Tyres - Change size or just suck it up buttercup....

[Apex]

So my new to me steed [ Volvo V60 R-Design LUX NAV D5 215ps {twin turbo 5T} ] runs on 18" 235/40/R18 95Y (Y rated tyre on a car that can no way do 186mph) which is rather a shock to the system when looking to replace the no name tyres with some decent CrossClimates (or others, open to suggestions)

I guess i was too use to 16" rims on 205/55 being cheap (last set of cross climates i got for about 74 quid a corner) getting 18" i am looking at 140 a corner

My last car was funny enough a Volvo (make that 3 in a row now ) ran on 17", i did look to replace the stock tyres which i felt where garbage from new but the cost was the same that the 18"' are coming out at and the cars gone back now so not my problem

My question is do I

1. Suck it up and just buy the 18" in the size fitted to the car
2. Swap to 17" and see if i can find a more affordable tyre
3. See what other 18" sizes i could get away with on the rims and see if they work out cheaper

When you add in the cost of getting all 4 done and getting the rims refurbed its rather a lot of money (and i would rather not have to pay to get the tyres fitted a 2nd time)

Thoughts ?

[Jonj1611]

I would choose number 1, just fit the right tyres to the car and have done with it

Number 2 you will have to change the sidewall size otherwise the speedo will be out so might have to go to a 45 or 50. Can't remember which way you need to go for a smaller tyre off the top of my head

[Apex]

https://www.oponeo.co.uk/tools/tyre-...nativeTireTool

[DanceswithUnix]

I always hear of insurance implications of fitting tyres that aren't in the handbook, and changing wheels is going to be something you should declare as well. £140 per corner sounds pretty normal to me, I would just roll with it. I heard someone complaining their big BMW (X5 I think) was £500 per corner.

[kalniel]

Yep I'd stick too - Michelin have £40 off four tyres at blackcircles at the moment and that's about what you'd save going to a smaller size. Given their impact on safety/performance tyres cost very little compared to the rest of the car!

[Saracen999]

.... I heard someone complaining their big BMW (X5 I think) was £500 per corner.

It came as a bit of a jolt to me when I got a £1200 bill for 4 tyres for an M3 .... in the mid '90s. And that was from a local tyre place, not BMW.

My thinking on this is really two-fold. First, beware the insurance implications of anything that "modifies" the "performance" of a car. Insurance is a bit weird by normal standards in how that should be interpreted. Because insurance is a type of contract requiring 'utmost good faith' (uberimae fidei) you are required to notify them of anything they might deem relevant. My reading of that is that tyres out of normal spec for the vehicle might affect handling or roadholding, and that might affect how the insurer perceives risk, and that might be used to reject a claim in the event of an accident where handling or road-holding was an issue. So if doing anything like that, clear it with the insurance company first. They may well not care, in which case you're golden but if they do, better to find out now than potentially after an accident.

Second, and IMHO much more important, the two most important things on a car not to compromise on are tyres and brakes. They're all that's keeping your car from planting itself in a ditch, a tree, or the 40-tonner coming the other way .... with your family in it (in the car, not in the 40-tonner).

A corollary to that is that the higher the performance of the car, the greater the importance of tyres and brakes, not least because those that buy something like an M3 are doing so for the performance.

My advice, Apex .... don't cheap out on tyres or brakes, EVER. Yeah, it hurts. But, so be it. You may, however, be able to hunt out a deal on those tyres. I had an, erm, negotiation, with the local tyre company and ended up with a decent discount off that £1200. I also got to know the owner, and ended up with good prices from him thereafter, so it's now some 25 years of good service, good tyres and pretty good prices later. He got a load of repeat business from me, and more than a few referrals, too.

[Apex]

Just looking at options, this car did have a factory 17" option for 235/45/R17 which are cheaper but the number of steps i would have to go through to get the speedo corrected seems a bit of a faff.

I understand cost / value / price and i want to do the right thing, just the right thing here is going to cost rather a lot to get done in one hit. I've never liked cheap tyres and i know the pitfalls of them.

I've been hunting around for the CrossClimates and there is no real budging on price for them

PS4's are 129.99 fitted each at ATS
Crossclimates are 146.00 fitted each at ATS

Cheap out and not bother with the all seasons and just go PS4 ?

