Possibly stupid tyre question!

Fat_Boy

I'm currently on 235/50/R17 96W Michelin Primacy 3 tyres on a Mk V Mondeo. I'm looking to put winter tyres on the car and am now a bit confused!

Finding winter tyres in the 235/50/R17 size isn't throwing up a lot of results (and those I have found are a bit pricey), the question I have is can I use 235/45/R18 or 235/40/R19 tyres (on new rims) as they're listed in my handbook, or will the car have been set up specifically for R17 wheels?

Not much of a technically minded person as you can probably guess!

leosayer

Winter tyres for 18" and 19" wheels are likely to be more expensive still, but yes there should be no reason why you can't use them if they're listed in your handbook.

You'll have to tell your insurance about the modification though which might wipe out any savings from the tyres.

Joe_Horner

It's normal to go slightly narrower with winter tyres. From 235/50/17 you should be able to go to 215/55/17 without any problems on the same rims and they're 10 a penny

molerat

I would be tempted top go down to 225/60/16 which are readily available and half the price of the 18/19s.

Strider590

It might be worth buying steel wheels and fitting normal sized winter tyres to those, wheels+tyres take up as much storage space as tyres on their own.

agrinnall

leosayer wrote: »

You'll have to tell your insurance about the modification though which might wipe out any savings from the tyres.

In most cases it's not a modification for insurance purposes if the rims/tyres are standard fit for the car, although a few insurers seem to state that the size should not be bigger than those previously fitted - as others have said it's usual to go smaller anyway, it's what I always did.

https://www.abi.org.uk/Insurance-and-savings/Products/Motor-insurance/Winter-tyres

bigjl

Joe_Horner wrote: »

It's normal to go slightly narrower with winter tyres. From 235/50/17 you should be able to go to 215/55/17 without any problems on the same rims and they're 10 a penny

Normal?

People might go for the cheaper option of steel wheels with a smaller wheel size wheel and narrower tyre, as fitted to lower models in the range perhaps.

But if you look at Jaguar for example the J rated winter and summer tyres are in the same size. The speed rating is slightly lower if I remember correctly.

I have fitted winter tyres and had the fitted in the same size and had them out on my original alloys.

Have been looking into All Season tyres to be honest.

bigjl

molerat wrote: »

I would be tempted top go down to 225/60/16 which are readily available and half the price of the 18/19s.

225/60/16?

Makes more sense to go for 225/55/17 if you want to downsize your tyre as then you don't need to buy wheels.

peter12345678910

If you do make any changes to the tyre, remember to change the spare wheel too.

alderpoint

bigjl wrote: »

Normal?

It's certainly extremely common.

However the problem with dropping a rim size is that you need to be sure that the new rims will fit over the brakes - which means that cars with big brakes such as your Jaguar example will state the same size for summer and winter.

alderpoint

peter12345678910 wrote: »

If you do make any changes to the tyre, remember to change the spare wheel too.

Bit overkill IMO. Having a spare wheel which is different from your normal wheel is very common e.g. a spacesaver, you just use it until your normal tyre is fixed.