How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know
It doesn’t matter what car it is, tyres are a sure-fire way to improve it. Here’s all you need to know about how to choose a car tyre.
What’s so special about tyres?
What can a new tyre offer you?
- Grip and handling
- Dry
- Wet
- Comfort
- Ride (smoothness, refinement)
- Quietness
- Fuel efficiency
- Tyre life
What’s what – tyre terms you have to know
The first step to new tyres – knowing your specifications
- Tyre size – diameter and width of the tyre
- Load rating – how much the tyre can carry
- Speed rating – how fast it can go
You don’t need to run the same sort of tyre as what’s on your car now, within limits. You can choose a tyre that’s narrower, taller, wider or shorter. You can also choose a different profile, which is the relative size of the rim to the tyre. Best to use an image to make the point:
- tyre itself
- tyre placard
- owner’s manual
The tyre itself is the best place…provided the tyres on the car are of the same specification and type as the ones you want, and are road-legal. It is possible that you bought a secondhand car with different-sized tyres to normal.
Both the owner’s manual and the tyre placard are likely to list at least two specifications of tyres, as it is very common for different trim levels of the same car to run slightly different specification tyres. You then need to ensure you pick the right one for your car – no point buying tyres for 17-inch diameter rims if your car has 16-inch diameter rims.
Method 1 – Look at your tyre to find the specs:
Method 2: look at the tyre placard
But what is this? It says 205/55/R16 91V. That is not the same as what the tyre itself says. The answer is simple; my car is the poverty-pack GT, and I run luxury wheels and tyres from the top-spec GTS so I can pretend I’m rich. For some reason the GT86 placard doesn’t list both specs of tyre which is unusual. Normally the placard has all types of tyres listed, like this from a BMW 220i:
Method 3: look in the owner’s manual
Choosing a tyre
Tyre | Description | Dealer prices – fitted and balanced, each | Average (each) | Four & wheel alignment | ||||
NanoEnergy3 | long life, low rolling resistance for good fuel economy | $165 | $195 | $165 | $165 | $194 | $173 | $760 |
Proxes 4 | entry level performance tyre | $170 | $205 | – | $179 | – | $185 | $809 |
Proxes C1S | comfortable ride, good grip levels. An example of an expensive tyre that is a good all-rounder. | $180 | $209 | – | $185 | $230 | $191 | $835 |
Proxes T1 Sport | great grip and handling, but starts to compromise tyre life | $185 | $219 | – | $190 | $201 | $198 | $862 |
Proxes R1R | the grippiest tyre, but compromises everything else; is expensive and shortest life, not quiet or comfortable | $220 | $259 | – | $230 | $247 | $236 | $1,015 |
Allow around $70 for a four-wheel alignment on a roadcar.
Tyre FAQs
How many tyres should I buy?
How often should I check my tyre pressures?
What tyre pressure should I run?
What’s a wheel alignment and do I need one?
What’s a wheel balance?
Is it worth filling my tyres with nitrogen ?
How do I know when to replace my tyres?
How does changing tyres affect my car?
What about the rims?
38 Comments
Would love to see a test between all the low roll resistance economy tyres, some big claims are made
Don’t forget noise, big difference in noise, Yokohama A460 on Lancers can send you deaf 🙂
I’ve found that the “best” tyre is car dependent. One type and brand which works wonderfully on one vehicle can be terrible on a different type of car. To define a good tyre, state the vehicle it’s on.
That is true Doug, and is also dependent on use and preference.
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – Here’s all you need to know about how to choose a car tyre … and strength which would see you opting for a light-truck construction tyre. What’s what – tyre terms you have to know A “wheel” is the combination … […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – Best to use an image to make the point: The overall tyre diameter stays the same, it’s just how much of that overall diameter is tyre, and how much is rim. Changing profiles might … under-inflated it is almost flat. At … […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – Here’s all you need to know about how to choose a car tyre. OUT OF ALL the components on … You then need to ensure you pick the right one for your car – no point buying tyres for 17-inch diameter rims if your … […]
Minor typo – “somwhere”
Thanks, fixed. Proofreader has been sacked
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – Tyres lose a little bit of pressure over time, and under-inflated tyres are prone to blowouts, cost you fuel and handle poorly … It doesn’t hurt to add 3-4psi over that figure, especially if you’re heavily loaded. Over … […]
My 4WD came with 245/70/16. Dueller 693. In fact the tread width measures 170 mm. Does the 245 refer to the max sidewall width?
No, it refers to the width of the tyre tread in mm which should be close to 245mm. A 170mm tread width is very narrow.
As I said, the tread is 170 wide, 175 if you’re generous.
Odd isn’t it. I’ve spent a lot of time getting across tyre specs and buying on the basis of them to hit a use and legal target and never thought to get out the ruler to check until recently.
I can only assume that the maker decided to include the shoulder in the width spec. But it’s a steep one and would only help in soft stuff. Or it applies to the max width of the cross-section.
Got the big calipers out for some more measurements.
200 mm wide where the shoulder ends on the sidewall.
Max sidewall width 240 mm.
I been robbed!
