Tyre question

[karr1981]

So before my MOT i've noticed its time for 4 new tyres, checking on here and it seems i should be looking at 225/50s

Hwoever chekcing the old tyres i have 205/55's all round, dunno why.

Non standard wheels?

error on tyre fitting by past owner?

whats the best way to check this?

Cheers,

Karr1981

[Kieran]

Your car is a Pre-facelift and it's still wearing the standard alloys, so 205/55R16 is the correct size. Don't worry. That's what they came with from the factory, and despite Brad's semi-rabid postings to the contrary, they're fine as stock sizes go.

The size change to 225 came with the facelift.

And if you want to upgrade, 17x7" alloys with 215/45R17s are a popular choice. You could also go for wider sizes if that's your thing. As long as the overall diameter of the wheel and tyre doesn't change massively (ideally less than 2.5%) from stock, you'll be fine.

[karr1981]

Cheers Kieran :-)

now to decide what tyre , although pirelli p zero is the only tyre my mate will even let me consider hehe

[I-S]

Eagle F1 asymmetric. Every single test of performance tyres puts it at the top of the list.

[bradc]

Indeed, 205/55/16 is the correct size for the wheels you have on the car.

If you do want to upgrade though, 215/45/17 isn't a suitable size for a VR-4 as their load rating is actually lower than 205/55/16 tyres and they are slightly smaller in overall circumference that stock which makes the speedo over-read.

If you ever want to upgrade your wheels, make sure you go for at least 17x7.5", ideally 17x8" with 225/45/17 tyres

[Kieran]

215/45/17 isn't a suitable size for a VR-4 as their load rating is actually lower than 205/55/16 tyres and they are slightly smaller in overall circumference that stock which makes the speedo over-read.

He bit!!

Karr... From a technical point of view, Brad is correct. However, let me give you that in context...

If you change from 205/55R16 to 215/45R17, your speedo is inaccurate by 1% over stock. This means that at an indicated 60mph, the rolling difference puts the speedometer is 0.6mph out... IE - It's not something to worry about.

And regarding load ratings, you can easily purchase 215/45R17 tyres with 91 load ratings. Yes, a few have 87 load ratings, which is too low. There's plenty of 91 load tyres to choose from, having just looked at mytyres.

[bradc]

I was waiting for that. I knew you wrote that intentionally to bait me. What worries me is that he could have gone out last night and bought the wrong size!

The speedo will actually be out further than that! At 100kmh indicated on the speedo with stock wheels and tyres the car will actually be travelling at around 96kmh or so. Changing to 215/45/17 will see this drop to 95kmh and 225/45/17 will see you doing 97kmh, so changing to 215's will make it less accurate and 225's will make it more accurate.

[Kieran]

.....changing to 215's will make it less accurate and 225's will make it more accurate...

By a whole 0.6 miles per hour.

[dinger1983]

michelin pilot sport 3 are supose to be very good get better reviews than both the eagal f1 and p zeros

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Mi...port-3-PS3.htm

[I-S]

The reviews at tyrereviews are submitted by regular readers - they are not professional tests. So, anyone with an axe to grind or a flag to wave can write whatever they want.

PS3s are very new, and too new to have been included in any magazine group tests as yet, so it's hard to say... I've no doubt that they're a good tyre, but best is impossible to say. The question really has to be whether they are worth the extra over the goodyears.

[Nick Mann]

I have come to the conclusion that I don;t like assymetric tyres. I haven't had the goodyear assymetrics, and I won't be having them either. I want directional tyres again for my next set. They handle SO much better on a VR4 - the car feels much more surefooted.

[bradc]

To quantify that, what tyres have you had on there?

[I-S]

To be fair Nick, the Sessanta is a pretty extreme asymmetric... The concept of asymmetrics is sound in that the inner shoulder and the outer shoulder need different characteristics to one another and to the centre.

The problem is that directionals are dwindling because tyre manufacturers realise that they can get better performance without the inflexibility (being locked to one side of the car unless turned around on the wheel) of directionals.

[Nick Mann]

I was never happy with the Michelin Pilot Primacys. I really don't like the Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta.

Even Federal Super Steel 595s feel better on the handling front! They potentially don't grip as well, but I have no confidence in the car with assymetrics to actually prove the point.

Falken FK451, Yokohama A046, Goodyear Eagle F1 (GS-D2 and GS-D3) all gave me much more confidence in the car.

[Rambaud]

And don't forget that ANY change from the manufacturer's specifications (wheels and/or tyres) needs to be run past your insurance company.

Failure to do so could see any claim declined - with potentially ruinous consequences.