changing tyre size - ok?

40701085

Folks,
Am finding the ride a bit firm on our bog-country roads lately & my mechanic suggested changing the 4 tyres from:

225/45/R17
to
205/55/R17

They need to be changed anyway. The car is 08 Accord (03-08 marque) - don't think the alloys were the original ones on the car.
Is this ok, i.e. would there be any negative side-effects I should anticipate?

Thanks for any advice

bazz26

Tyres would be slightly narrower and taller which many upset the car's handling I'd imagine, the speedo would be marginally off too but not by much.

This is a very handy app for measuring different tyre sizes:
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

40701085

Thanks for that Bazz, it tells me the speedo will be 3.6% too slow.

Wouldn't be drivin it too hard so wonder if the handling difference would be substantial...it's a commuting car so the benefits might outweigh the drawbacks.

livingthedream

40701085 wrote: »

Thanks for that Bazz, it tells me the speedo will be 3.6% too slow.

Wouldn't be drivin it too hard so wonder if the handling difference would be substantial...it's a commuting car so the benefits might outweigh the drawbacks.

Most speedos tend to over-read a little so you might find that it is just accurate now!

H3llR4iser

40701085 wrote: »

Thanks for that Bazz, it tells me the speedo will be 3.6% too slow.

Wouldn't be drivin it too hard so wonder if the handling difference would be substantial...it's a commuting car so the benefits might outweigh the drawbacks.

The handling penalty will be exactly zero, unless you drive the car to the absolute grip limit all the time; Depending on the engine you have on the car, the 225/45 might actually be overkill.

However, do not expect a lot of difference with 205/55 tires; They will provide a bit of a more comfortable drive, but the bigger issue are the 17" rims - they add a lot of unsprung weight and limit the shoulder height you can use. I wouldn't be surprised if those rims are actually original equipment, it's been a few years now that makes equip their cars with ridiculous wagon wheels that (sometimes) look good but weigh like the moon and drive like an arthritic donkey's arse.

colm_mcm

17 is hardly big on a car like the accord

40701085

Right so, we'll give it a whirl on the new yokes & see what happens,

Cheers as always for the input

Nissan doctor

55% of 205(112.75mm) is only very slightly more then 45% of 225(101.25mmmm) so from a comfort point of view its pointless IMO.

A 215/55/17 would be better(118.25mm) IMO but TBH, getting a set of the 16" alloys that some Accords come with would be better then messing around with non factory tyres sizes.