The definitive tyre / wheel size thread

I running 17" 7J factory alloys and i want more confort. I guess (hope) the steering is nicely centred, never had problems with old 205 40R17..
 
timmus said:
my A2 is now racking up miles slightly slower than is true.

Tom
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Nice bonus to a little more comfort!

Can't believe that a car manufacturer sends a new car out with an incorrectly reading speedo whether intentional or not?
 
A2Z said:
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Can't believe that a car manufacturer sends a new car out with an incorrectly reading speedo whether intentional or not?
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It's basically a legal requirement, so every car sold in the EU will be like this.

If they produce a car which underreads, then they get into huge amounts of bother. So they make sure it will not underread on the biggest possible tyre circumference.
 
Right, kind of makes sense now as i know a lot of optional extras such as larger wheels are actually dealer fit rather than factory fit but it would be nice to know that what the speedo reads is the speed you are actually travelling. Shame the dealer couldn't recalibrate?
 
I run 195 55 R16's which are 5% bigger than the standard 185 50 R16's and my speedo is now spot on to my sat nav speed

Andrew
 
TDI Convert said:
I run 195 55 R16's which are 5% bigger than the standard 185 50 R16's and my speedo is now spot on to my sat nav speed

Andrew
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Have you ever had any rubbing issues with the 195 55 combination when your car is loaded up and could i ask is that with 6" or 7" wide wheels?
 
A2Z said:
Right, kind of makes sense now as i know a lot of optional extras such as larger wheels are actually dealer fit rather than factory fit but it would be nice to know that what the speedo reads is the speed you are actually travelling. Shame the dealer couldn't recalibrate?
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It is possible to recalibrate the clocks, but the dealers won't bother. As Mike says, cars are calibrated based on the largest wheels you can fit into the arches whilst still being fully functional. Pretty much all practical choices will thus fall into the region of tolerance. If like some you're running about the biggest wheels you can without arguement with the arch liners, your speedo will be more or less bang on acurate.

Tom
 
A2Z said:
Have you ever had any rubbing issues with the 195 55 combination when your car is loaded up and could i ask is that with 6" or 7" wide wheels?
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I run the standard 16” SE Alloys. The rears don’t rub anywhere with any sort of loading. The fronts just rub on the forward wheel arch liner on full lock, but it is a small price to pay for the added ride comfort and the much needed taller gearing that you get

Pictures of the rub marks: http://www.a2oc.net/forum/album.php?albumid=45

Andrew
 
I've read through this entire post and not found an answer, apologies if I've missed it.
Does anyone run 185/55 R16 tyres on standard SE wheels - do they rub? Closest I've found is Brett saying 195/50 R16's are the utimate for comfort, and TDIConvert above saying 195/55 R16's are very comfy but do rub at the front. I'm running standard 185/50 R16 (Cont Premium Contact 2's) at the mo but any additional comfort would be nice to have, without the added drag of wider rubber.
Cheers
Russ
 
So it would appear that the answer is 185/55R16 or 195/50 R16 is the the best combination for a rub free ride whilst gaining a little more comfort over standard 185/50R16 oh but don't forget that's with SE set up not sport which is 10mm lower and could make a difference.

I actually tried 205/55R16's on some 16" 7J TT alloys on a sport for a little while as the tyres came fitted to the wheels when i bought them and they only rubbed when i went over a speed bump or had the car fully loaded up but that size might even be ok on an SE (although i wouldn't recommend it just in case)? Wow what a difference it made to the ride and comfort factor of a sport though!
 
I'm looking to fit RS6 style 17" rims to my 1.4tdi. I've gone through this thread but can't find the answers to my query: what size 17" tyre will give the best rim protection? What's the largest tyre height I can get away with to aid ride comfort?

Thanks...
 
I know that 205/45 and 215/40 will be absolutely fine but regarding rim protection there really is no such thing available on an A2 rim, if you catch a kerb you will more than likely catch the rim so keep away from them!

Also all tyre brands and models fit differently, some appearing wider and looking to offer slightly different rim protection so probably best to ask different members how their tyres look on their rims with different makes?

Also depends what rim width you are looking to fit 7j or 7.5j as the extra half inch will make a difference too (standard 17" A2 wheels are 7" wide with 205/40 tyres for your reference). If fitting 7.5j i would personally go 215 although 205 would work fine but may appear very slightly stretched again depending on tyre brand.
 
Hi Dave,

When you say 'RS6 style rims', do you mean the 9-spoke alloys that were issued as standard on Sport models?

Tom
 
I drove Tom's car over the week end, fitted with 205/45R17's. Very smooth and comfy, more so than ours fitted with the 215/40R17's. Probably the tyre brand.

blue skies
tony
 
timmus said:
Hi Dave,

When you say 'RS6 style rims', do you mean the 9-spoke alloys that were issued as standard on Sport models?

Tom
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I think the RS6 are the 5 spoke which have a slight chamfer on each side of the spokes

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1336587336.387566.jpg
 
Hooley said:
I think the RS6 are the 5 spoke which have a slight chamfer on each side of the spokes
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Thanks Jason. I was wondering whether the 6 in RS6 was a typo, or whether Dave is indeed considering the 5-spoke wheels you mention.

Cheers,

Tom
 
Yep, that's the type I'm after. They're unfortunately not too common in 17" flavour. For some reason there are loads of them that come up for sale in Northern Ireland, but obviously logistically NI is difficult for me. I could buy new repro ones from around £500 with budget tyres, and I might end up going down this road as the few used sets that do come up on ebay are nearly always kerbed or refurbished but fitted with odd tyres...
 
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