[Jonj1611]

With the 17's I can see the sidewall size has increased to 45 which should mean the speedo would read correctly

[DanceswithUnix]

With the 17's I can see the sidewall size has increased to 45 which should mean the speedo would read correctly

But changing the wheels, even to something from the factory spec, is going to be expensive and needs to be declared to the insurers specially if the wheels are aftermarket ones that change the theft profile of the car. The insurers may well add a 20% levy on the premium basically just for dicking about with the car (possibly, we're with Admiral and as long as you tell them they generally don't care, but then if you are wincing at £140 per corner for tyres you might be with some bargain insurers and they likely will care).

That's all cost, as well as hassle finding second hand wheels given the usual cost of hundreds each I've seen for replacement wheels from the manufacturer.

[Apex]

But changing the wheels, even to something from the factory spec, is going to be expensive and needs to be declared to the insurers specially if the wheels are aftermarket ones that change the theft profile of the car. The insurers may well add a 20% levy on the premium basically just for dicking about with the car (possibly, we're with Admiral and as long as you tell them they generally don't care, but then if you are wincing at £140 per corner for tyres you might be with some bargain insurers and they likely will care).

That's all cost, as well as hassle finding second hand wheels given the usual cost of hundreds each I've seen for replacement wheels from the manufacturer.

Lot of assumptions about me there bud.

If i was going to change from 18" to 17" it would not be to aftermarket alloys, it would be to alloys that came has a factory option carefully cross referenced.

For insurance, I checked with esure who have been my insurance for the last 4 yrs now and so long has the tyres are of the size that is factory approved, the load rating is the same or better and the speed rating is the same or better then the actually alloy doesn't play into it; though fitting a factory would be a better option which is what i am looking at.

Swapping the profile to one of the factory ones would require the speedo to be changed to know its on a different size tyre, the factory smaller 17" profiles don't save enough to make this worth it in the end.

So it comes down to in which order to do things; just bite the bullet and get the new 18" PS4's fitted then worry about getting the alloys sorted out another day and have to pay to get the tyres fitted again if i go with the refurb swap option, or see if they can be saved do 2 now and 2 later... and so on.

I know things cost what they cost but i don't want to spend money for spending moneys sake.

[DanceswithUnix]

Lot of assumptions about me there bud.

Apologies, that came across in a bad way. I'm really ranting at insurance companies, not you.

I know things cost what they cost but i don't want to spend money for spending moneys sake.

That's fair enough, but how much do Volvo charge for factory alloys? They can be horribly expensive I would have thought it would be hard to get the cost back in tyre savings.

[kalniel]

That's fair enough, but how much do Volvo charge for factory alloys? They can be horribly expensive I would have thought it would be hard to get the cost back in tyre savings.

I presume you'd make the saving by selling the existing 18" rims to someone else (who bought a car on 17"s - you might even be able to do get a swap done for no cost).

Otherwise, yes I'd agree, the tyre (and tiny fuel eco) savings wouldn't make up to it. Ride quality might be better on the 17s though..

On summer vs all seasons.. that's a tricky call, especially on the edge of the north. If you live at the top of a hill I'd go with all seasons, though you might go several years without ever really needing them, they're still beneficial in cold temps even if not snowy.

[Apex]

There are exchange services that will send you refurbed alloys for you to get fitted and you send yours back; right now a set is at 299 for 4 (75 quid a corner) - a new 18" rim is in the region of 400+ so yeah not going down that road.

I don't think the damage can be repaired with the wheels on the car, to me its a wheel and tyre off to reface the diamond section alone.

Ride quality on 17" is defo better but i will say that this V60 steers more sure on the 18" but that might also be down to the r-design suspension setup.

As to up'orth yeah cold wet and greasy roads do not like summer tyres all that well, the CC's i had before dealt with it nicely

[Apex]

Apologies, that came across in a bad way. I'm really ranting at insurance companies, not you.



That's fair enough, but how much do Volvo charge for factory alloys? They can be horribly expensive I would have thought it would be hard to get the cost back in tyre savings.

Apology accepted and understood

[Smudger]

Do you have a Costco near you? Not sure if they do the CrossClimates, but they came out a fair bit cheaper for me when I got new tires, albeit 235/45/r18s, but they were £20 a corner cheaper than ATS, F1, etc...

[Apex]

Do you have a Costco near you? Not sure if they do the CrossClimates, but they came out a fair bit cheaper for me when I got new tires, albeit 235/45/r18s, but they were £20 a corner cheaper than ATS, F1, etc...

Not near, and iirc with costco you have to be in a certain trades to be able to sign up so i think i am a bit scrupped there.

Currently ATS are doing 50 quid off and a free dashcam, looking on ebay this could sell for 50-80 quid which makes this slight less stingy, though I could still be tempting by PS4's.