Hi guys, i've got some Vredstein Ultrac Sessanta's on the front axle at the moment in 225/40/R18 which are really proving to be a pain in the snow/ice.

Now i've got some of the same wheels but in 215/45/R17 with some M&S tyres on one pair, im now thinking of placing these on the front whilst the weather clears up. Seeing as its going to get worse here now.

Im not too bothered about the front wheels looking smaller at the moment.

Would the different rolling radius's confuse the ABS system if i was to fit the M&S tyres to the front axle?

Hi guys, i've got some Vredstein Ultrac Sessanta's on the front axle at the moment in 225/40/R18 which are really proving to be a pain in the snow/ice.

Now i've got some of the same wheels but in 215/45/R17 with some M&S tyres on one pair, im now thinking of placing these on the front whilst the weather clears up. Seeing as its going to get worse here now.

Im not too bothered about the front wheels looking smaller at the moment.

Would the different rolling radius's confuse the ABS system if i was to fit the M&S tyres to the front axle?

Short answer - don't know .

But , some time ago , we inherited a Transit van , which had problems with ABS .Any more than 50 -55 and ABS shut down ,lights flashed etc .Till one day , we took van to tyre place for tyre check - where it transpired one tyre was a different profile to the other three - meaning that it rotated faster than other three -causing ABS major problems .Basicly ABS shut down if speed went over 55 .

I've recently had an abs sensor fail on my octavia, so i know the downside to loosing abs and asr.

The 215/45/R17's will be on the front axle and the 225/40/R18's will be on the rear. Its only whilst the snow clears up, as i've had to clear the snow tonight from infront of both wheels and chuck my front footwell mats under the tyres. Whilst having someone drive my car and me and a friend shoved the car.

I think next year i'll be looking for some 195/65/R15 winter tyres on steelies.

Cheers for the reply anyway matey

Me - I'm a bit of an old fart - but my alternative to puting on winter tyres ,is to learn about winter car control - In my day -no such thing as winter tyres - in fact we drove on RWD .I't s all about stopping the driving wheels slipping ,choosing the right gear ,looking ahead etc .Things that look like being lost in the speed kils generation .

I'm always swapping wheels around on my mk1 when going to compete in motorsport events. I've used 50 profile rear's and 45 profile fronts, both 17" diameter, before now with no problems. And that's with doing over 100 mile round trips.

My problem is usually getting going from a standing start matey, letting the clutch up as slow as possible in any gear doesn't seem to yeild much at all.

Sometimes you get lucky and manage to get some movement, i had to give up one night earlier on in the week. It was 6" deep and it was just building up infront of the rear tyres and bringing me to a stop.

I think its the choice of tyres and size ive got on (summer tyres) thats letting me down, given that there not designed for these conditions.

Would the different rolling radius's confuse the ABS system if i was to fit the M&S tyres to the front axle?

I was always under the impression you had to have the same RR on the same axle, but it didnt matter whether they were different on different axles.

Obvious exception being 4WD, where it depends on the original tyres (ie a Subaru will probably need the same on all 4 wheels, a Lamborghini probably has different on front and rear)

just looking at OP... go here http://www.etyres.co.uk/tyre-size-calculator.htm and type in your sizes, they recomend less than 2.5% difference... yours are 225/40/18 to 215/45/17 a difference of 1.88% so should be absolutley fine... ABS will not be affected as long as they are same size on same axle... for example at one point last year i was runing 205/45/17 on the back and 215/45/17 on the front with no issues....

It's the front driving wheels that govern the speed shown on your speedo, so your 215/45/17's will give you a faster speed than is indicated on your speedo. No problem having different sizes on different axles. The rears are just trailing wheels.

Me - I'm a bit of an old fart - but my alternative to puting on winter tyres ,is to learn about winter car control - In my day -no such thing as winter tyres - in fact we drove on RWD .I't s all about stopping the driving wheels slipping ,choosing the right gear ,looking ahead etc .Things that look like being lost in the speed kils generation .

and my guess is RWD with no ABS, skinny tyres, no stupid summer compounds, probably less torque than the peaky 1.9PD and in your day local councils were a lot better prepared for winters like this, more salt, more gritters and more men, but hey what do I know, im the speed kills generation :p

My car is in need of a new wing thanks to an old fart without winter tyres who learnt about winter car control. Didn't stop him sliding out infront of me on the ice though did it, nice set of winter tyres on either car would have more than likely prevented it

When you hit some ice you want every bit of extra grip you can possibly get, my quattro on summer tyre gets no further than my old corsa van at work on cheap nasty narrow tyres, also it stops a lot quick having thin tyres and no ABS to hinder me. can feel whats going on with the wheels and modulate the brakes properly rather than having the pedal shuddering away to itself. My winter wheels have finally arrived for the quattro only to find they require spiggot rings which the haven't sent :(

Browny - if you've already got them there sat on wheels, get em whacked on. Worst case scenario, you have to swap them back

Edited 14 January, 201016 yr by dan_the_v8man

The difference in Diameter of those tyres is only 1.8%, its recomended to go no higher than 2.5% so those 215/45x17 tyres will be fine. ABS only works on when the wheels lock, so the tiny rotational difference between front and rear wheels will make no difference.

It's the front driving wheels that govern the speed shown on your speedo, so your 215/45/17's will give you a faster speed than is indicated on your speedo. No problem having different sizes on different axles. The rears are just trailing wheels.

It's the front driving wheels that govern the speed shown on your speedoWhare did you learn about cars ? the speedo comes from the gearbox !

But as the OP is asking about if these is a difference for ABS purposes and I am not a expert but I think if the difference is too much then it will cause

problems

Radiotwo

No problems occured, i've recently fitted a set of Ultrac Sessanta's to the extremely worn out Kuhmo's on the rear (bad geometry had worn the insides off) and that was after a geometry setup!

Its that bad, that its not even worn the rubber injection mould spikes on the outside off yet and i've done over 200miles now! Car still feels poised and well under control though :S

Had it booked in for the geo done somewhere else and its started rattling its nads off again now. So if i cant find the cause this weekend then its on with the old 17's again until it does get sorted.

Since you bring the subject up, I've taken thousands of miles to take the injection spikes off Michelins (but on much lighter cars).