Aygo Fire Wheels and Tyres

[Agent Orange]

Hello Folks,

Please bear with me as this is my first post, I've been a "Lurker" for quite some time and have used many tips found on here for my 2012 Aygo Fire (In Orange, hence the user name) so thanks to everybody for a really helpful forum.

I've had the Aygo for a couple of years now and I still love it but as it is coming up for it's MOT (End of April) and it's 40,000 mile service, I am thinking about changing the wheels and tyres. At the moment it has the stock 14" six spoke alloys but I was wondering what your thoughts are on upping them to 15" with 195/45/15 Toyo tyres:

 http://www.wheelbasealloys.com/alloy-wheels/cades/eros/black/15-inch

I realise that the speedo will be a fraction out but I was wondering more about the difference in ride/handling.  I'm not a speed freak but I do get the "Pogo Stick handling" (As somebody on here said) with the 14" rims....Is the ride less so, with the slightly wider tyre?  I like the cosmetic look of the Cades Eros rim and think it would look pretty good on an orange Aygo but I'm not changing, for changes sake.....My Wife wouldn't allow it (Probably the mixture of Yorkshire and Scottish Blood  ) and I need to convince her.

Many thanks in advance for any advice or help with your experiences.

All the best. 

 

[mickburkesnr]

I think Toyo tyres are a good mid range choice for the Aygo. I've found them to be good in the wet and cost £20 less than the Continentals for, what I think, the same grip.

You will notice a definate change in the handling of the car. You're putting on far wider tyres, so there's more rubber contact with the tarmac. In my experience when I upgraded the 14" wheels of my Corolla with wider 15" wheels the steering was that bit heavier but more responsive too. I could feel the wheels grip the road better. This gives you more confidence driving.

Also with the larger wheels you're reducing the amount of flex in the tyre wall. The tyre wall on a 15" is shorter than the 14", so the car won't roll as much with 15"s as it does with 14"s. Imagine the tyre is stuck to the road, and you turn left. The wheel will push out towards the right (because of lateral G forces). If the tyre wall is quite tall, theres more rubber to flex. With shorter walls and larger wheels this is reduced significantly. 

I had the same argument with my girlfriend when I picked up the alloys for the Corolla, as I had to make a fairly lengthy trip to get them. She couldn't see the point. What I told her was that the new wheels are wider than what's already on there, so I'm putting more rubber on the road. This is a safety thing. It's shocking to think that nearly 1 tonne of car relies on the contact of four tyres, each with a contact patch of what? 3 or 4 inches?

So, if you need to convince your wife, just tell her wider tyres means more rubber and a safer car. Does she really want you to die if it's raining and you start skidding? ;)

[Justhandguns]

On 17/02/2017 at 11:04 AM, Agent Orange said:

I've had the Aygo for a couple of years now and I still love it but as it is coming up for it's MOT (End of April) and it's 40,000 mile service, I am thinking about changing the wheels and tyres. At the moment it has the stock 14" six spoke alloys but I was wondering what your thoughts are on upping them to 15" with 195/45/15 Toyo tyres:

 http://www.wheelbasealloys.com/alloy-wheels/cades/eros/black/15-inch

I realise that the speedo will be a fraction out but I was wondering more about the difference in ride/handling.  I'm not a speed freak but I do get the "Pogo Stick handling" (As somebody on here said) with the 14" rims....Is the ride less so, with the slightly wider tyre?  I like the cosmetic look of the Cades Eros rim and think it would look pretty good on an orange Aygo but I'm not changing, for changes sake.....My Wife wouldn't allow it (Probably the mixture of Yorkshire and Scottish Blood  ) and I need to convince her.

I bought the 15" from that place, yes, with the Toyo Proxes T2 (not available anymore?) at that time and I never looked back. First and foremost,  Toyo's are much more hard wearing than the stock Continentals, I had to change my front Continentals every 2 years..... As mickburkesnr said, no matter what tyres you are with, the wider 15" tyres will provide you with much more stability, especially on motorways. The speedo will not changed too much when compared to my Satnav. maybe a 2-3mph difference at most. I also did not notice any fuel economy change as some suggested that the large contact surface means more friction, i.e. more fuel is needed. I guess our cars and wheels are just small enough that these things are negligible. A little drawback is that, your car will be a bit more bumpy.

Those are the best 500ish quids that I paid for my old Aygo. Go for them!

[FROSTYBALLS]

Ideally one should use a tyre size/speedometer error calculator website that compares the effect of the tyre change including the effect on the speedometer reading, to determine whether the speedometer will under read (which is illegal) or continue to be within the parameters of over reading.

For example the in the UK speedometers should never show less than the actual speed, should show up to 110% of the actual speed, and for speeds between 25 and 70 mph, show up to 110% of the actual speed plus 6.25 mph. For example at a true speed of 50 mph, the speedometer may legally show up to 61 mph (50 + 10% + 6.25).

 

[Justhandguns]

1 hour ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Ideally one should use a tyre size/speedometer error calculator website that compares the effect of the tyre change including the effect on the speedometer reading, to determine whether the speedometer will under read (which is illegal) or continue to be within the parameters of over reading.

For example the in the UK speedometers should never show less than the actual speed, should show up to 110% of the actual speed, and for speeds between 25 and 70 mph, show up to 110% of the actual speed plus 6.25 mph. For example at a true speed of 50 mph, the speedometer may legally show up to 61 mph (50 + 10% + 6.25).

 

 

I do not think it is going to be a problem as the 195/45/15 is small in diameter than the standard 155/65/14. So the speedo will never show less speed. And from my experience, the difference is certainly within the legal limit.

[mickburkesnr]

According to this website, there is a difference of 0.11% in the speed. So at 30mph it would actually be 30.03mph, so it's actually very close. 

[Agent Orange]

Thank you so much for your replies, you've all been a great help. 

I knew about the speedo difference as I had seen the site that mickburkesnr pointed us to but your actual experiences and advice on the larger wheel/tyre combo has been invaluable and I really like your "Wife persuader" agument, Well done, Sir!

Also many thanks to Justhandguns for the info and the help with "Wheelbase Alloys", they seem a decent firm and are based only about 30 miles away from me so the free fitting that they offer, if you turn up in person is a real bonus.

Thanks again for all your help, it's much appreciated!