Ibiza tyre prices are insane!

[Drew306]

Hi folks, just been looking at tyres for my wife’s wee Ibiza 1.4 toca and OMG the prices are insane for a 16” tyre.
Eg, 215/45/16 Michelin cross climates are £177 each, my Tiguan for the same in 19” are £170!

Not sure whether to get her a set of 17” wheels as tyre seem to be better priced or change the size to a bigger profile. Has anyone done this before and if so what size did you go for and any issues?

TIA

Drew

 

[SRGTD]

If 215/45 R16 is a less common / less popular size of tyre (I don’t know if it is), then tyre manufacturers will produce them in relatively low volumes and when they do this, they will cost more than similar sized tyres that are produced in high volumes.

It’s not just Ibiza tyres in certain sizes that are expensive. My VW Polo GTI+ has 18” alloys with 215/40 R18 Michelin PS4 tyres fitted (215/40 R28 isn’t a particularly common size); Michelin PS4 tyres in that size are typically £145-£160 each (fitted price) depending on where you buy them. VW fit 225/40 R18 tyres to the Golf GTI; 225/40 R18 is a much more common size tyre fitted as OEM by many car manufacturers, and Michelin PS4 in that size are typically £120-£124 each (fitted price), so £25-£36 per tyre cheaper.

Michelin Cross Climates in 215/45 R16 can be bought cheaper than £177 each; they’re currently on sale at Asda tyres for £157.99 each (they’re £169.26 each at Black Circles); fitted price. Asda Tyres use many of the same tyre fitting centres as Black Circles, so it’s likely there’ll be one relatively close to where you live.

If you go for 17” wheels, you’ll need a lower profile tyre (215/40 R17) to keep the rolling radius of the wheel / tyre the same as your existing wheel / tyre set up; if not, your speedo reading will be inaccurate. 215/40 R17 sized tyres are also quite expensive relative to some of the more common sized tyres; Michelin Cross Climates in 215/40 R17 at Asda Tyres are £152.99 each and £165.37 each at Black Circles (fitted prices). Also bear in mind that if you change the wheels from the standard 16” to 17”, that’s a modification for insurance purposes so you’d need to inform your insurance company and they may charge you a premium increase for the modification.

I‘d advise against going for a bigger profile 16” tyre with a higher sidewall on your existing wheels as the overall rolling radius / circumference of the wheel / tyre set up will change, so you‘ll get a speedo reading error. Also, changing the tyre size on your existing 16” wheels to something different to the tyre size Seat originally fitted in the factory is technically a modification for insurance purposes.

 

[RUM4MO]

My wife's car is a 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS SEL, so has the same size of alloys, we swop wheels/tyres between Summer and Winter, so at just over 46K miles, both sets of tyres have lots of life left in them. That car came with Contis which seem okay, though my preferred tyre brand is Michelin.

That car uses 15" Michelin Alpins in Winter time, one thing about Michelin tyres is, they tend to last a very long time, so it depends a lot on your annual mileage as to if you should be paying extra for tyres, in our case, I think that these Michelin Alpins, at the current rate of use, will last well beyond their "useful" year as the winter formulation of rubber does tend to harden with time - though both our cars are garaged when not being used, so that does mean less constant exposure to UV light.

This is our second "pair" of car that I have used winter tyres on, and both the previous "pair", while being kept for over 10 years, have never ended up needing to replace the Michelin winter tyres, the previous Polo did work its way through a set of Michelin Exaltos though - buying Michelin Exalto was the main reason to get a set of 14" Winter wheels for that 2002 Polo as they were definitely only warm fair weather tyres!

 

[RUM4MO]

This "tyre size/price" thing is a curious but enduring feature of "special models", I remember many years ago that at least Fords "run out" and other low end of the market "specials" - which were being sold as being cheap to run, ie "economic" engines, always came out of the factory with bigger fancy looking wheels and so tyres that were certainly not "economic" to run/replace.
I used to run a 1991 VX Cav GSI 2000 16V 4X4 and it had 205/55 X 16 sized tyres, and every time I bought new tyres, the price had dropped, same when I bought a VW Passat 4Motion, again with 205/55 X 16 tyres - and still the price was dropping.

