205 to 215 55R16 thoughts

[BMac]

Good day. I am consudering purchasing Michelin Hydroedge tires but for the wieght and speed rating I will need to go to a 215 55 16 from the stock 205 55 16. I realize that this will increase my overall tire diameter but will this be a problem? Does anyone know how much will this affect my speedometer? and what kind of mpg hit will I take? I really like the ratings (tire rack) for these tires (excellent - exceptional in all categories) and have a friend that has had exceptional experience on his Corolla.

Any thoughts appreciated

BMac

 

[bluesmoker]

The issue will be your ride height and your speedo.

Here are the calculations:

205 * 55 = 112.75
215 * 55 = 118.25 (a higher ride height for your car) will sligtly change your speedo and possibly the front end allignment

solution (if the tire size is available and it will fit under the tire well)

use 225 size tires at a 50 aspect ratio = 112.5 (virtually identical to your car's original ride height)

http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/Reading-a-Tire-Sidewall.id-2667.html

 

[CADtechTDi]

Here's a decent comparitor:

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp

...and another:

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

I've been shopping for new tires, and have been planning on upping the treadwidth to 225/50-16 as well. There have been a few members on this forum that have done so without fitment issues, or complaints.

 

[osomphane]

225/50/16 should yield the same speedo/odometer reading as the 205/55/16

Also, you can get discounttire to match & beat other places like tirerack and get lifetime balancing. If they try to gip you with the shipping stuff, remind them that you don't pay taxes

 

[BMac]

Thanks for the feed back. Can there realistically be any problems with braking / steering / suspension issues? The whole speedo thing does not bother me. One of the llinks (above) suggest that you don't exceed 3% from original (height or width - can't remember which). There was actually a red flashing warning.

Cheers

 

[01tj]

I'm running 225x45 17 and havent noticed a difference in anything but the imporved handeling. GLIs come from the factory with that size and I don't see why the 2.0t could handle it and not the TDI.

On a side (and less related) note I am also a Jeep nut. Most Jeep enthuseust run much larger tires than factory. It puts more stress on the U-joints, diff and tranny gears and throws your gear ratio off. This is a much bigger jump though and you usualy don't notice the probulems till you are really abusing your Jeep off road. My Jeep came with 205x70 R15's and I am now running 31x10.50s which are about 3" larger.


PS, sorry no spell check

 

[osomphane]

in normal driving, you shouldn't notice anything... in racing, it would depend on tire size and compound.

 

[TDI 4 RD]

I'm going to be switching to 17" wheels this summer, using 225/45/17s. I've read that I should expect lower fuel economy than I get with the standard 205/55/16s. Is there a rule of thumb on how much that drop will be?

Thanks.

 

[elweasel]

Could you get a 245/40 r17 to fit?

 

[elweasel]

Bueller ... Bueller....Bueller

 

[robbinsresort]

I'm going to be switching to 17" wheels this summer, using 225/45/17s. I've read that I should expect lower fuel economy than I get with the standard 205/55/16s. Is there a rule of thumb on how much that drop will be?

Thanks.

I noticed a minimal drop (at the most 1 mpg) when I went from 16's to 17's.

-Chris

 

[dhdenney]

I'm going to be switching to 17" wheels this summer, using 225/45/17s. I've read that I should expect lower fuel economy than I get with the standard 205/55/16s. Is there a rule of thumb on how much that drop will be?

Thanks.

This is probably due to the increased rolling mass of the wheels themselves. Personally I am going to stick with the 16's. If I ever need new wheels, I'll strongly consider 15's.

 

[dhdenney]

Good day. I am consudering purchasing Michelin Hydroedge tires but for the wieght and speed rating I will need to go to a 215 55 16 from the stock 205 55 16. I realize that this will increase my overall tire diameter but will this be a problem? Does anyone know how much will this affect my speedometer? and what kind of mpg hit will I take? I really like the ratings (tire rack) for these tires (excellent - exceptional in all categories) and have a friend that has had exceptional experience on his Corolla.

Any thoughts appreciated

BMac

You can get the Hydroedges in 205/55/16. I have a pair and am going to get two more in a few weeks.

 

[BMac]

dhdenny - The tires do come in the correct size but they are rated 89T and for the A5's the spec is 91 H. I am not so concerned over the speed rating H but the weight rating and thus the compounded weight and speed - perhaps.To get the 91 H you have to go to a slightlt wider tire (215). This adds to the diamater of the tire (55% of 215 is greater than that of 205) and will affect the number of ratations / distance. Thus affecting speedometer and rpm (lower at any given speed). How this affects the "set" programming for engine function etc.. is anyones guess. Perhaps the small % difference would be negligable...... Also It appears that the slightly wider tire would yield slightly lower mpg.

