Better tyres!
- Thread starter SDE
- Start date
BearMcPear
Member
This thread has a tonne of useful information for you. 
Thanks for your quick reply. The tyres are Dunlop, size: 205/45R16 83W
Hi Ian,
The suspension has been renewed - according to the man of the house. It's such a hard ride, can feel every bump!
Thank you. Going to print out to read properly.This thread has a tonne of useful information for you.
Thank you for that advise! Will have a look to source availability in my neck of the woods.
Out of interest what wheels do you currently have on your car as the tyre sizes you have fitted are non-standard size for the A2, a photo would be good if you could add one?
Regarding more comfort, as others have said if your suspension is all good then a deeper section sidewall (which any smaller 15" set of wheels will allow) will be an improvement, coupled with the correct tyre pressures on good quality tyres, well balanced to the wheels
What width are the rims?
If standard 6Jx16 ET35 rims (or even 6.5J rims), consider 16" tyres with more sidewall height such as 195/55R16.
However, using a 195/55R16 tyre size does raise the gearing by about 5% so you might find the gearing a little on the high side.
Michelin CrossClimate 2 195/55R16 87H
Michelin Tyres / All Season Car / Michelin Cross Climate 2 195/55 R16 87H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: A Noise: 69dB All Season - Four Season - All Weather - Car/MPV Tyres - 16" R16" - 195/55/16, 195/55R16
Buy online cheap Michelin Tyres / All Season Car / Michelin Cross Climate 2 195/55 R16 87H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: A Noise: 69dB
www.camskill.co.uk
Vredestein Quatrac 195/55R16 87H
Vredestein Tyres / All Season Car / Vredestein Quatrac 6 - 195/55 R16 87H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 70dB All Season - Four Season - All Weather - Car/MPV Tyres - 16" R16" - 195/55/16, 195/55R16
Buy online cheap Vredestein Tyres / All Season Car / Vredestein Quatrac 6 - 195/55 R16 87H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 70dB
www.camskill.co.uk
It might be better to go down to 15" tyres and rims, then you can get the comfort of oversize 16" tyres (or even more comfort) and keep the gearing standard or close to standard.
Michelin CrossClimate 2 185/65R15 88H
Michelin Tyres / All Season Car / Michelin Cross Climate 2 - 185/65 R15 88H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 69dB All Season - Four Season - All Weather - Car/MPV Tyres - 15" R15" - 185/65/15, 185/65R15
Buy online cheap Michelin Tyres / All Season Car / Michelin Cross Climate 2 - 185/65 R15 88H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 69dB
www.camskill.co.uk
Vredestein Quatrac 185/65R15 88H
Vredestein Tyres / All Season Car / Vredestein Quatrac 6 - 185/65 R15 88H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 70dB All Season - Four Season - All Weather - Car/MPV Tyres - 15" R15" - 185/65/15, 185/65R15
Buy online cheap Vredestein Tyres / All Season Car / Vredestein Quatrac 6 - 185/65 R15 88H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 70dB
www.camskill.co.uk
Both the above sizes are about 5% oversize, so something closer to the standard outsize diameter such as 185/60R15 is a more popular choice.
175/65R15 (or 185/60R15) would be a good choice for 5.5Jx15 ET34 rims
Vredestein Tyres / All Season Car / Vredestein Quatrac 6 - 175/65 R15 84H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 70dB All Season - Four Season - All Weather - Car/MPV Tyres - 15" R15" - 175/65/15, 175/65R15
Buy online cheap Vredestein Tyres / All Season Car / Vredestein Quatrac 6 - 175/65 R15 84H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 70dB
www.camskill.co.uk
185/60R15 would be a good choice for 6Jx15 ET38 rims
Michelin Tyres / All Season Car / Michelin Cross Climate 2 - 185/60 R15 84H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 69dB All Season - Four Season - All Weather - Car/MPV Tyres - 15" R15" - 185/60/15, 185/60R15
Buy online cheap Michelin Tyres / All Season Car / Michelin Cross Climate 2 - 185/60 R15 84H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 69dB
www.camskill.co.uk
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Both these sizes you have recommended (195/55 16 and 185/65 15) are too large for the A2 and could lead to rubbing and I would strongly advise not buying either of these sizesWhat width are the rims?
If standard 6Jx16 ET35 rims (or even 6.5J rims), also consider 16" tyres with more sidewall height such as 195/55R16.
However, using a 195/55R16 tyre size does raise the gearing by about 5% so you might find the gearing a little on the high side.
It might be better to go down to 15" tyres and rims, then you can get the comfort of oversize 16" tyres (or even more comfort) and keep the gearing standard or close to standard.
Michelin CrossClimate 2 195/55R16 87H
Michelin Tyres / All Season Car / Michelin Cross Climate 2 195/55 R16 87H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: A Noise: 69dB All Season - Four Season - All Weather - Car/MPV Tyres - 16" R16" - 195/55/16, 195/55R16
Buy online cheap Michelin Tyres / All Season Car / Michelin Cross Climate 2 195/55 R16 87H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: A Noise: 69dB
Vredestein Quatrac 195/55R16 87H
Vredestein Tyres / All Season Car / Vredestein Quatrac 6 - 195/55 R16 87H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 70dB All Season - Four Season - All Weather - Car/MPV Tyres - 16" R16" - 195/55/16, 195/55R16
Buy online cheap Vredestein Tyres / All Season Car / Vredestein Quatrac 6 - 195/55 R16 87H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 70dB
It might be better to go down to 15" tyres and rims, then you can get even more comfort.