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – We’ll cover choosing a 4WD tyre another time (or you can read my book which has a whole chapter on the topic), but to that list … lift the car. So that’s the process to get to the R1Rs. Next up will be initial drive … […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know … – Here’s all you need to know about how to choose a car tyre … but the standard tyres on your car are unlikely to be the best … Never buy just one new tyre as … […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know Moving away from the standard tyre size is quite a process (if done right as opposed to she'll be right mate) and will be covered in another article, but for the moment let's just stick with the diameter and width the car manufacturer intended … Read more on Practical Motoring […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – Method 1 – Look at your tyre to find the specs: In the case of my Toyota 86 the tyre is marked 215/45/R17, which means the tread is 215mm … But what is this? It says 205/55/R16 91V. That is not the same as what the tyre itself says. […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – This is sometimes because manufacturers choose cheap tyres as standard … Unless you have a 4WD, in which case you can ignore the speed rating and just use N-rated tyres (140km/h) or above – but load rating definitely still applies in that case. […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – This is sometimes because manufacturers choose cheap tyres as standard … Unless you have a 4WD, in which case you can ignore the speed rating and just use N-rated tyres (140km/h) or above – but load rating definitely still applies in that case. […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – Method 2: look at the tyre placard The tyre specification rating will be on the tyre placard: But what is this? It says 205/55/R16 91V. That is not the same as what the tyre itself says. The answer is simple; my car is the poverty-pack GT … […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – Method 1 – Look at your tyre to find the specs: In the case of my Toyota 86 the tyre is marked 215/45/R17, which means the tread is 215mm … The placard also shows recommended inflation pressures, which as you can see do not vary with the profile … […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – The Toyota 86 manual lists both types of tyre … and I look forwards to cutting some laps to see how much quicker these R1Rs are than the stock tyres! […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – You then need to ensure you pick the right one for your car – no point buying tyres for 17-inch diameter rims if your car has 16-inch diameter rims … But what is this? It says 205/55/R16 91V. That is not the same as what the tyre itself says. […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – We’ll cover choosing a 4WD tyre another time (or you can read my book … car (hence the numberplate) and it’s really for driving in circles on Sundays. We have a Ford Ranger for long trips, and most of the time we’ve got some new car or other on … […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – This is because Toyo have a good range of rubber in 215/45/17 to choose from … Don’t let anyone tell you that you can have it all for any given tyre. Also, it pays to ring around. One dealer swore the R1Rs would be $150 each but I think he had … […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – … s websites and enter either your car’s details, or better yet, the tyre size specifications we found above. The website will then list all of the tyres that fit the specs, and you can make your choice. For my 86 I’m going to look at the Toyo tyres … […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – It may be surprising, but the standard tyres on your car are unlikely to be the best on the market, or the best for you. This is sometimes because manufacturers choose cheap tyres as standard … We’ll cover choosing a 4WD tyre another time (or … […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – Method 1 – Look at your tyre to find the specs: In the case of my Toyota 86 the tyre is marked 215/45/R17, which means the tread is 215mm wide, the rim size is 17 inches (yes … If the tyre was rated 88 or X (higher than 87 W) that would be fine … […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – And for this article to keep things simple and legal, we’ll keep the same load rating and speed … case of my Toyota 86 the tyre is marked 215/45/R17, which means the tread is 215mm wide, the rim size is 17 inches (yes, mixing metric and imperial … […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – Method 1 – Look at your tyre to find the specs: In the case of my Toyota 86 the tyre is marked 215/45/R17, which means the tread is 215mm … I would like options for 205/55/16s with a speed rating of V and a load rating of 91. […]
[…] How to choose a car tyre – all you need to know – When choosing new tyres: You must ensure any replacement tyres are at the same load and speed rating or greater. Unless you have a 4WD, in which case you can ignore the speed rating and just use N-rated tyres (140km/h) or above – but load rating … […]
2 questions:
Alignment with new tyres… now if the alignment is already good with old tyres, why would new tyres make it better?
Speed/load rating – I don’t get this ignore this bit. My understanding is that load MUST be same or greater and speed can be avoided with a sticker on the windscreen warning that the tyres rated at x km/h
*If* the alignment was good. Often it isn’t, and it is worth checking. Post amended to clarify. Also, tyres can wear into a certain incorrect pattern, and what kind of worked on the old tyres doesn’t work on the new.
Speed/load – you can’t ignore it. For 4WD tyres there is a dispensation to speed rating of N. There is no dispensation for any load ratings.
Hi Mike, no, sorry, putting nitrogen into your car tyres won’t help you save fuel or keep your tyres inflated ‘at the correct pressure’ for longer. All you need to do is get into a habit of once a week taking a quick look at all four of your tyres and checking them with a tyre pressure gauge, which you can purchase at any auto supplies store (I keep my gauge in the glovebox for ease of access) and then, if you’ve lost a bit of pressure simply head to a local service station and then top them up, using your pressure gauge to make sure they’re running the correct pressure. Don’t rely on the digital readout on the service station pumps. – Isaac
I see, hmmm, thanks for these awesome insights, Isaac. Will surely take note of this
Thank you for this extensive guide regarding tyres! My friend is planning to get a Subaru Impreza WRX next month and he’s still clueless about tyres. I find it interesting to learn that you can figure out the tyre’s specs by looking at the actual tyre itself. I should probably share this to him so he’ll have a guide regarding car tyres.
Thanks so much for this – great article. I’m just about to put a new set on my car & didn’t want to bother hubby with taking care of the task. Now I know what I’m looking for!
i like to read your blogs regularly because of your informative blogs
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