tires to improve performance.
