13"s are not just about the ride, its about preserving the unique Escort driving experience....

dont get me wrong, i love 13's.  im thinking once my 4 door gets regod putting a "historic"  ap brake kit (currently has rx7 brakes) so i can put 13s on. nothing looks better than a wide 13" in my opinion.
on the 2 door however the smalles wheel i can fit is 15" because of the brakes.  still i rekon it looks great with 15"

 
 
 

15's FTW.
I reckon 15's look at home and in proportion on a mk2.

Out of curiosity what profile 13's are you running?
185/60/13 were the ones i was using on my previous mk1. Good size i think.
If you compare that to the common 195/50/15 tyres most runs on 15's you get the following..

185/60/13
Rolling Radius 276.1mm
Circumference 1734.79mm
Diameter 552.2mm  

195/50/15 (*note this is about the same as a 175/70/13 tyre)
Rolling Radius 288mm
Circumference 1809.56mm
Diameter 576mm  

whooligan

The inherit problem with running 15s is the front wheel arch.
There is a fair bit of play in the front suspension of an Escort and what inevitably happens when you put the big wheels on they ends up carving out 2 inches on the first hard bend you take.

How does that happen if the rolling radius is the same, e.g. from 175/70R13 to 195/50R15?

I dont think its the diameter as was mentioned before, but was probably more the wheel offset and wheel/tyre width which can also play a factor here..

+1 for 15's.

martymexicoAlso remember that alloy is heavier than rubber..

Spot on Marty! My 15 x 6" steels with 195/45/15 tyres weigh 15kg. Exactly the same as 13 x 7" hotwires with 205/60/13's.

Ive just put a set of 175 50 13 tyres  on 7 inch superlite  rims. happy with how it turned out. hard to get tyres but found a place down the road had them in stock

evobda2

Out of curiosity what profile 13's are you running?
185/60/13 were the ones i was using on my previous mk1. Good size i think.
If you compare that to the common 195/50/15 tyres most runs on 15's you get the following..

185/60/13
Rolling Radius 276.1mm
Circumference 1734.79mm
Diameter 552.2mm  

195/50/15 (*note this is about the same as a 175/70/13 tyre)
Rolling Radius 288mm
Circumference 1809.56mm
Diameter 576mm  

 
Been using 205/60R13s on the RS2000 since 1992 on 13x7 rear, 13x6 front - almost identical rolling dia as the original ZR70S13's (165/75R13 in modern parlance)