My posts are like buses, don't post for months then two come at one! Have to replace front tyres, having had a read through the forum i see a lot of people are changing to 215's for better grip , something i would want to do (looking at Uniroyal Rainsport 3's) but that would leave 205's on the rear which are Continentals. Could there be any issues with doing this? thanks

Ideally all  the tyres should be the same size around but if you are fitting slightly wider tyres they should go on there rear, move the rears to the front fit the 215's on the rear.

I regularly ran 215/40 R17 on the front and 205/40 R17's on the rear of mk2 Fabia vRS.

For the better grip on the front.

They were good tyres at both ends.

 

No issues as far as i was concerned.

(If you found there was just change them front to rear.  Maybe remove that rear ballast that Skoda fitted to the rear crash bar that makes the front go light under acceleration.  Sandbagging the hatchbacks compared to the estate and sister twinchargers from VW, SEAT & AUDI that came on 215/40 R17 tyres as standard and no ballast weights.)

That rear ballast is more of an issue than bigger tyres on the front...IMO.)

 

When you have 215's and 205's measure them, and compare side by side, some like a Pirelli Zero Nero 205/40 R17 can be a taller tyre than some other brands 215's, that Pirelli Zero Nero 205 can have less tread on the road than say a Dunlop Sport Maxx of the same size.

 

With a RWD / AWD BMW, Porsche etc wide rears are the norm.

Audi offered optional wider fronts on RS3's.

 

 

Pirelli Zero Nero 205's on the outside both pictures, 215's on the car on the front & 205's on rear.

The Pirelli tyres Skoda / VW fitted to cars under warranty when they accepted that they pulled left & after the dealers failed to sort that out, 

this was them fitting these because these harder sidewall / compound tyres disguised the mis-alignment on the car.

They blamed the Continentals and Dunlops but still fitted them as OEM.

Edited 3 November, 20196 yr by Roottootemoot

You can find quite a lot of Goodyear efficient grip on eBay as pairs, 7mm + tread, they come off scrap Audi's and the like £50 a tyre, mix & match but better 215's over 205 all round

Rather than changing 205/45R16 83V tyres to 215/45R16 86V tyres, consider 205/50R16 87V tyres instead...especially if you have 6.5J rims. These would give you a higher sidewall to better protect against potholes, plus more comfort due to better bump absorption.

 

As the load index of 205/50R16 87V tyres is much more than the load index of 205/45R16 83V tyres, 87 (545kg) load index instead of 83 (487kg), you can run the higher sidewalled tyres at 4psi less tyre pressure than the 205/45R16 tyres...assuming that the tyre pressures for your 205/45R16 tyres are correct in the first place.

 

Here's a 6.5Jx16 ET42 5x100 57.1 steel rim that has been fitted to many VW/Skoda group cars. As you will see, it's a very attractive design with 16 holes to cool the brakes.

 

https://www.oponeo.co.uk/steel-wheel/alcar-kfz-9680#20629863

 

You can get some very attractive 16" wheel trims for these steel rims on ebay (they were fitted as original equipment to the VW Beetle (2001-2011).

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-Original-Vw-Hubcaps-Wheel-Blinds-Set-16-Inch-Vw-Seat-Skoda-9/133225373466?fits=Car+Make%3AVW%7CModel%3ABeetle%7CCars+Year%3A2016&hash=item1f04d9df1a:g:9f8AAOSwi0xaDXpX 

 

Here are some rather nice Uniroyal Rainsport 3 tyres (these may be replaced soon with the later Uniroyal Rainsport 5 tyres.

 

https://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=Ha7fcpZmLaGLr3ZK.110.366900716&sowigan=So&Breite=205&Quer=50&Felge=16&kategorie=6&ranzahl=4&Ang_pro_Seite=50&weiter=50&sort_by=brand&rsmFahrzeugart=ALL&Label=C-A-71-2&details=Ordern&typ=R-252862

 

People fit 215/45R16 tyres to the Fabia rather than the slightly narrower 205/45R16 tyres more for looks than grip. If you fit 215/45R16 tyres to 6.5J rims rather than 7J rims, then you may find that they don't have quite the steering precision or sharp handling that you were expecting. But then if the fitment is mainly for looks, you can benefit from the improved ride comfort that fitting tyres to narrower rims brings.

Edited 3 November, 20196 yr by Carlston

7 hours ago, Carlston said:

Rather than changing 205/45R16 83V tyres to 215/45R16 86V tyres, consider 205/50R16 87V tyres instead...especially if you have 6.5J rims. These would give you a higher sidewall to better protect against potholes, plus more comfort due to better bump absorption.

 

As the load index of 205/50R16 87V tyres is much more than the load index of 205/45R16 83V tyres, 87 (545kg) load index instead of 83 (487kg), you can run the higher sidewalled tyres at 4psi less tyre pressure than the 205/45R16 tyres...assuming that the tyre pressures for your 205/45R16 tyres are correct in the first place.

 

Here's a 6.5Jx16 ET42 5x100 57.1 steel rim that has been fitted to many VW/Skoda group cars. As you will see, it's a very attractive design with 16 holes to cool the brakes.

 

https://www.oponeo.co.uk/steel-wheel/alcar-kfz-9680#20629863

 

You can get some very attractive 16" wheel trims for these steel rims on ebay (they were fitted as original equipment to the VW Beetle (2001-2011).

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-Original-Vw-Hubcaps-Wheel-Blinds-Set-16-Inch-Vw-Seat-Skoda-9/133225373466?fits=Car+Make%3AVW%7CModel%3ABeetle%7CCars+Year%3A2016&hash=item1f04d9df1a:g:9f8AAOSwi0xaDXpX 

 

Here are some rather nice Uniroyal Rainsport 3 tyres (these may be replaced soon with the later Uniroyal Rainsport 5 tyres.

 

https://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=Ha7fcpZmLaGLr3ZK.110.366900716&sowigan=So&Breite=205&Quer=50&Felge=16&kategorie=6&ranzahl=4&Ang_pro_Seite=50&weiter=50&sort_by=brand&rsmFahrzeugart=ALL&Label=C-A-71-2&details=Ordern&typ=R-252862

 

People fit 215/45R16 tyres to the Fabia rather than the slightly narrower 205/45R16 tyres more for looks than grip. If you fit 215/45R16 tyres to 6.5J rims rather than 7J rims, then you may find that they don't have quite the steering precision or sharp handling that you were expecting. But then if the fitment is mainly for looks, you can benefit from the improved ride comfort that fitting tyres to narrower rims brings.

He has a vRS, he’ll be running 17’s 😊

Thanks for the input everyone, think i'm going to have to stretch the budget and get all 4 wheels done, it'll be the the rainsport 3's. 215/40 17s

23 hours ago, nez1971 said:

Thanks for the input everyone, think i'm going to have to stretch the budget and get all 4 wheels done, it'll be the the rainsport 3's. 215/40 17s

Good choice, don’t expect them to last long if you’re a brisk driver. I swear by them though, they only last me around 13k max but they’re amazing. Will be on my 3rd pair after Xmas.

On 06/11/2019 at 20:13, LGM said:

Good choice, don’t expect them to last long if you’re a brisk driver. I swear by them though, they only last me around 13k max but they’re amazing. Will be on my 3rd pair after Xmas.

 

'fast cornering' wears them Rainsport down on edges, managed 10k over 2 years.  so swap the wheels round every service

My  Rainsport tyres mostly cold short journeys.. Still best tyres so far for price, now on yokohama's