My question is, is it worth it? I really like the tires wear, comfort and traction = excellent) but could I be just as happy with another (correctly sized) tire.

Any and all thoughts appreciated

 

[bulabula]

I ran taller winter tires, and never noticed anything abnormal - other than my actual speed (GPS) was closer to what was indicated on the speedo; and my odo read about 3% low.

 

[dhdenney]

dhdenny - The tires do come in the correct size but they are rated 89T and for the A5's the spec is 91 H. I am not so concerned over the speed rating H but the weight rating and thus the compounded weight and speed - perhaps.To get the 91 H you have to go to a slightlt wider tire (215). This adds to the diamater of the tire (55% of 215 is greater than that of 205) and will affect the number of ratations / distance. Thus affecting speedometer and rpm (lower at any given speed). How this affects the "set" programming for engine function etc.. is anyones guess. Perhaps the small % difference would be negligable...... Also It appears that the slightly wider tire would yield slightly lower mpg.

My question is, is it worth it? I really like the tires wear, comfort and traction = excellent) but could I be just as happy with another (correctly sized) tire.

Any and all thoughts appreciated

Well the load rating was of no concern to me but venturing out of the speedo/tach ratios was.

 

[BMac]

Well the load rating was of no concern to me but venturing out of the speedo/tach ratios was.

Do you have any info. about this? and how it may affect the cars performance. I am looking for all info. so I can make a decision.
The load rating is not that far off recomended, speed rating is still faster than anyone needs to go and really height difference will only be 55 % of 10 mm divided by 2 (top and bottom of tire) which would be ~2.7mm because the tire is only elevated by the part that touches and the total diameter would only be 5.5mm. Surely this would be no difference than the difference of a new tread and worn tire?????

Decisions decisions....

 

[dhdenney]

Well the load rating was of no concern to me but venturing out of the speedo/tach ratios was.

Do you have any info. about this? and how it may affect the cars performance. I am looking for all info. so I can make a decision.
The load rating is not that far off recomended, speed rating is still faster than anyone needs to go and really height difference will only be 55 % of 10 mm divided by 2 (top and bottom of tire) which would be ~2.7mm because the tire is only elevated by the part that touches and the total diameter would only be 5.5mm. Surely this would be no difference than the difference of a new tread and worn tire?????

Decisions decisions....

Well I have always read that the tach in these cars is actually accurate so I wanna stick with that. I have gotten used to the speedo so it's fine for me. Here's something I like to use a lot for a little of everything: RICHMOND Street Performance Calculator

 

[dhdenney]

Trick is the rear end ratio, which I am not sure what you would input since we don't have rear end gears. Maybe there's a calculator for FWD out there......

 

[BMac]

Thank you. I think that I will stay with the orig. spec. numbers for the tires. Spending that kind of money and having a problem would really suck. Now which tires....
I actually have more time than i thought. I have a couple of mm before the wear bars. Someone just told me that you do not need to change the tires at the wear bars so if that is true I still have lots of tread left (20000 km I hope).

Cheers

 

[CADtechTDi]

Someone just told me that you do not need to change the tires at the wear bars so if that is true I still have lots of tread left (20000 km I hope).
Cheers

True, but the wear bars are sort of like idiot lights on the dash - don't rely on them to tell you when to start looking at, or changing your tires. You may have severe wear on the edge of the tread, cupping, etc. that won't be evident by simply glancing at the wear bars, or waiting to hear them drone once you reach that wear limit.
I've never let tires wear all the way before replacing them... until now: I've got a few 32nds of an inch before reaching the wearbars on my OE Contis, but my handling is starting to suffer, wet roadholding sucks, and I'm on pins and needles (sorry for the pun) while driving now.
I've decided on Kumho Ecstas in 225/50-16 as my next set of tires, perhaps this week. I can't afford anymore gray hairs.

 

[TDI 4 RD]

Question about tire rotation

I have a 10k rotation coming up for my OE Contis, but I've noticed that the front tires on my car have a lot more tread than the rear (which are nearly worn out it seems).

The tires have about 30K on them. Should I bother rotating the better tires to the rear? Seems like a bad idea.

I have no idea why the wear has been so uneven.

 

[dhdenney]

I've got 60K on two Contis (rear). They still have some tread left but they are howling. I'm gonna be putting on the Hydroedges in a few weeks