Tyres?

Steve Langridge

Steve Langridge

Member
Hi. We've only had an A2 (2002 1.4 petrol) a few weeks but I know I'm going to have to get new tyres fairly soon. The tyres on there at the moment look like they are pretty low profile and I see online that 175/60R15 are recommended when I get to replacement time. I also see that other models have slightly different tyre options (presumably at least in part dictated by rim size). I'm struggling to find a precise question to ask but I'd value input on whether I have other tyre options and if so, pros/cons. (The car is my wife's city car so we'd favour comfort and ride over sports handling, if that's relevant). Thanks
 
Camskill have got Uniroyal RainExpert3 185/60/15 in the low £40s (depending on speed rating) - I've got the 16" version of these which are also A-rated for wet grip and they have been excellent (in our usual Scottish rain and dry conditions) so far since Easter.
 
Hi Steve,

Welcome.

What wheels and tyre size have you at the moment? With your reference to low profile I am guessing the 9 spoke 17" running 205/40/17. These are rock hard and if you are after comfort as you mentioned sell them on here and drop down to 15". The ride on 175/60/15 will be markedly more comfortable. I run something very similiar 195/55/15. On 15" wheels the ride will still be firm but no longer spine jarring! Historically A2's have always been criticised for a firm ride. Which gets me to the other main point about ride comfort and that is suspension. Your suspension if original is now 16 years old and probably well past its best and may benefit by replacement, but then that is a chunk of money

Hope this helps.

Andy
 
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175/65/15 are are good option, a little more comfort, the speedo will be a little more accurate and they are a more common tyre size, so greater choice of tyre and more competitive pricing.
 
Andrew said:
Hi Steve,

Welcome.

What wheels and tyre size have you at the moment? With your reference to low profile I am guessing the 9 spoke 17" running 205/40/17. These are rock hard and if you are after comfort as you mentioned sell them on here and drop down to 15". The ride on 175/60/15 will be markedly more comfortable. I run something very similiar 195/55/15. On 15" wheels the ride will still be firm but no longer spine jarring! Historically A2's have always been criticised for a firm ride. Which gets me to the other main point about ride comfort and that is suspension. You suspension if original is now 16 years old and probably well past its best and may benefit by replacement, but then that is a chunk of money

Hope this helps.

Andy
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Thanks Andy. Wheels are in fact six-spoke 16" and tyres are currently 185/50s. Not sure if that means that the car has had a wheel swap somewhere in the past but anyway I'm inclined towards a 60 type tyre when it comes to the swap, for reasons of ride. Haven't found any yet but nor have I searched thoroughly. And yes I'll keep an eye on the suspension too! Cheers, Steve
 
Steve Langridge said:
Thanks Andy. Wheels are in fact six-spoke 16" and tyres are currently 185/50s. Not sure if that means that the car has had a wheel swap somewhere in the past but anyway I'm inclined towards a 60 type tyre when it comes to the swap, for reasons of ride. Haven't found any yet but nor have I searched thoroughly. And yes I'll keep an eye on the suspension too! Cheers, Steve
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Oops I guess that won't work unless I go down to 15", as previously mentioned by Andy!
 
Is it possible to get 60 profile tyres on a 16" unless it's some weird 4x4 truck thing? I've got 195/55/15 Uniroyal Rainsport3s which is probably as close to that as you can get without rubbing issues, and as said above, I've been very pleased with them. Feel as grippy as the winter tyres on I had up until Easter. On the same sort of price deal at Camskill as the 15" ones I mentioned previously.
 
I recently fitted Pirelli P1 (I think) 185/55 x 16. They make the speedo read bang-on so there's no margin for over-reading, but the main improvement is in noise and comfort. MUCH better than the 185/50 x 16 No Make Chinese tyre with "Racing" in the title. Would thoroughly recommend them, but they are dear (cough), thick end of 100 notes each fully fitted.
 
Robin_Cox said:
Is it possible to get 60 profile tyres on a 16" unless it's some weird 4x4 truck thing? I've got 195/55/15 Uniroyal Rainsport3s which is probably as close to that as you can get without rubbing issues, and as said above, I've been very pleased with them. Feel as grippy as the winter tyres on I had up until Easter. On the same sort of price deal at Camskill as the 15" ones I mentioned previously.
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Probably not. See my "oops" comment above! Thanks for your input.
 
