Many moons ago I had Dunlop 175/70s on a Mk2 RS2000 I used to road rally. Then 185/60 Pirelli P6s on a Mk1 Golf Gti...which i fitted as an aftermarket 'improvement', together with a Bilstein suspension kit, when I was young and spent all my spare dosh on cars.
I suppose as cars have got larger it follows that tyre sizes must follow. But where will it all end? Surely we must be near that point now?
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I'm surprised they haven't gone slightly narrower with the need to be more fuel efficient.
The Outlandish is nicer on the 215/70/16 winter wheels than the 225/55/18s, which I might just leave in the garage this summer, if only because I'm not in a hurry to replace them at £160 each.
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We've had a lot of wintry weather lately and it still appears that the most capable motors are old Renault 4s and 2CVs with tall, skinny wheels and tyres. Presumably that's why you see so many Austin 7s and the like in VSCC trial events.
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I agree entirely, Manatee. The Octavia vRS (I'm on my second) is the first FWD car I've had in 40 years that's had trouble in snow, purely because of the 225/40/18 tyres which are (quite unnecessarily) fitted to it.
The all-weather Kleber Quadraxers on the car at the moment cost £72 each, (the original Continentals are £170) and the steel wheels £50 each; the wheels are gradually paying for themselves as National Tyres in Henley don't charge me for swapping them with the alloys.
I too am very tempted to keep them on all summer. The ride is better, the difference in handling negligible, and consumption is about 2 mpg better. I'm not fussed about the look of them: anyway black steel wheels on a white car look fine and show the dirt less than silver alloys.
And the Klebers have been excellent in snow.
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I've mentioned before about the dearth of 12" tyres available for the KIA.
I've got some 13" wheels and managed to, eventually, get the preferred tyres for off-road use.
The trialling fraternity are now complaining about the reduced availability of 13" tyres. Chinese imports are available, but in my experience have poor grip.
I don't think I'll get 14" in the wheel arches.
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Tyre sizes ever increasing - Manatee
