Hi there

Just a quick question really ive been looking at some new tyres for my oct vrs and was looking through some old threads about tyres and just wondered why people changed from 205 50 17 to 225 45 17.

is it because of the handling or the price of the tyres or something else?

cheers

Because the 225/45 is more common and therefore cheaper.

You'll have more contact area, so more grip, but because your going wider without fitting a wider wheel the tyre might roll more. Also fuel economy will drop due to increased rolling resistance.

Up to you really....

When the vRS first came out there were very few cars fitted with the 205/50's and so they were very expensive. Indeed, the only other car with what could be considered as having any performance with the same size were the front tyres on the stock Boxster and so decent performance tyres were correspondingly rare and pricey. Things have improved significantly since then but 225/45 is still more readily available and thus cheaper.

Upsides:

Cheaper & more readily available.

Greater contact patch so more grip.

Downsides:

You will lose something on the fuel economy although it depends what the different tyres are as to what the exact loss will be. For me, going from Pirelli P7 205's to Eagle F1 225's I lost out twice, once on the width and secondly on the move from economy to sticky rubber. Average for me on a run was -3mpg.

Also, the wider tyre will tramline significantly, especially if they are sticky, performance orientated tyres. The geometry of the original car was based around the standard sizes in 95/96, i.e. 165-185's and so the steering geometry creates a car succeptible to tramlining at the best of times. Bashing on tyres nearly three inches wider only exacerbate this. I'm happy to put up with it but if I was doing more miles biased towards the motorway then I would probably stick with 205's. More motorway miles would also mean that the fuel consumption detractions would cancel out any negligible savings in the initial purchase.

You pays your money and you takes your choice. I'm happy to stick with 225's but they won't be for everybody. I also think that sticking four sticky tyres on (unless you have a big sway bar on the back to help unstick the rear going into corners) can lead to a car that will understeer more noticeably as it becomes more difficult to provoke the rear into oversteer into corners. I currently have Michelin PS2's on the front and a set of nailed F1's on the back. This provides a good balance into corners, rather similar to the idea of a big sway bar except without it's disadvantages, and certainly wouldn't fit four PS2's all round without a sway bar.

Sorry for the thread hijack, but this was a question I was going to ask anyway so thanks very much!

I run 205/50/17's on my mk1 VRS, however I have seen people running 205/45/17's. It seems a cheaper option, does anybody have any experiences?

Sorry for the thread hijack, but this was a question I was going to ask anyway so thanks very much!

I run 205/50/17's on my mk1 VRS, however I have seen people running 205/45/17's. It seems a cheaper option, does anybody have any experiences?

You can't use 205/45R17 on the octy as it'll give the wrong rolling radius. Nobody uses them.

Unless you mean 225/45, which has already been discussed above.

cheers for your advice guys. Ive just looked on black circle tyres website but the 225 seem to be dearer so where is the best place to look and should i go for the same speed rating of v which is on my tyres at the moment?

also is there a list anywhere on the forum of which brands people would recommend?

cheers

camskill.co.uk and mytyres.co.uk are the two that I usually use. Camskill have the 225 Toyo T1-R's available for £66 each just now. After haggling with a local place though I managed to get the local Farmer Autocare (run by the guy who started up Kwik-Fit) to do a pair of Michelin PS2's for £200 all in which I was pretty pleased with compared to the online prices.

There have been several threads recently on this.

Try Hankook Evos on the cheap, F1s if you believe the hype and don't mind the noise and something in Michelin (PS2/PE2) if you're prepared to pay and want some longevity with your grip.

Not sure I'd ever describe PS2's as having longevity. Eagle F1 GSD3's lasted about 12k down to the point they looked like slicks (1.7mm) whilst I don't reckon these'll see out 8k. Still, it's worth it and they may go on a bit longer than that as the wear rate does seem to have calmed down a bit since they were first fitted.

Grip wise you're looking in the order of something like:

Trackday specials

PS2's

F1 Asym's

F1 GSD3's

Toyo T1-S

Toyo T1-R

Can't tell you about Falkens but can certainly say that Avon and Yokohama's won't ever be touching my car. Some of the worst tyres I have ever experienced in feel, progression, wet grip, dry grip...the list goes on. Absolutely awful.