Andrew said:
I guess you have been on a 'tyre size' website. I use

https://tiresize.com/tyre-size-calculator/

and using the 'tyre comparison' tab with 205/40/17, probably the standard maximum without rubbing issues, all the facts and figures are there.

Yes, 185/60/16 look far too big.

Andy
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Thanks Andy. That's a good site. I wasn't using that one, but I did google and found a couple of sites which said that only 175/60R15 were recommended for the standard rims on the 1.4. They have a diameter of 23.3". But of course I can now see that was on the assumption I had 15" rims. Mine are in fact 16" as mentioned above and my soon-to-be-replaced tyres are 185/50R16 (also 23.3") - which as you've already implied, explains my feeling of a rather firm ride. But 55R and 60R tyres on the 16" rims take the diameters over 24" so I'm concluding that I'll probably stick with the firmer ride, which certainly isn't unpleasant - I'm probably just extra aware of all the potholes which remain unfilled at the moment! Anyway this whole discussion has been helpful because it's made me consider the options, so thanks again.
 
I’m more used the BMW tyres, but I guess the load rating still applies to the A2? For example, the tyres on my 535d are 99y extra load due to the weight of the car. I’m guessing that if I go down to 93y the sidewalls will be softer and therefore give a softer ride. Is this something that needs to be considered on an A2?
Also, new tyres will always give a better ride than worn tyres, so simply changing tyres could make a difference to the ride.
 
Steve Langridge said:
But 55R and 60R tyres on the 16" rims take the diameters over 24" so I'm concluding that I'll probably stick with the firmer ride, which certainly isn't unpleasant - I'm probably just extra aware of all the potholes which remain unfilled at the moment!
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Hi Steve, if it's any help, my A2 came to me recently with 185/55 tyres on the standard SE 16" rims. The ride is definitely on the firm side, to the point that I'd be thinking twice about using the standard 185/50 size. You can also definitely get budget makes in 185/55 size, as mine has four of them on. The difference in tyre diameter is only 18.5mm or approx 3%. This seems to make the speedo completely accurate at 30mph according to those signs that flash up your speed as you approach, whereas on other cars I drive with standard tyre sizes there's always a couple of MPH more showing on the speedo. I guess it would therefore under-read if running 185/60.
 
185/55R16 should be ok(as noted above), they're a smaller circumference than the 205/45R17 that I have waiting to fit for the Mrs (others are using this size).
 
Proghound said:
Hi Steve, if it's any help, my A2 came to me recently with 185/55 tyres on the standard SE 16" rims. The ride is definitely on the firm side, to the point that I'd be thinking twice about using the standard 185/50 size. You can also definitely get budget makes in 185/55 size, as mine has four of them on. The difference in tyre diameter is only 18.5mm or approx 3%. This seems to make the speedo completely accurate at 30mph according to those signs that flash up your speed as you approach, whereas on other cars I drive with standard tyre sizes there's always a couple of MPH more showing on the speedo. I guess it would therefore under-read if running 185/60.
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Thanks, very helpful.
 
The usual word of warning. If you select a tyre size that is not an Audi A2 recommended size you may compromise your insurance. Some insurers deem this to be a modification and want to impose an extra charge, others are not concerned. Best to inform them and if they are unreasonable change insurers.

I have never had 16" wheels but the posts above suggest they give a firm ride. I can only reiterate that 15" will be optimum for comfort if the Mrs is still not happy with whatever 16" tyre you select.

Andy
 
Andrew said:
The usual word of warning. If you select a tyre size that is not an Audi A2 recommended size you may compromise your insurance. Some insurers deem this to be a modification and want to impose an extra charge, others are not concerned. Best to inform them and if they are unreasonable change insurers.

Andy
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I informed my insurers when I went up to 21" wheels on my 535d, there was no change in premium but it is now noted on the insurance certificate, that is with Chris Knott insurance.

A tyre change for me costs about the same as a decent Audi A2 :eek:
 
I've had 195/55 16 on my standard SE wheels for the last four years. The ride doesn't appear hard to me or anyone else that I've had as passengers and there hasn't been any rubbing whatsoever. Tyres of this size seem to be readily available in whatever price range you're looking for.
 
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