Xantia Tyres - 205/60 or 185/65 ??

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David W
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Xantia Tyres - 205/60 or 185/65 ??

Post by David W »

Just about to buy a full set of tyres for the Xantia SX 1.9TD Estate I bought a few months back. It has the standard 185/65x15 T rated at the moment but wondered about going up to the HDi spec 205/60s.

It's on steel rims... I assume the rims stayed the same for the wider tyres??

Has anyone done this upsizing to give an opinion??

Thanks,

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Post by Xaccers »

I've got 185/65's on my 1.9 with steel, and 205/60 on my 2.1 with alloys.

The 205/60's are considerably wider, not even sure they'd fit on the steels.
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Post by Peter.N. »

The 65's will give a better ride.
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Post by CitroJim »

Peter.N. wrote:The 65's will give a better ride.
I'll second that! I have 15" 195/55s on our TD because it has 205GTi 1.9 Alloys on it and I chose the tyres to go onto my 205 should the Xantia die and they're not comfy. They make the car hanle well though.

I don't think 205/60s will fit, they are massive compared to 185s.

I have formed an opinion over the years that says the narrower and higher a tyre is the more comfy the ride, on the other side though, handling grows worse.

I'd stick to the original sizes especially if ride comfort is a factor.
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Post by David W »

Thanks guys... I'll probably stick with the originals at 185/65 then.

I notice in my handbook the auto model of mine would have 205/60s as standard... wonder if that got bigger rims?

I usually stick to the makers standard but always upsized our BX TD estates to 175/65 which felt better with a load on when pressing on a bit.

Ride is very very important to us living in the bumpy Fens!

Cheers,

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Post by Stempy »

The other thing to remember is insurance companies will find any excuse not to pay out on a claim, including non standard tyre/wheel fitment. :(
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Post by CitroJim »

Stempy wrote:The other thing to remember is insurance companies will find any excuse not to pay out on a claim, including non standard tyre/wheel fitment. :(
:shock: That is worrying, especially in regard to my TD. That one, being early, is now very no-standard wheel-wise. I'd better tell 'em.

How do insurance companies normally react to a wheel/tyre change?
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Post by MikeT »

citrojim wrote: How do insurance companies normally react to a wheel/tyre change?
Hi Jim,

I've heard of people putting steels back on to save on insurance while others declared wheel upgrades and it made no difference to their premium so it'll be pot luck really.
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Post by Stempy »

Basically you have to tell 'em about any changes to the standard vehicle, when you do they will either 1. make a note of the changes on your 'statement of facts' and charge you nothing, 2. use the changes as a good excuse to bump up your premium and charge you accordingly or 3. refuse to continue your cover as your policy doesn't allow for changes to the manufacturers spec :shock: So read your small print carefully.
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Post by deian »

but they are both sizes from citroen supplied wheels... i.e they are not aftermarket.

Whether you crash your car and it gets inspected and the police/insurance mechanic goes into so much detail as to spot the 'impurities' of you 'specific' model then you are very unlucky....

chance are they will just check that you have 1 citroen wheels and 2 they are the right size for a xantia

but will you crash you car and be at fault?

but then again...personally i am a good boy and do not give any company a chance to screw me in any way, so i do what they say

are you willing to pay more for the 205/60? it's not such a common size comapred to the 185's... plus you would need to change your spare too 5 tyres?

i wouldn't go through the hassle personally, and as many have said, you will get better ride from a thinner tyre.
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Post by Mandrake »

citrojim wrote:I don't think 205/60s will fit, they are massive compared to 185s.
Hi Jim,

I have 205/60/15 Michelin XM1's on mine, they fit fine on the standard rims! (Although I wouldn't want to go any bigger for that width rims!)

The original spec tyres were 185/65/15 and speedo calibration is almost spot on with the new tyres...the rolling diameter is almost identical, its just the tread is about 20mm wider :D

Regards,
Simon
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Post by Mandrake »

deian wrote:are you willing to pay more for the 205/60? it's not such a common size comapred to the 185's... plus you would need to change your spare too 5 tyres?
Seems to be a common size here, at least in some types of tyres.

As for the spare, since when did any new car come with a full size spare ??? Not for many years... :lol:

Having a 185/65/15 as a spare is still far better than an orange space saver !!

In fact I wonder if a 205/60/15 would even fit in the spare wheel carrier of a Xantia ? :lol: (I doubt it)

Regards,
Simon
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Post by np »

I changed to 205`s from 185`s on my old VSX est with standard VSX alloys with no probs at all.Did`nt notice any difference in ride quality.As Mandrake says,the speedo stayed the same on mine.When i changed mine,the 205`s were only £5 or so dearer than the 185`s.
I never changed the steel spare wheel to a 205.I left it as 185.The overall rolling diameter is near enough the same,& as it was steel,it would never be on the car long enough to worry about..As to the different widths,its no different to having a space saver spare wheel.
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Post by CitroJim »

Firstly, thanks for the insurance tips!

Simon, I've always been under the impression that alloys are more tolerant of differing tyre sizes than steelies. I base that on the wide variety of tyres my 205 friends seem to fit to their 205 alloys :) I've always been led to understand that steelies are designed for one size of tyre only but may well be off the mark. I'm very happy to be put right on that one :wink:

A 205/60 will just fit into a Xantia spare wheel carrier as my Activa carries a 205/60 spare on a steelie. It is a struggle to get it in an out though :twisted:

pr.net lists two widths of 15" steel wheel for the Xanta, a 5 1.2" and a 6" and also two widths for alloys, except yours (the Exclusive) for which only a 6" width is specified.
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Post by Mandrake »

citrojim wrote: Simon, I've always been under the impression that alloys are more tolerant of differing tyre sizes than steelies. I base that on the wide variety of tyres my 205 friends seem to fit to their 205 alloys :) I've always been led to understand that steelies are designed for one size of tyre only but may well be off the mark. I'm very happy to be put right on that one :wink:
Hi Jim,

Sorry I wasn't clear on the fact that I have 15" alloys - I have no idea whether the steel rims would take that size as I have only ever seen steel rims on a Xantia in 14". (Apart from my spare, which is a 15" steel)
pr.net lists two widths of 15" steel wheel for the Xanta, a 5 1.2" and a 6" and also two widths for alloys, except yours (the Exclusive) for which only a 6" width is specified.
Mine is a 2.0i 8 valve petrol automatic with 15" alloys, its a VSX not an Exclusive. What do they list for that ?

I suspect my rims are narrower than the Activa ones, so I'm probably pressing my luck a wee bit fitting 205/60/15 to them :lol: The tread width is definately significantly wider than the rims... but I've had no complaints with ride or handling, definately much better handling and grip than I was getting on the 185/65 and much longer lasting too, they've done 15,000Km on the fronts now and still have plenty of tread left.

Regards,
Simon
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