Tyre Sizes

[jonsowman]

So my Coupe says on its door sticker that 215/55/R16 93W is recommended.

The previous owners replaced the rear tyres and have put 205/55/R16 93W on it.

Is this OK? Will it pass an MOT like this? If so, I might use 205s on the front when it comes to replacement time, since they're about 50% cheaper!

[jasper5]

http://www.transportoffice.gov.uk/crt/d ... guides.htm

Click class 4, Browse, next page, section 4, tyres....aspect ratio is what you have to take into account, but if you have 2x205 on the rear axle and 2x215 on the front that is acceptable for mot...or appears to be

[jonsowman]

Thank you!

A Class 3 or 4 vehicle tyre which appears to be of inadequate size, ply or speed rating for the vehicle or its use is not a reason for rejection. However, the vehicle presenter should be informed.

So it seems I'm all good.

[jasper5]

Thank you!

A Class 3 or 4 vehicle tyre which appears to be of inadequate size, ply or speed rating for the vehicle or its use is not a reason for rejection. However, the vehicle presenter should be informed.

So it seems I'm all good.

Seems so

[GingerMagic]

Hi Jon, as led long as the tyres on the same axle are the same size then it is fine. Think of all the supercars with much larger rear tyres compared to the fronts.
You can fit 205s on the front if you wish as there is not much difference in the circumference to affect the speedo reading too much.

[Bailes1992]

I'm surprised you don't have an ABS light on?

After all the profile of the tyre is a percentage of the width. I.e. a 225/50 tyre means the profile of the tyre is 50% of 225.

[jonsowman]

I'm surprised you don't have an ABS light on?

After all the profile of the tyre is a percentage of the width. I.e. a 225/50 tyre means the profile of the tyre is 50% of 225.

I was wondering about this, though I've seen an option in PP2000 to set the tyre size. You can't set it per-axle though, so ???

[lozz]

Shouidnt Make no differnce, if tyres are paired,

[jonsowman]

Hi Jon, as led long as the tyres on the same axle are the same size then it is fine. Think of all the supercars with much larger rear tyres compared to the fronts.
You can fit 205s on the front if you wish as there is not much difference in the circumference to affect the speedo reading too much.

Cheers GM.

I'm tempted to fit 205s. Pirelli P7s (for example) are £78/tyre for 205, yet £125/tyre for 215! Crazy.

[gumby6371]

I've been running 205's on my wheels for 2 years for exactly cost reasons, I can afford decent 205 or cheap 215 tyres ao I went for quality. Never had a problem.

[jasper5]

Guys, there is no difference in circumference in this case....the only difference is the 205 is 10mm narrower than the 215 which makes absolutely no difference to the speedo, ABS or anything else.

[Welly]

Be careful because your insurance company will say they can only cover tyre-sizes which were approved at the factory (I've been through this) if they needed to get all shirty with you in a claim they could say you've modified the car. I found that you can change the wheel/tyre size and declare the modification i.e. fancy Alloys (and pay for it) but you can't change the tyre size itself on the standard wheels - that's classed as a change that cannot be approved. I even tried to get Volvo UK to approve a size-change and they wouldn't, I could slap on some 19's (which would affect the dynamics of the car in a negative way) and pay for the increased policy and that's fine - how crazy is that?

Also I would not like 205's on the back and 215's up front because it could cause a stability problem under braking and cornering I would want each corner to be the same.

[jonsowman]

Hmm that's interesting Welly - hadn't considered the insurance implications.

Might be I should stick with the 215s on the front and replace the rears when I can - £500 for a set of 4!

[Welly]

Honestly I'd get it rectified ASAP that really is a strange set up to have and was clearly done for cost reasons. It's unlikely to even be noticed on the MOT as they're more concerned with tyre condition though.

Have a look in the owners handbook; it should list the range of tyre sizes approved at the factory, although to be fair they only usually list one tyre size per diameter of wheel.

[jonsowman]

The handbook says 215/55/R16 V speed rating, the door sticker says W. Not that it makes much difference to the price of the tyres!