Datsun tire sizes

We cover 3 Datsun models across 4 factory fitments, spanning model years 1968 to 1978. The size that turns up most often on a Datsun is 195/70R14, followed by 205/60R14 and 185/70R13. Wheel diameters run from 13 to 14 inches, so the trim and wheel package matter as much as the model year.

Datsun does not stamp an approval code on tires the way Porsche and BMW do, so any tire in the right size that meets the load index and speed rating on the door placard is a legitimate replacement. Pick on wet braking, tread life and price instead.

Pick your model below to see the size for every year and trim, what it costs from budget to premium, and which tires are worth buying in that size. If you already know your size, search by size instead, and if you are not sure where to find it, our guide on reading a tire size shows exactly where the placard sits.

Datsun was the name Nissan used on its exports, and in the United States it was the badge on the 510 sedan, the 240Z and the small pickups that established Japanese cars here in the 1960s and 1970s. Nissan retired the Datsun name in the US market in the early 1980s, phasing the badges over from 1981 to 1984 so that the same cars became Nissans. The name was briefly revived for emerging markets in the 2010s and retired again.

Every Datsun on this site is a classic, and the tire question is entirely about converting period sizes.

Tires on a Datsun

Datsuns used period Japanese sizes on narrow wheels, and no approval code exists for any of them. The 240Z left the factory on a 175HR14, which is the size that causes the most confusion, because nothing is sold in it today; the standard modern equivalent is a 195/70R14, which is what we list, and it keeps overall diameter within a couple of percent while giving a slightly wider footprint. Owners who fit wider 14 by 6 inch wheels move to 205/60R14, which lowers the car slightly and sharpens the steering.

The 510 ran 13 inch tires and converts to 185/70R13, a size that is still made but by a shrinking number of manufacturers, so stock is worth checking before you commit to keeping the original wheels. The 280Z follows the 240Z at 195/70R14. Across all of them the limiting factor is wheel width rather than the tire: a five-inch-wide original rim will not properly support anything much beyond 185 or 195 millimeters, and a wide tire on a narrow rim rounds off the tread and makes the car feel vague.

The models that matter

Two of the three Datsuns we list are the 1970 to 1973 240Z and the 1975 to 1978 280Z, both on 195/70R14. The third is the 1968 to 1973 510 on 185/70R13, the only 13 inch fitment of the three. Datsun pickups of the same era used 14 and 15 inch light truck sizes that convert into today's 195R14C and 215/75R15 range.

What owners find out later

The original 175HR14 on a 240Z is not a size you can buy, and a shop that tells you the car needs a 175/70R14 has read the number rather than the diameter: that tire is significantly shorter than the original and will leave the speedometer reading fast. Thirteen inch tires are the real risk on a 510, because the size is being discontinued pattern by pattern and the choice is now mostly winter and economy tires. Z-car wheels from the early 1970s are often out of round after fifty years, and a persistent vibration on new tires is usually the wheel rather than the balance.