Buying narrower winter tyres

[botze]

Sorry this is probably a newbie question but I've googled and can't find an answer... I'm planning on buying new winter tyres. Current ones are 255/55 R16 and that seems unnecessary wide. Narrower tires are better in snow, lowers fuel consumption and gives a quieter ride (correct me if I'm wrong). So I'm looking to buy narrower ones, if that's possible to fit on the rims? 

[Kenai]

255 is ridiculously wide? Did you type that correctly? 

[botze]

5 minutes ago, Kenai said:

255 is ridiculously wide? Did you type that correctly? 

 

I know it's probably super narrow for petrolheads 😁 but I'm a dad of 2 and drive carefully, I have no need for wide tyres. Narrower tyres perform better in snow and that is more important to me + lower fuel consumption + less noise. But what you're saying is that 255 is narrow enough? 

[Ianmary321]

16" wheels normally have 205 wide tyres. 

[botze]

17 minutes ago, Ianmary321 said:

16" wheels normally have 205 wide tyres. 

 

Are you saying I can fit 205 tyres on the rims? 

[pist0nbr0ke]

1 hour ago, botze said:

Current ones are 255/55 R16

 

I think you need to try a tractor forum if that's your real tyre size...

[Gaz]

Would 255 even fit?

 

Botze - might be an idea to go check as I'm not sure that size exists in normal car tyres.

 

Gaz

Edited 1 September, 2019 by CallmeGaz

[flybynite]

7 minutes ago, botze said:

 

Are you saying I can fit 205 tyres on the rims? 

 

As said above, if you have standard 16' wheels they will have come with 205/55 91 V or H from the factory. 255 have never been fitted as standard to an Octavia, the vRS has 225 tyres as standard.

 

Assuming you have 205/55 tyres then that will be fine for winter tyres, modern winter tyres work differently to how they used to and many manufacturers actually recommend having the same size as summer tyres as wider tyres have more sipes to grip the ice or snow.

 

And yes, check the tyres again. If it has 255x16 we would love a photograph 

[Kenny R]

1 hour ago, botze said:

Current ones are 255/55 R16 

Your real names not Carlos Fandango is it

 

 

[flybynite]

2 minutes ago, Kenny R said:

Your real names not Carlos Fandango is it

 

HA HA you beat me to it 

[Kenai]

52 minutes ago, botze said:

 

I know it's probably super narrow for petrolheads 😁 but I'm a dad of 2 and drive carefully, I have no need for wide tyres. Narrower tyres perform better in snow and that is more important to me + lower fuel consumption + less noise. But what you're saying is that 255 is narrow enough? 

No i'm saying that 255 is ludicrously wide to the point i'd doubt whether such a wide tyre would even fit on an Octavia without rubbing.

 

Are you sure they're not 225 or 205?

 

What wheels are they fitted to? I didn't think the Octavia came with anything wider than 7.5J rims, for which the widest recommended tyre is a 235 width.

[botze]

I'm so sorry guys - they're 205 😁 had to go to the garage to check. I noted it down quickly some time ago, guess I wrote to 5's instead of a 0 and a 5. As you can tell, I'm not that familiar with tyre sizes 😁 

 

The reason I asked initially was because I couldn't find ANY tyres that size. No wonder 😁 

 

Can't find any way to edit my post... does anyone know? 

[botze]

33 minutes ago, flybynite said:

 

As said above, if you have standard 16' wheels they will have come with 205/55 91 V or H from the factory. 255 have never been fitted as standard to an Octavia, the vRS has 225 tyres as standard.

 

Assuming you have 205/55 tyres then that will be fine for winter tyres, modern winter tyres work differently to how they used to and many manufacturers actually recommend having the same size as summer tyres as wider tyres have more sipes to grip the ice or snow.

 

And yes, check the tyres again. If it has 255x16 we would love a photograph 

 

Thanks. You're right, they're 205 which is probably fine. Summer tyres are 225 and winter 205. 

[skippy41]

Fit michelin  all season tyres , they last for well over 50K , i have them on my taxi , swap front to back when front half worn 

 

Edited 3 September, 2019 by skippy41

[KenONeill]

On 01/09/2019 at 21:49, botze said:

Can't find any way to edit my post... does anyone know?

