Can somebody educate me on tyre size please

ShayK1

I'm looking to price up some winter tyres (as I'm sure alot of you are)

Currently I have 225/45/17 tyres on.

I'm wondering what combination of width and profile will give me the same overall diameter.

For example: Is a 195/65/17 too much profile or would a 205/50/17 be a better option.

Thanks in advance.

http://www.willtheyfit.com/

that will tell you if the overall rolling diameter is ok, going too wide etc depends on the actual width of your wheel.

Why stray from the 225s?? Going to 195 width on a 17" rim is not a good idea, wheel may well be too wide I would think, what car is it ?

MarkoC

205/50/17 would be the best match.
But the best option would be 16" spare wheels for winters and 205/55/16's
Overall you save a lot of money, starting with the tyre prices and ending with saving on changing tyres twice a year.

ShayK1

RoverJames wrote: »

http://www.willtheyfit.com/

that will tell you if the overall rolling diameter is ok, going too wide etc depends on the actual width of your wheel.

Why stray from the 225s?? Going to 195 width on a 17" rim is not a good idea, wheel may well be too wide I would think, what car is it ?

I may not stray.
I'm just trying to explore all options.

A narrower tyre might perform better in ice or snow.
The wider could be better on damp roads.

I don't know yet tbh.

its a Leon btw

Anan1

MarkoC wrote: »

205/50/17 would be the best match.
But the best option would be 16" spare wheels for winters and 205/55/16's
Overall you save a lot of money, starting with the tyre prices and ending with saving on changing tyres twice a year.

+1. You'll also have better ride comfort and wheel protection at the time of year when the roads are at their most potholed.

Piri

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Fishtits

Good luck with sourcing Winter Tyres...

cormie

Have the same question myself kind of. Looking for winters but the only size I can get at the moment for my Ford Transit aren't the right size. Does anyone know how having a set of 225/65/16 as opposed to 215/75/R16's might affect things?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056107692 is my thread on it..

Esel

Jebus Cormie, would you ever just use the link in post 2 above!

cormie

I did there's a 4.91% speed error along with the rest:

Diameter 733.2mm 698.9mm
Circumference 2303.4mm 2195.7mm
Poke 38.2mm 38.2mm
Inset 114.2mm 114.2mm
Speedo error 0% 4.91%
Reading at 30mph 30mph 31.47mph
Reading at 60mph 60mph 62.94mph
Ride height gain 0mm -17.15mm
Arch gap loss 0mm -17.15mm

but I'm just not sure what negative effects using a different size one will have besides an incorrect speed reading

ShayK1

as far as I understand, you're better off having a narrower tyre in ice and snow.
The wider tyre would also increase road noise (if that's something that would bother you)

cormie

Thanks, road noise in the transit wouldn't really be an issue as it's noisy anyway I think it would probably be best just to hold off and try and get a pair the same size, just for reassurance if anything.

MarkoC

cormie wrote: »

Thanks, road noise in the transit wouldn't really be an issue as it's noisy anyway I think it would probably be best just to hold off and try and get a pair the same size, just for reassurance if anything.

Just a pair ?

cormie

cormie wrote: »

I did there's a 4.91% speed error along with the rest:

Fair play
In fairness though it's a bit lazy not to copy and paste your findings initially and then expect folk to pr1ck around entering the tyre sizes you listed to learn what you learned and then to comment/advise

About the skinnier tyre being more suitable in snow, very true but they'd want to be 155/165 in width compared to a 225/215 or similar to notice any difference, also 'twould want to be a very very decent lash of snow that hasn't been cleared. On actual ice it won't make a huge difference.

No doubt of benefit to Cormie and other folks who are on the road fulltime for their living but for the Joe Soap commuter I wouldn't consider it a necessary expense considering the duration of our coldsnap, unless you live in a remote area, in which case it's probably desperate altogether.

cormie

Sorry, meant a set

MarkoC

RoverJames wrote: »

About the skinnier tyre being more suitable in snow, very true but they'd want to be 155/165 in width compared to a 225/215 or similar to notice any difference,

Thats is NOT true, you notice a huge difference already between 205 and 225 in width ! How can you say the opposite if you have no experiences at all with different sizes on the same car ?

MarkoC

MarkoC wrote: »

Thats is NOT true, you notice a huge difference already between 205 and 225 in width ! How can you say the opposite if you have no experiences at all with different sizes on the same car ?

:rolleyes:

How can you comment on my experience of having different sized tyre sizes on the same car Some f**king quantum leap of a presumption from a sentance.

Lets be clear hear Mark, I am referring to a difference in driving in snow, not a difference otherwise. From your other posts and threads (many of which are worthy of Darwin awards, most notably the one about if you have two kids in the back you are justified in knocking down a pedestrian rather than hitting a car when you take a blind corner too fast ) I get the impression your command of the English language isn't fantastic so I have less than 0.001% interest in actually entertaining your nit picking and literal dictionary translations of my posts.

MarkoC

RoverJames wrote: »

:rolleyes:

How can you comment on my experience of having different sized tyre sizes on the same car Some f**king quantum leap of a presumption from a sentance.

Lets be clear hear Mark, I am referring to a difference in driving in snow, not a difference otherwise. From your other posts and threads (many of which are worthy of Darwin awards, most notably the one about if you have two kids in the back you are justified in knocking down a pedestrian rather than hitting a car when you take a blind corner too fast ) I get the impression your command of the English language isn't fantastic so I have less than 0.001% interest in actually entertaining your nit picking and literal dictionary translations of my posts.

1. Your english is really bad then, as i never justified that, i asked a simple question what would you do in this scenario.
2. About my english, well i speak also my mother tongue + 2 other languages as good or bad, you are not the one to judge that here ?
Is féidir linn labhairt na Gaeilge freisin?
3. 2cm narrower tyres make a HUGE difference on snow, i can tell you tha from my own experiences and i had over 30 cars + over 10 years winter driving experiences, every year at least 4 months.
4. Back up your wonderful wizdom and experiences instead of getting personal !

Cheers

cormie

RoverJames wrote: »

Fair play
In fairness though it's a bit lazy not to copy and paste your findings initially and then expect folk to pr1ck around entering the tyre sizes you listed to learn what you learned and then to comment/advise

About the skinnier tyre being more suitable in snow, very true but they'd want to be 155/165 in width compared to a 225/215 or similar to notice any difference, also 'twould want to be a very very decent lash of snow that hasn't been cleared. On actual ice it won't make a huge difference.

No doubt of benefit to Cormie and other folks who are on the road fulltime for their living but for the Joe Soap commuter I wouldn't consider it a necessary expense considering the duration of our coldsnap, unless you live in a remote area, in which case it's probably desperate altogether.

Guess it was a bit lazy alright Thought it was something that could be answered with the sizes alone as I can't make any sense of the % ratios myself and wasn't sure what the offset and width values were either.

With the weather we get I think it wouldn't be worth going narrower anyway and would probably be best just to stick to the exact same size.

MArk, You said I had no experience, you spoke factually when having no clue of the facts.

MarkoC

cormie wrote: »

With the weather we get I think it wouldn't be worth going narrower anyway and would probably be best just to stick to the exact same size.

Narrower is always cheaper as well.

Consider also changing the wheels as well as the tyres - think of skates versus skis:

Aims of Winter wheels are:
Narrower tyres, so as narrow as possible - the skates versus skis idea.
Higher profile, softer ride more resilient on ice and snow, possible to reduce tyre pressures for grip
Steel means your Summer alloys are not destroyed by salt corrosion.

In short go for smaller and narrower steel wheels because they are stronger than alloy and also allow higher profile narrower tyres. The catch is literally whether they will fit because brake calipers get in the way.

http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=155950

RoverJames wrote: »

MArk, You said I had no experience, you spoke factually when having no clue of the facts.

Your posts are talking about themselves, what facts do we need ? You missleading people in the thread with not very accurate info, that tells me all. Experienced person would made the statement you made above. Every cm narrower tyre makes a big difference.

MarkoC

MarkoC wrote: »

l. Experienced person would made the statement you made above. Every cm narrower tyre makes a big difference.

Cheers mark. I'll try and improve my English too BTW

cormie

MarkoC wrote: »

Narrower is always cheaper as well.

Consider also changing the wheels as well as the tyres - think of skates versus skis:

Aims of Winter wheels are:
Narrower tyres, so as narrow as possible - the skates versus skis idea.
Higher profile, softer ride more resilient on ice and snow, possible to reduce tyre pressures for grip
Steel means your Summer alloys are not destroyed by salt corrosion.

In short go for smaller and narrower steel wheels because they are stronger than alloy and also allow higher profile narrower tyres. The catch is literally whether they will fit because brake calipers get in the way.

http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=155950

Thanks for that, but I wouldn't want to compromise the other 4 or 5 months I'd be using the winter tyres just by having a slight advantage when the snow comes. I'm not sure if it would compromise the other 4 or 5 months and that's what I'm unsure of. What negative effects would come from having a different set fitted when it's not snowy so this is why I'd be inclined to just go for the same size.

MarkoC

cormie wrote: »

What negative effects would come from having a different set fitted when it's not snowy so this is why I'd be inclined to just go for the same size.

MOST car manufactures reccommend and do as a standard smaller wheels and narrower tyres on them for winter. So theres no panic in your case, you can go without any issues for 2cm narrower tyres.

cormie

Thanks again, well the tyres they said they have are 225/65/16 as opposed to the current 215/75/16 so the ones on it now are actually the narrower ones so I should probably avoid the 225/65/16's if I understand correctly!

MarkoC

MarkoC wrote: »

MOST car manufactures reccommend and do as a standard smaller wheels and narrower tyres on them for winter. So theres no panic in your case, you can go without any issues for 2cm narrower tyres.

HOw do you know he currently doesn't have the 2cm narrower ones that are manufacturer recommended on the van ? An experienced person would ask before advising surely ?

MarkoC

RoverJames wrote: »

HOw do you know he currently doesn't have the 2cm narrower ones that are manufacturer recommended on the van ? An experienced person would ask before advising surely ?

Well done, finally your post makes sense and you scored
My bad, always thought people here using factory resommended tyres, so thats where my statement came from.