Winter Tyres On Steel Wheels

[_tim_]

I took delivery of my brand new Verso Excel 1.6 D4D last Saturday, which I'm enjoying a lot.

Yesterday I collected a set of 16" steel wheels fitted with Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32 205/60 R16 tyres, which I ordered as a package from MyTyres, and put them on.

This exact size is listed in the owners manual as an alternate to the standard fit 17" alloys so I was surprised to find that the speedo is over-reading quite a bit more than before.

At 80 mph on the speedo the GPS reads 74. This seems quite a lot out, which I could understand if I had fitted non-standard tyre sizes.

Has anyone else done the same?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Hello Tim - welcome to Toyota Owners Club.

Presume your Verso's OE tyres were 215/55/R17.

If you input your tyre size into the following tyre calculator, it will provide the degree of speedometer over-read or under-read + or - 1% at whatever speed you choose (default setting is 70mph).

http://www.alloywheels.com/Tyre_Calculator

16 inch wheels with 206/60/R16 tyres appear to be out of the 1% range - hence the large variation.

Legally car speedometers can over-read within certain criteria, but it is illegal for speedometers to under-read. Extract from Wikipedia:

United Kingdom

The amended Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 permits the use of speedometers that meet either the requirements of EC Council Directive 75/443 (as amended by Directive 97/39) or UNECE Regulation 39.

The Motor Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 2001 permits single vehicles to be approved. As with the UNECE regulation and the EC Directives, the speedometer must never show an indicated speed less than the actual speed. However it differs slightly from them in specifying that for all actual speeds between 25 mph and 70 mph (or the vehicles' maximum speed if it is lower than this), the indicated speed must not exceed 110% of the actual speed, plus 6.25 mph.

For example, if the vehicle is actually travelling at 50 mph, the speedometer must not show more than 61.25 mph or less than 50 mph.

Have you informed your insurer of the change in wheel size for winter tyre use? Some insurers will accept the change, whereas others may see it as being a modification and charge an extra premium. One member found that their insurer (Toyota Insurance) refused to accept the change when they wanted to use 15 inch wheels for winter tyres instead of the OE 17 inch wheels - as it was a change to the standard spec.

It doesn't matter whether 16 inch wheels are listed as an option for your vehicle - as your car has 17 inch wheels as OE, you need to declare the change.

Check with your insurer.

[_tim_]

There's no issue with insurance.

I'm a little surprised that Toyota quote two wheel sizes which are not immediately "compatible" as it were. Not a big issue really they'll only be on for a couple of months.

[FROSTYBALLS]

There's no issue with insurance.

I'm a little surprised that Toyota quote two wheel sizes which are not immediately "compatible" as it were. Not a big issue really they'll only be on for a couple of months.

The 16 inch wheels and tyres are compatible as the speedometer reading is within the +10% margin legislation requires. - ie if your GPS is accurate, and is reading the 'true' speed as 74mph and the speedo reading is 80mph, then you have something like an 8% over-reading

[Heidfirst]

the difference between 205/60 r16 & 215/55 r17 is 2.43% or ~1.7mph on your speedo at an indicated 70 (at the same road speed that your 17"s showed 70 at the speedo will now show 68.3).

It is perfectly normal for a car's speedo to over read ex. factory in the UK & ~6-7% is pretty normal. As Frosty says it is illegal for them to either under-read at all or over-read by more than 10%.

[Cyker]

Ooh, the 1.6 D4D is one of the new BMW engines! How are you finding it? :)

[_tim_]

Slow! But then it replaced a BMW M135i and prior to that a 5.2 litre V10 Audi S6, so my idea of speed is skewed somewhat. :p

In all seriousness for it's lack of power in a car of that size it's actually not bad at all, but pretty pointless revving it past 2,500 rpm as it's just nasty. I've got a 1200 mile round trip to France and back coming up New Year week with it full of kids and luggage and christmas presents so it'll be interesting to see how it copes with that.

[Cyker]

I was curious because my dad has a 2.0 D4D Verso and it has the launch of a slug but I can feel the torque when it goes up hills so it's like the engine is being held back by the ECU or something.

It was a bit of a let down as my brother used to have a Corolla with the same engine and that thing would launch like a rocket ship

They both have very heavy clutches tho.

I've been wondering how the BMW engines will compare as all the D4Ds have extremely flat torque curves, whereas the germans tend to make their diesel engines more peaky.

I'd be interested to know how it's like on your road trip so do come back! :)

[Wiz201]

I did google and find a list of insurers who need informing/don't need informing. My current insurer is Toyota and they don't need informing about winter tyres. I bought some from my tyres same size as the rim so I haven't seen a big difference in speed between the sat nav and the speedo.

[FROSTYBALLS]

For some insurers, it is the change in wheel size that is an issue - see post 27 of the following: http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/145281-toyota-motor-insurance/page-3

[Heidfirst]

I did google and find a list of insurers who need informing/don't need informing. My current insurer is Toyota and they don't need informing about winter tyres. I bought some from my tyres same size as the rim so I haven't seen a big difference in speed between the sat nav and the speedo.

My insurer (esure) ask that you inform them of the tyre change. If you just change tyres it is no charge but if you change wheels (to another size or make) it's chargeable as that is viewed as a modification.