Edited 09:32 17/10/23 to add in "not"!

 

[G.P]

We used to run ours on 205/45 R16 because of the prices..

 

[Drew306]

We used to run ours on 205/45 R16 because of the prices..

Thanks for a the replies!

Did you notice any difference in handling or anything running a narrower tyre?

 

[G.P]

Thanks for a the replies!

Did you notice any difference in handling or anything running a narrower tyre?

None, but the difference is only 10mm, and it was always run on premium tyres..

 

[turbomonster]

The 195/50 R16 is compatible with ht 215/45 R16. If the wheel is like mine, is a 7 inch wheel, it can fit 195 to 225 wide tyre.

 

[G.P]

The 195/50 R16 is compatible with ht 215/45 R16. If the wheel is like mine, is a 7 inch wheel, it can fit 195 to 225 wide tyre.

True, but not the closest ouside diameter match..

 

[turbomonster]

True, but not the closest ouside diameter match..

Going from 215/45 R16 to 195/50 R16, you only change diameter by 0.4%.

 

[Glosphil]

Going from 215/45 R16 to 195/50 R16, you only change diameter by 0.4%.

My wife has a 2019 Skoda Fabia SEL 1.0TSi (110) which has 215/45-16 tyres & I intend to change to 195/50-16 when new tyres are required.
Will fit wheels fine & only slight (0.4%) change to gearing but tyres will give less kerbing protection to the wheels.

 

[G.P]

Going from 215/45 R16 to 195/50 R16, you only change diameter by 0.4%.

Yes your correct, I've remembered we went with 205/45 to maintain a lower profile sidewall..

 

[Glosphil]

Yes your correct, I've remembered we went with 205/45 to maintain a lower profile sidewall..

The distances from the tyre to the rim are:
215/45-16 3.809"
195/50-16. 3.839"
205/45-16 3.632"

As the above shows 205/45 doesn't retain the profile height; it lowers it & hence also lowers the gearing by 1.75%. However, the 195/50 almost retains both with a quarter of the change in profile height & gearing.

 

[Cupra306Form]

When I came across this with unusual size tyres I was on Black Circles, in frustration I selected XL (extra load) tyres, stiffer sidewall for heavy vehicles. They were actually cheaper than standard so that's what went on. Worth a try.

 

[G.P]

The distances from the tyre to the rim are:
215/45-16 3.809"
195/50-16. 3.839"
205/45-16 3.632"

As the above shows 205/45 doesn't retain the profile height; it lowers it & hence also lowers the gearing by 1.75%. However, the 195/50 almost retains both with a quarter of the change in profile height & gearing.

True, hence we lowered the profile to gain a stronger sidewall, but we really are only talking small amounts here and personal preference on firm/soft sidewall preference..

 

[Glosphil]

Why do you want a stronger (stiffer?) sidewall? It's not a high performance car & the ride must be harsher. I'm interested in your reasoning.

 

[turbomonster]

I have the 70PS engine with 215/45 R16. And my trying to reduce width to 195/50, hopping gaining some aceleration and lower fuel consumption.

 

[turbomonster]

Yes your correct, I've remembered we went with 205/45 to maintain a lower profile sidewall..

Did you notice any performance increase and better mpg?

 

[Glosphil]

Did you notice any performance increase and better mpg?

Too small a change to improve performance (acceleration?) & as it is a reduction in overall gearing any slight change in mpg is more likely to be a worsening.

 

[G.P]

Why do you want a stronger (stiffer?) sidewall? It's not a high performance car & the ride must be harsher. I'm interested in your reasoning.

Completely personnel choice, a stiffer sidewall on modern tyres makes for a sporty feel in corners providing more feel and reduces shuffle on the rear both in corners and when travelling on a motorway, but the difference is probably minimal to many drivers unless they are used to RWD and have attended track days..