Tire replacement for ride comfort

I have a 2015 VW Golf sportswagen with pirelli cinturato P7 all season tires on 17 inch rims. I also have Michelin x ice winters on 18”. I will need to replace the all seasons soon and looking to improve ride comfort....my wife has a Highline on 15 inch rims and the ride is so much better. I am not overly concerned with performance, top priorities would be ride comfort, fuel economy and wear. Just looking for suggestions. Thanks.

The best thing to do would be to go to 15s. Find some take-offs or used wheels from a MK7 and buy General Altimax 43s for them. They work great. And you'll probably find that you can buy wheels and tires for less than a set of 17" tires alone.

I did exactly as IBW described with the same expectation of improved ride comfort. From 17" OE Genevas, I went with take-off 15" OE Lyons w/ OE Conti ProContact TX tires. The result was a surprise; a degradation of ride! I blame the poorly-rated Contis and have concluded that tire design/quality is a more important consideration than size, at least for a -2 size change like this.

Tire pressure of even a couple pounds up or down can make a huge difference in ride comfort. Running several pounds less in rears than fronts. Its worth experimenting before going for expensive changeover.

When I put a deposit on my 2015 6M wagon from a list of available embargoed cars at the dealer, I turned down a highline specifically because of the 17" wheels.

I could be wrong but a high mileage tire uses harder rubber compounds which to me equates to a rougher ride. I believe a softer, sport or summer tire would give you the best ride but won't last as long. I went with a compromise, a Michelin All season but not with the longest treadlife claim, a bit softer. They handle well and the ride is not bad, better than the original Continentals but then again just the fact that the tires are new could account for some ride improvement over older, worn tires.

Here's what I got, they do claim a 60K tread life but a large percentage of the reviews complained that they didn't get that which told me it was a softer, stickier tire and that was one of the things I was looking for.
https://www.michelinman.com/tires/premier/premier-a-s.html They are coming up on a year and I am totally happy with them.

I think 16” and 17” are the winter and general purpose sweet spots. I cannot stand anything 18”+ and the tires are ungodly expensive.

New England roads are terrible; I’ve hit some real ringdingers on 17” with no problem. I blew three 18” tires the first two months of owning my 2015.

The factory tire fill is 34 PSI for all sizes other than 18”, which jumps to 38. I personally run 36.

Like everyone said, try lowering tire pressure a couple PSI. The recommended tire pressure on my wife's Model 3 is 43-45 PSI. The ride is atrocious at that pressure, lol. We run it at 36, soooo much better. I'm on 17's on my Golf, 34 PSI and I have no complaints.

Unrelated but I had a TPMS warning coming home one night. Checked when I got home and one tire was at 31. On my way to work I stopped at a station with one of the "fancy" air pumps that let you set the PSI. I set it to 34, starting putting air in, rear tire so I couldn't see the machine but it beeps when your desired pressure is reached. It does it's thing for what I thought was too long but I've used it several times in the past with no issues. I get in, reset TPMS, drive the couple miles left to work. Not driving long enough for a new TPMS warning but it's bothering me that it took so long to add 3-4 PSI. Get to work and check that tire with the cheap little reader I keep in the glovebox... 56 PSI . I relieve the pressure down to 34 and call the station and tell them to put an out-of-order sign on that thing until they can get it serviced/calibrated.

Every time I pass that station someone is getting air and/or using the vacuums. It scares me to think of how long it had been like that with people putting trust in it to fill properly. People without their own gauge could be forgiven for using the machine to check/fill all four tires periodically, especially if their car has no pressure monitoring. Frightening!

I'll second IBW.

195/65 15 should give the best comfort/fuel economy.

Thanks for all of the feedback so far. I did check tire pressures cold with a reliable gauge, 33 front and 31 rear. Not sure what I will do, my niece has a 2019 golf highline with 16 inch tires, they are Bridgestone ecopia 422 plus, I have not driven the car but curious about ride comfort.

The challenge I guess is the 17inch tires are low profile designed for performance vs comfort, not sure if any of the manufacturers make a taller tire with a smoother ride that will fit.....will keep looking.

I had Ecopia when I bought the car new in 16. They are ok, good fuel efficiency.
17 and comfort doesn't go together unless you have fancy suspensions.

I'd go 15 with general altimax. Would love to get some feedback of someone actually doing it. And plain steel wheels too.

i had the same model tire on 2 sets of wheels. 16" and 17". both are factory sizes. the car rides rougher and gets worse Fuel mileage with the 17". It rides smoother and goes farther on the 16". i have winter tires on the 16" now because 16" tires in general are cheaper.

general altimax rt43 tires are a very good all season. mileage is a little lower than a eco low roling resistance tire. But if you dont have dedicated winters. they are a very good all season tire. treadware is 600. they last up to 75k. for me on another car they lasted 60k. the ribber does feel soft and they are a quiet tire. i highly recommend them.

225-55-17 and any diameter that's under 27" is minty for improving the ride.

The pirelli’s on the car have a tire size 225/45-17 with an aspect ratio of 45, if I switch to 225/55-17 means a wider sidewall and hence a better ride, seems to make sense, noticed also the aspect ratio of the 16” inch is 55 as well and if you move to a 15” the aspect ratio is 65. Assume the 55 will fit the wheel openings ok on the car ? Thanks.

OK as long as you don't mind the speedometer and odometer being inaccurate.

I have read that the 225 55-17 might cause clearance issues on some models not sure if that affects my car. The safe alternative is the 215 55-17 which is slightly narrower. The net % impact on the speedo is minimal with the 215 I read as the speedo reads a little high anyway on the VW models so in the end it will be pretty accurate.

I went to 225/45/18 Michelin CrossClimate+. Quite quiet and comfy for me. Speedo is about 5% high, but I have not played with VCDS yet.