Quick question - can you run 205/50/17's on the front and 225/45/17's rear?

I bought the car in March and it had just had brand new front boots but the rears were on their way out (didn't think to check at the time, think it was a ploy by the dealer to stiff me for 2 new rears at the service next month) the tyres at the moment are unfortunately all the standard 205/50/17's but IIRC it's cheaper to buy 225/45/17's. So unless I can mix and match sets front and back I'm either going to have to pay more for a pair of 205/50/17's for the back or really splash out and get a full set of four 225/45/17's :(:(:(

Will probably order the tyres from somewhere like Camskills or BlackCircles, whats the deal, do they just ship them to whatever fitter you tell them to and the fitters bill you for the fit and balance?

I'm mixing 205/50/17 on front and 225/45/17 on rear as i didnt need 4 tyres, i dont think the rolling circumference is that different because of different profiles, and unless you have 4wd i dont think it causes an issue

Unless the car came from the manufacturers with different size tyres, like some high performance sports cars, it will be ok but I don't think so on an Octy. Your Insurance may be Invalid as it hasn't the same size tyres on all round............I maybe wrong but I'd check

You can have wider tyres on the rear yes. I assume its only a short term thing until the fronts need replacing?? Indeed many cars have wider tyres on the rear as standard, such as many BMWs with 225 up front and 245 on the back.

I think it might be naughty to put wider on the front though, maybe even illegal.

You can have wider tyres on the rear yes. I assume its only a short term thing until the fronts need replacing?? Indeed many cars have wider tyres on the rear as standard, such as many BMWs with 225 up front and 245 on the back.

I think it might be naughty to put wider on the front though, maybe even illegal.

I understand that some cars even have different size wheels ie:- Porsche 911.. 19's Front's...... 21 Rear's

I assume its only a short term thing until the fronts need replacing??

The fronts probably won't need replacing for a while. It had new fronts the week before I got it and the tread has hardly worn down at all in the last 7 months, even with some pretty hard use on the Ring.

Looking at some of these websites the price difference isn't that much, it looks like the benefit of 245/25/17's is more choice, especially of the better tyres.

I think I'll go with 205/50/17's then hopefully next time I can do the whole lot at once and get all 245/25/17's

I would have thought that the 245's would cause severe rubbing and also nightmarish tramlining. Compared to the factory fit 205's, the 225's are bad enough. It's ok to fit larger tyres on the rear than the front but there's no real benefit of doing it with the Octavia as the grip balance is too far rearwards anyway (ie it understeers to buggery).

I think he's got his figure wrong tbh. I think he means 225/45/17. .........I think !!!

Sorry I'm getting confused with me figures!

Standard are 205/50/17's (I think)

The other size most of us get instead are 225/45/17 (not 245! )

There's some good advice here:-

1) Larger fronts are actually illegal; 6 points (3 for each tyre) and a fine if you're caught.

2) Larger rears may invalidate your insurance, as will 225s all round if you don't inform the insurance company, but there's no reason why either fit would be uninsurable.

3) There's no technical reason for not mixing size on the 2wd Octys, but I think it would confuse the Haldex on the 4x4.

why are larger fronts illegal?

Because, aledgedly dangerously, it means you have more mechanical grip front than rear. The fact that that may actually be desirable with a car that is very front heavy and has an understeery chassis setup doesn't seem to be understood by lawmakers (Before flaming, take note that 185s front 175s rear was orignally OEM standard on Citroen CX series 1s to counter understeer).

So unless I can mix and match sets front and back I'm either going to have to pay more for a pair of 205/50/17's for the back or really splash out and get a full set of four 225/45/17's :(:(:(

If you're thinking of doing something like this and are worried about the legal implications (and lets face it the safety too) then you need to look at regulation 25 o the construction and use regulations which is the bit of law all enforcement agencies work to. It's the bit about mixing tyres. (mainly concerned with type and sizes on each axle, but will have defintative answer for you.)

I dont know of a copy online, but I'm sure you local roads policing (traffic) office will have a copy.

Legally as far as I am aware as long as you have the same sized tyre on the same axle it makes no odds if the front are wider than the rear or visa versa.

i've just had 4 215 45 17's fitted to mine they were cheaper than 205 50 17's cost me 160 fitted

Edited 15 October, 200817 yr by fatty5000
Doh....hit edit Sorry

Why would want to fit wider tyres at the rear of a front wheel drive car?

wider rears is a common "dub" thing

all it does is make the car understeer more.

The reason was just because I thought 225/45/17's would be cheaper than 205/50/17's but to be honest the difference isn't that much so I will probably go for 205/50/17's anyway.

i've just had 4 215 45 17's fitted to mine they were cheaper than 205 50 17's cost me 160 fitted

£160 for four .....fitted:eek::eek::eek:

What make are they ???

Ditchfinder InsurranssoClamio II's at that price.... or it could be TombStone DeathTrapper's

Ditchfinder InsurranssoClamio II's at that price.... or it could be TombStone DeathTrapper's

Or possibly Woosung Dark Spins.

Ditchfinder InsurranssoClamio II's at that price.... or it could be TombStone DeathTrapper's

Gerry has some of them.

Gerry has some of them.

According to the invoice, the person who had them fitted to the wheels( Not Me), paid a high price for low price tyres.

As hard as I try, I cannot wear the buggers out, I seem to go out, and come back with more tread than I started with....LOL

Toyo T1-r's going on very soon.

Dont know if they are illegal or not but mine passed an MOT with 225/45's on the front and 215/45's on the rear so i can only assume that its legal as like Lummox said the only thing that matter is different size tyres on the same axel

Or that the MOT checks condition but not size, or that the tester doesn't actually know the law?

As long as the "odd" tyre is on a wheel identified as an "emergency spare", odd sizes on a single axle is legal.