Has anyone fitted larger tyres to 17 inch wheels on a Fabia 2? I have a Monte Carlo which has 205/40/17 tyres and due to the badly maintained roads where I live I have had several damaged by potholes and the ride can be really bad so I am considering a set of 205/50/17 tyres to gain a higher sidewall and a bit more protection, I'm only really concerned about clearance on full lock and full suspension travel although any advice would be gratefully received. Thanks

That is a fair difference, will effect speedo and gearing.

Best go to 16" rims then.

You will find a buyer for your 17"'s here on the For Sales.

 

215/40 R 17 or 205/45 R 17 are fine, that is about it.

225/35 R 18 as were on a Audi A1 competition Sport fit.  (look stupid though)  Not going to help with potholes.

  Let your insurer know you are fitting none OEM size.

 

http://kouki.co.uk/utilities/visual-tyre-size-calculator

 

Edited 8 June, 20196 yr by Skoffski

I'd like to keep the 17 inch wheels really as they're part of the Monte Carlo spec, I checked your suggested size of 215/40 R 17 on the online sidewall calculator and it tells me that the sidewall is only 0.16 inches bigger so I don't think that'll make a noticable difference, the difference between 205/50 and 205/40 is about 0.8 inches so I'm hoping that should be enough to soften the blow of a bad pothole. I've spoken to the insurers and they are happy for me to change sizes, also the speedo reading should still be about 96% of the original reading with the smaller tyres fitted, so a previously indicated 30 mph will now be showing 28 mph, This sin't too bad because I've noticed that when I pass roadside speed indicators at 30 they usually say I'm doing 27 or 28 anyway so that's a bonus because it'll be more accurate, I'll just have to remeber to be more carefull and not assume that I have a margin for error, or I suppose I could get it recalibrated but I'll see what the car is like on the tyres first before I change anything else. Thanks for all your advice.

Your 17" Trinity are UK spec and some other countries, in Australia they got 16" Wheels on a Monte Carlo.

 

 

215/40 R 17 is not much bigger and with some tyre brands / types no bigger than say Pirelli Zero Nero 205/40 R 17.

I have run various size 17's and 16's on a Fabia vRS.

 

205/50 R 17 is simply too big and you will hate them, but on you go and try and find out for yourself.

 

I have pics of 205/45 R 17's which i run in Winter. 

They are not going to stand up to potholes if you hit them hard enough, but there are some pretty good XL's out there that do pretty well.

 

 

 

Edited 10 June, 20196 yr by Skoffski

Just had alook at your pictures thanks, the tyres in the boot and the one fitted to the car in the second photo look like the winter tyres, so are they the 205/45's? what sizes are the others?

Why do you think I'll hate the 205/50's? I looked at some on a car the other day which fortunately was parked next to a car with 205/45's so I could compare them and they didn't look massively different. I don't want to pay out a load of money to get some new 16 inch alloys, and from a re-sale point of view keeping the original wheels and changing the tyres seems the best option

If would go along to a Tyre & Exhaust centre and ask if they have a 205/50 R 17 in stock and if they will let you sit it next to your tyre on the car.

It is too big, simple as that.

 

As to the Insurance Company or Employee, they can say what they like, and you can fit bigger tyres, i fit bigger tyres than standard on offroaders, 

but that does not mean that a Call Handler knows what i am going to declare for putting on the schedule.

 

I have sold 17" wheels and tyres in the For Sales and bought 16" wheels and tyres from the For Sales for less than i  sold mine.

Edited 10 June, 20196 yr by Skoffski

I might go to a tyre dealer and do that then but I'm not sure what you mean about what you are declaring on the schedule? I'm a bit hesitant about second hand wheels and tyres because of previous experiences and all the bad press they are currently getting so I always buy new where possible and if you keep them long enough they don't work out much dearer anyway.

Buying a set of used wheels & even getting them refurbished and fitting new tyre does not cost that much either if you sell what you have, 

as it is you are about to buy new tyres anyway.

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/313093-tweensters-s2000/page/7/

 

Edited 10 June, 20196 yr by Skoffski

Hi!

 

205/50/17 tyres won't fit. On left rear there is not nough space for tyre that size.

 

I have 205/45/17 tyres, they are much smoother than original 40 profile tyres. Speedo reading is also accurate with 45 profiles.

 

 

In winter I use 195/55 x 15 on the VRS, ride quality is massively improved. I have bought another set of 15s to put on the estate permanently as the roads in rural Lincolnshire are awful.

Hi JPL I had thought about 205/45's but when you look at them compared to the originals they hardly look any bigger so I didn't think they would make a noticable difference, did you change tyre brands too?

 

Hi Tweenster, I also have a set of winter tyres on 15 inch rims and you're right the ride is massively better but the wheels just don't look as good and I just think if the car was designed to run on 17 inch wheels it should be left like that, however I have just noticed that the new Monte Carlos now have 16 inch wheels which tells you something.

The car design looks like on stilts.

The Monte Carlo was about show and not much go, and rear drums and body kit and some 'Rally DNA / Motorsport Success & Heritage and 105ps.

Sensible fitment was 16" wheels and no 'Pulling to the left' from the factory.

 

With Mk3's 17's are an option, and now 18's which tells you something about style over function.

Mk3's came with 215/45 R 16,   215's were not fitted to Fabias MK2, but were on Polo, Ibiza & A1's of the same years.

 

These were 205/45 R 17 and had the speedp accurate and do not look much bigger because they are big enough and suits the ratios / gears.

Edited 13 June, 20196 yr by Skoffski

I’ve just had another puncture from a long wood screw, probably something to do with all the building sites round here, so I went to a local garage for a repair. Luckily one of their tyre fitters also had a Monte Carlo and had been able to try various sizes of tyres on it, he ended up with 205/45/17 because when he tried 205/50/17 the front ones were too close to the struts at the bottom of the front springs. He said the ride was much better than with the original tyres so I thought this might be useful to someone else considering an upgrade and this is the size that I’ll be going for too. Thanks for everyone’s help.

205/45 R 17 or even go with 215/40 R17 as were on Polo,Ibiza & A1's, 

I bought my 2011 monte carlo with 205 50 17s fitted and they catch everywhere, turning left and right and going over bumps with 4 in the car, ruined my arch liners.