My father in law has a weird affinity to Vauxhalls despite my best efforts. He's bought a 2011 Astra with 16" steels. He's decided he actually misses the aesthetics of alloys and has bought at full price from the dealership the 17" wheels from the next trim level up.

Anyway, the tyres on the 16" steels are 215 60 R16. The tyres for the 17" alloys are 225 50 R17.

Michelin 225 50 R17s are ~ £170 a corner from Camskill etc. 225 45 R17s are ~ £110 a corner. £60 a corner difference. £240 more for all four! Even the 215 60 R16 Michelins for the steels are nearly £140 a corner.

Why would these morons design cars around such expensive tyre profiles? I guess I found another reason to hate Vauxhall.

Its not just vauxhall, my old 407 used 215/55/17 tyres :'( and cost a fortune to replace

You don't have to stick to the exact tyre sizes.

You could get 245/45 or something (in theory, I've not checked) couldn't you?

Go up in width, and down in profile so the sidewall stays roughly the same? Or I think that's right at least.

My sister, and several friends have Corsas, and my Aunt a Meriva - two hateful cars!

A friend has an Astra SRi (quite nice inside, not that I'd ever tell him!), and that's got 225/45R18s, so they're not all odd sizes.

Edited 2 October, 201114 yr by TriggerFish

Well yeah, he could drop to a 45 profile but it's a little more circumference drop / speedo deviation than he's happy with, even if you go up to 235 width.

A friend has an Astra SRi (quite nice inside, not that I'd ever tell him!), and that's got 225/45R18s, so they're not all odd sizes.

225 45 R18s are an odd size and are hideously expensive.

Which Michelins are you looking at?

No one near you with a costco card?

I've got a Costco card, but it's only worth getting tyres there when the 20% for four offer is on. It'll still be expensive.

Alot of the newer volvos run 225 50 17's including the police traffic cars, so Vauxhalls not the only ones using them

The Octavia Scout also runs on 225/50 R17s. Not looking forward to replacing them in the future...

The Yeti also comes in 225/50/17 and 215/60/16.

Mytyres have some reasonable prices.