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Probably a bit of a noddy question, but we need to do something about winter tyres for the car before, well, winter. I was going to just get some cross-seasons fitted and forget about them, but this seems a bit of a waste of the current tyres, which aren't that old. Plus, I can get a set of four wheels + decent Conti winter tyres on eBay for about £200.
So, I'm happy to do that and swap them over, but, obviously, I don't want to buy the wrong size. Current tyres are 175/65 R14, wheels are four-bolt, on boggo steel rims. The specs for the wheels/tyres I'm looking at are below. It's for a 55 plate Mazda 2.
What do I need to check to make sure they'll fit? Anything else I need to be aware of?
Rim Specs
Width: 5.5 inches
Diameter: 14 inches
Number of holes: 4 holes
Distance between centres: 108 mm
Offset: 43 mm
Continental ContiWinterContact TS850 Tyres Specs
175/65 R 14 82 T M&S
This suggests they'll be fine (looking at the 1.4 models)?
https://www.wheel-size.com/size/mazda/mazda2/2005/
I found asking a main dealer which wheel options would fit my car worked well. They even gave me the exact part numbers for all possible wheels then told me if I punched those in to Ebay - voila! Shame that car died. Twice.
It might say exactly what's approved in the handbook - it does on mine.
Just take them to a local place where you can buy/get them fitted. Aren't prices basically pretty much the same everywhere?
+1 for all four wheels
The usual convention is go a size small on the wheel with taller aspect tyres, but I'd check the handbook and/or door plate.
Aren’t prices basically pretty much the same everywhere?
I'm not going to get four wheels plus four tyres, fitted, for £200 new. I'm looking at a second-hand set of wheels and tyres.
It might say exactly what’s approved in the handbook – it does on mine.
Hmm, I'll have a look.
A couple of things to check when you do find some wheels and tyres- how old are they? If over 6 years old I would be very wary of getting them (date is a code on the tyres see https://www.kwik-fit.com/tyres/information/tyre-age)
Second is tread depth if less than 4 mm on winter tyres their efficacy in snow drops right off if that is the main consideration for getting the tyres in the first place
You can buy new all-season tryes in that size, for £50 to £70 fitted from Black Circles. Saves having to find a place to store your other wheels.
Missing/failed post, short rewrite
It's not just the wheel dims and bolt pcd. You also need to match the hub center bore as wheels are typically hub centric not bolt centric.
Aftermarket alloys usually have adapters, steels aren't reliably adaptable.
I'd look for takeoffs from the same car.
That page tells you what fits your car. As mentioned, it's common to get a smaller wheel with a taller tyre when getting winters (I go from 225/55r17 to 205/60r16) but you're already on the smallest rime size so you need the same tyrre size - so now its a case of matching bolt pcd and hub centre / offset as @BearBack says.
As others have said check your manual, it'll list all the tyre size options. If you stray from that you could be in 'modification' territory although I will point out here that IANAL.
There may be different sizes specced for winter tyres too, my VW does for example. This is largely because they are taking into account the clearance you will need if you want to use chains and not foul the strut - something to think about if travelling to the alps to ski for example.
Have a look at your spare - it will have the size and offset stamped on it on the inside of the rim. It may not have the bore, which is easy to measure. Lastly if you put your reg in some of these on line shops that know your car it'll tell you what you have - but always check a few different sites as I've known them to be wrong.
Second is tread depth if less than 4 mm on winter tyres their efficacy in snow drops right off if that is the main consideration for getting the tyres in the first place
This is my experience too. However, abroad there is a minimal tread depth on a winter tyre for it to be considered a 'winter tyre', so again bear in mind if heading to the slopes and anticipating Gendarmerie interface scenarios (Col du Lauteret for example)
I’m not going to get four wheels plus four tyres, fitted, for £200 new. I’m looking at a second-hand set of wheels and tyres.
Absolutely, the standard front Goodyears my EcoSport came with now need replacing, and I’m getting a pair of Goodyear Vector 4Seasons, which are going to cost me about £220. I’m getting them through work, at least as cheap as getting them online. I’ll get them fitted by one of the team, who’ll do it for the price of a couple of meals from the snack van!
I used to have winter wheels & tyres for all our cars over the years. When most of the cars moved on got written off (by her Indoors) I usually ended up with another set of wheels piled up in the outbuildings.
I've currently got Volvo, Saab, Subaru, Rover, Citroen and Peugeot wheels somewhere.
I was always guessing when best to put them on or take them off. I'd stick them on at the start of November after a cold snap only to see 3 weeks of sunny Autumnal weather follow. Then I'd either take them off at the end of February only to get another month of winter or keep them on for a last bit of cold weather to end up with them still on in May and worn down.
Now I just put Nokian Weatherproof or Michelin Cross Climates on and forget about it. The UK weather isn't consistent enough for a straight summer\winter swap.
(Haven't found any all season tyres for the Atom though 😆)
Cheers all.
In the end I spoke to the garage (it's going in for some work anyway), and they can fit four cross-season tyres for twenty quid more than the second hand wheel/tyre set was going to be, so I'm just going to do that.
sounds like a good plan