Michelin CrossClimate 2 185/65R15 88H
Michelin Tyres / All Season Car / Michelin Cross Climate 2 - 185/65 R15 88H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 69dB All Season - Four Season - All Weather - Car/MPV Tyres - 15" R15" - 185/65/15, 185/65R15
Buy online cheap Michelin Tyres / All Season Car / Michelin Cross Climate 2 - 185/65 R15 88H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 69dB
Vredestein Quatrac 185/65R15 88H
Vredestein Tyres / All Season Car / Vredestein Quatrac 6 - 185/65 R15 88H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 70dB All Season - Four Season - All Weather - Car/MPV Tyres - 15" R15" - 185/65/15, 185/65R15
Buy online cheap Vredestein Tyres / All Season Car / Vredestein Quatrac 6 - 185/65 R15 88H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 70dB
Both the above sizes are about 5% oversize, so something closer to the standard outsize diameter such as 185/60R15 is a far more popular choice.
175/65R15 (or 185/60R15) would be a good choice for 5.5Jx15 ET34 rims
Vredestein Tyres / All Season Car / Vredestein Quatrac 6 - 175/65 R15 84H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 70dB All Season - Four Season - All Weather - Car/MPV Tyres - 15" R15" - 175/65/15, 175/65R15
Buy online cheap Vredestein Tyres / All Season Car / Vredestein Quatrac 6 - 175/65 R15 84H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 70dB
185/60R15 would be a good choice for 6Jx15 ET38 rims
Michelin Tyres / All Season Car / Michelin Cross Climate 2 - 185/60 R15 84H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 69dB All Season - Four Season - All Weather - Car/MPV Tyres - 15" R15" - 185/60/15, 185/60R15
Buy online cheap Michelin Tyres / All Season Car / Michelin Cross Climate 2 - 185/60 R15 84H TL Fuel Eff.: C Wet Grip: B NoiseClass: B Noise: 69dB
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Proghound
Admin Team
I've run 185/65x15 on Pepperpots on my A2 before now and those same wheels and tyres are currently doing sterling service on another member's car. It was a bit tight at the rear with mudflaps on but I didn't experience any rubbing in about 9 months of use. I might not want to use them on a lowered car (which would be to defeat most of the point of lowering anyway!) They are about 6% over the OEM rolling radius though, so you have to pay attention around speed cameras as they take up all the usual speedo error and more.
The last two words of your post are the problem and which actually makes them unable to be used as the speedo would under read which is illegal.
Don't get me wrong I'm not preaching what people should or shouldn't use and I really dislike my speedometer over-reading and appreciate a comfort as much as anyone hence why i actually have sets of 185/55 16 on SE wheels and 175/65 15 on Pepperpots myself but they are the maximum size I would advise anyone to safely use.
Whether they will actually rub or not will differ from car to car, depending on a number of variables including condition of suspension and whether it's standard, sport or lowered, rim width and also the offset or et of the wheels which is a large factor that most people don't understand.
I do stand by my statement that both the sizes in my post 195/55 16 and 185/65 15 are too oversized/tall and you are asking for trouble if you use them (especially when they are new and have full tread depth) and are highly likely to experience rubbing on full lock at the front, particularly the passenger or n/s front which could also damage the abs sensor wiring loom as well as the wheel arch liner, and at the rear when going over speed bumps and rubbing the arch liners at the rear to the point where they can wear through, trust me I've seen it on more than one occasion.
I have personally tried pretty much every combination of wheel tyre size over the years on A2's and know what I'm talking about in this field and would hate someone to buy something that could turn out to be a quite expensive mistake for them to make.
Too oversized tyres also have a large affect on the gearing and make the car drive very differently, much slower pulling away one disadvantage, whilst lower revs and so quieter at motorway speeds and more comfort being the advantages.
It's a balance that has to be done sensibly and safely
I have 195/55/16 on my everyday A2 Tdi SE with conventional suspension that has been refurbished to ensure all the rubber bits aren't perished / flattened. They do not rub - and have never rubbed even when brand new. Same with the similarly-dimensioned Michelin Alpin Winter tyres that have probably 2mm more tread than the summer tyres at 3 years old. Speedometer is near enough bang on actual reading on both wheel sets based on a few different sources that I encounter fairly regularly.
I should add though that on any vehicle that has not also had a complete suspension refresh that may increase ride-height overall by perhaps 10mm at either end compared to the same car on aged parts that my experience may not have been quite the same.
That's good and lucky for you but you are right on the extreme limits and you could buy another different branded (or even model) set of tyres in the same size that would rub, as all tyres even of the same size are shaped and fit differently.
They obviously work for you and you're happy with them but they are still not a size to recommend to someone with any confidence
I forgot to mention I also have 205/50 16 tyres that others have also used successfully and are again are on the upper limits but work perfectly on the right wheels with the right offset (low et of 31 or 32 on A1 or mk1 TT wheels) but could cause problems on wheels with a higher offset in the high 30's or into 40's.
As a general rule for fitting considerably larger tyres on an A2 you need to bring the wheels outwards for clearance of the inner wheel arch linings and suspension components as if a problem occurs it will always be on the inners so either wheels with a low offset or spacers would be required
As a general rule for fitting considerably larger tyres on an A2 you need to bring the wheels outwards for clearance of the inner wheel arch linings and suspension components as if a problem occurs it will always be on the inners so either wheels with a low offset or spacers would be required