C5 Winter Tyre - Size and Speed

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meeper
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C5 Winter Tyre - Size and Speed

Post by meeper »

Advice on this can be found here:
http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/sa ... he-uk.html

The article suggests dropping a speed rating or slight change in size is ok as long as manufacturer is happy.

I used 205/65 R15 97H winters on steel wheels on my 2002 2.2 HDI estate. The standard alloys were 215 55 R16 with a higher speed rating. Same (+/- less than 5mm) rolling circumference between the two sizes.

Dropping the size allowed fitting of the largest size of Vredestein snowtrac 3 tyres. The 215/55R16s would have required much more expensive tyres as these moved into the next bracket of the tyre ranges e.g. Vredestein wintrac extreme or pirelli sottozero etc.

I sourced the steel wheels directly from citroen dealer who knew the car I had and said these would be fine. That is manufacturer approved I suppose.

I now have a C5 series 3, I have a set of steels rims, and the tyres are on order. There seemed to be no benefit to smaller wheels for this one so alloys and steels are the same size. The ordered tyres are V rated, not the standard W. Have a look at tyres prices as the price can depend on popularity of a tyre size so for the smaller size I considered for this car prices were higher!

Citroen service web site mentions a steel wheel for use with winter tyres for some models, it did for my new C5, even though it came with alloys.

I need to work out what to do with the set of winter wheels and tyres off of the old C5, I'll post on here somewhere to see someone wants them if I can't find a home for them.

Happy hunting

M.
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Post by sooty »

Why would you want to fit the same size winter tyre as the standard.

I would fit a narrower width and find a different tyre wall ratio and diameter using a tyre size chart as found on most tyre supplier websites to find a circumference within +/- 2%.

I thought the object of these tyres was to bite through the snow/slush/mud to get a bite of the tarmac, not sit on top of compacted snow. The vibes on these finnish/swedish winter tyre ttread blocks are designed to grip on ice. So the vibes are for ice and tread blocks for snow/slush.

Knowing winter rallying in finland etc. use studded tyres, but they are narrow to bite through the snow. As uk rally cars go on narrow tyres in the forest and wide on tarmac.
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Kowalski
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Post by Kowalski »

sooty wrote:Why would you want to fit the same size winter tyre as the standard.
The idea behind fitting the same size tyres as the car was originally fitted with is that you are fitting something to the car that is standard fit and not a modification. If you fit different / non-standard size or speed rating tyres you will have modified your vehicle and must declare the modification to your insurer.

There will be standard type approved winter tyre fitment for the C5 (and alll other cars), we just need to find out what it is and fit those tyres, it removes an insurer's ability to wriggle out of paying out on any potential future insurance claim!
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Post by picnmix »

Totally agree with the last comment. If Citroen come out with a statement of an approved size and speed for winter tyres the situation regarding fitting them and extra insurance premiums or void insurance goes away.

In my case with a 2005 C5II approving 215/55R16 Speed Rated H (130mph) for winter tyres rather than the standard tyre 215/55R16 Speed Rated W (168mph) would be ideal. Winter tyres are available in this size H rated but none are available at W rated speed.

I've gone back to Citroen after getting the reply to this question that "I should ask my local Citroen parts department"; that what is need for insurance purposes is an authoritative statement from them of what winter tyre size & speed is approved. I'm still waiting to hear back from them.
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Post by Kowalski »

picnmix wrote:Totally agree with the last comment. If Citroën come out with a statement of an approved size and speed for winter tyres the situation regarding fitting them and extra insurance premiums or void insurance goes away.

In my case with a 2005 C5II approving 215/55R16 Speed Rated H (130mph) for winter tyres rather than the standard tyre 215/55R16 Speed Rated W (168mph) would be ideal. Winter tyres are available in this size H rated but none are available at W rated speed.

I've gone back to Citroën after getting the reply to this question that "I should ask my local Citroën parts department"; that what is need for insurance purposes is an authoritative statement from them of what winter tyre size & speed is approved. I'm still waiting to hear back from them.
I wonder whether the tyre specification will be a part of their european type approval, if that's the case there should be a some documentation or other.
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