You can only edit posts for about 2 hours after you make them.

 

Also, as long as you up-section appropriately there should be no issues with 195 or even 185 width if you have 6.5x16 wheels. (that should be literally cast into the wheel rims, or stamped if they're steels)

[botze]

2 hours ago, skippy41 said:

Fit michelin  all season tyres , they last for well over 50K , i have them on my taxi , swap front to back when front half worn 

 

 

Thanks, but I'm in Sweden where we occasionally get a lot of snow in winter, so I'd rather have proper winter tyres 😊

[botze]

53 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

You can only edit posts for about 2 hours after you make them.

 

Also, as long as you up-section appropriately there should be no issues with 195 or even 185 width if you have 6.5x16 wheels. (that should be literally cast into the wheel rims, or stamped if they're steels)

 

This is the information I couldn't find while Googling. If it says 6.5 (what unit?) on the rim, how do I know how wide tires I can have on it? However now that I know they're 205 and not 255 😁 I think I'll stick to 205. 

[MarkyG82]

4 minutes ago, botze said:

 

This is the information I couldn't find while Googling. If it says 6.5 (what unit?) on the rim, how do I know how wide tires I can have on it? However now that I know they're 205 and not 255 😁 I think I'll stick to 205. 

 

It's in inches.  There are tables all over the web that tell you what size you can fit but as a starter for 10 don't go narrower than the wheel.

[botze]

18 minutes ago, MarkyG82 said:

 

It's in inches.  There are tables all over the web that tell you what size you can fit but as a starter for 10 don't go narrower than the wheel.

 

Found it now, thanks 

[KenONeill]

50 minutes ago, botze said:

how do I know how wide tires I can have on it?

The wheel width (yes in inches; it's historical) should be range 70% to 95% of the tyre width (and yes I know that's in millimeters). So a 6.5 inch (165.1mm) wheel should never have a tyre narrower than a 175 section on it, or wider than a 235mm.

[nidza]

Modern winter tires rely on a complete different technology then former ones. They don't dig snow anymore, but actually more stick to it. For the snow itself, wider tire is not necessarily a handicap as it used to be. 

 

You have to think through all the conditions this winter tire is going to pass. In the urban conditions, it is usually humidity, water, salt, dirt, mostly, and less real snow or ice. So, they make nowadays winter tires which are best compromise for normal driving. My advice is to stick to the factory recommended dimensions, 16" is perfectly fine for Octavia, and if you want to change anything, go for a bigger rim and 225 in 17" or 18" for the summer.

[nidza]

59 minutes ago, botze said:

 

Thanks, but I'm in Sweden where we occasionally get a lot of snow in winter, so I'd rather have proper winter tyres 😊

 

This important part you must not omit for this topic.  Aren't spikes allowed in Sweden? 

[botze]

11 minutes ago, nidza said:

 

This important part you must not omit for this topic.  Aren't spikes allowed in Sweden? 

 

Yes they are, however in the southern parts of Sweden most of the winter is not that much snow, and I live in a city (Gothenburg) where they like salt a lot so most of the times the roads are "slushy". Spikes are more common in the norhern parts of Sweden, and maybe more on the countryside. Also, the environmental part of it, they tear up the road, and they are noisier. 

[botze]

1 hour ago, nidza said:

Modern winter tires rely on a complete different technology then former ones. They don't dig snow anymore, but actually more stick to it. For the snow itself, wider tire is not necessarily a handicap as it used to be. 

 

You have to think through all the conditions this winter tire is going to pass. In the urban conditions, it is usually humidity, water, salt, dirt, mostly, and less real snow or ice. So, they make nowadays winter tires which are best compromise for normal driving. My advice is to stick to the factory recommended dimensions, 16" is perfectly fine for Octavia, and if you want to change anything, go for a bigger rim and 225 in 17" or 18" for the summer.

 

I know it's not comparable but don't rally cars typically use narrow tyres, to dig into the snow/mud/whatever? 

Edited 3 September, 2019 by botze
Spelling

[nidza]

@botze, not comparable, they literally drift on ice with spikes. These tires are absolutely forbidden in most of the world: