Swapping 18 inch wheels for 17 inch wheels on my Rav4 Invincible

[Chris Stubbs]

Hi, I'm thinking of swapping my 18inch wheels for 17 inch ones, the ones I have on at the moment are an upgrade with Michelin Latitude Sport 3. I find the ride quality quite harsh. Has anyone else done this and noticed a difference in ride quality. Also, does anyone think the Michelin Sport tyres may have something to do with it, I believe they are XL which means Extra Load so I imagine they are heavily reinforced and almost akin to runflats. If anyone has replaced their 18 inch tyres with regular ones I'd be happy to hear what the results were. Thanks in advance.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Moved to the Rav4 forum.

[forkingabout]

I believe the Rav 4 of 2015 vintage fitted with 17" wheels had 225/65R17 102H sized tyres. 

102 is the load index so any suitable sized tyre needs a load index of 102 or higher.

H is the speed rating so you need a H rated tyre or better 

[Chris Stubbs]

Thanks for that. I'm contacting Toyota today to see if I can replace the 18 inch alloys with 17 inch instead.

Edited August 5, 2022 by Chris Stubbs

[philip42h]

... and the OEM 18" wheels were shod with 235/55 R18

Many owners found the OEM Bridgestone Dueler were relatively noisy and gave a rather firm ride. I found Michelin Cross Climate much better - quieter, a more compliant ride and, of course, all season. Having never tried them I can't comment on the Latitude Sport.

The 'natural' ride of a 4.4 is still quite firm - especially if compared to the ride of a saloon car ...

[Dippy]

My 2008 model has 225/65R17, and I changed from Bridgestone to Michelin Pilot Sport (I think); way quieter, and I don’t think they are harsh at all. Though my other car is rather sporty. I think you are right to try for 17s. 

[Chris Stubbs]

Thanks Dippy, I've had a quote from Toyota, eyewatering! Looking for another alloy and wheel combo from other sources but it's a minefield making sure the fit is correct.

[Chris Stubbs]

2 hours ago, Dippy said:

My 2008 model has 225/65R17, and I changed from Bridgestone to Michelin Pilot Sport (I think); way quieter, and I don’t think they are harsh at all. Though my other car is rather sporty. I think you are right to try for 17s. 

Do you know if reducing wheel size to 17 inch would be classed as a modification? I have seen quite a few invincibles on 17 inch wheels?

[FROSTYBALLS]

1 minute ago, Chris Stubbs said:

Do you know if reducing wheel size to 17 inch would be classed as a modification?

Depends on the insurer.

With most new policies and renewals you actually agree in the terms that the car is to standard specification unless you've declared changes. 'Standard specification' relates to the grade of the car insured - so for example, if an Invincible comes with 18 inch wheels, but a Design comes with 17 inch that is what the insurer would expect to be on each of those grades of car.

[philip42h]

5 minutes ago, Chris Stubbs said:

Do you know if reducing wheel size to 17 inch would be classed as a modification? I have seen quite a few invincibles on 17 inch wheels?

The Icon and Invincible came on 18" wheels as standard - there was no option for 17" wheels so, yes, I guess that it would be classed as a modification. Best to tell your insurer in any case since you wouldn't want to fall foul of them disowning the change at a later date.

Only the Active and Business Editions came on 17" wheels.

[philip42h]

On 8/4/2022 at 8:15 PM, Chris Stubbs said:

I find the ride quality quite harsh.

Why do you believe the ride quality to be quite harsh? What are you comparing it to?

The 4.3 on 18" wheels was very much a Tonka toy - it tended to pitch a bit and bounce along which was all very much a part of the charm of the car.

The 4.4 on exactly the same wheels was positively serene by comparison. I was never tempted to consider fitting smaller wheels.

The 4.5, still on 18" wheels but a different profile is more comfortable still ...

But in all cases the cars tend to stay relatively flat through the corners - the suspension is stiff enough to ensure that is the case. Other SUVs I tried around the time were much more softly sprung and tended to wallow around corners (by comparison).

It all depends on what you are expecting ...

[Dippy]

4 hours ago, Chris Stubbs said:

Thanks Dippy, I've had a quote from Toyota, eyewatering! Looking for another alloy and wheel combo from other sources but it's a minefield making sure the fit is correct.

I’d never buy them new! Many of the younger more sporty persuasion think bigger is better; I’d offer them here and elsewhere for a swap for 17s, with cash adjustment for relative condition/ tyre tread (or pay a fitter £60 to swap the tyres)

[Chris Stubbs]

3 minutes ago, Dippy said:

I’d never buy them new! Many of the younger more sporty persuasion think bigger is better; I’d offer them here and elsewhere for a swap for 17s, with cash adjustment for relative condition/ tyre tread (or pay a fitter £60 to swap the tyres)

Thanks for that Dippy, good idea, the alloys on mine were on it when I bought it a week or so ago, they are an upgrade and are virtually brand new and unmarked.

[Frazzled]

"Parallel question" re winter tyres for RAV4 PHEV 2022 / UK, which came with 225/60R/18 wheels.

I cannot find for love nor money 18" steel rims, so *assume* the better option is to drop to 17" rims and gain a 1/2" of rubber on the winter tyre sidewalls - so 225/65R/17.

Q1: is the assumption to drop to 17" correct / necessary, or am I just looking in the wrong places (in the UK)

Q2: I think some RAV4s come supplied with 19" rims, would this be a better option  - so 225/55R/19 ?

Q3 - most importantly - does anyone know if the brake caliper housing will fit inside a 17" steel rim?

Many thanks all.

 

[philip42h]

5 minutes ago, Frazzled said:

"Parallel question" re winter tyres for RAV4 PHEV 2022 / UK, which came with 225/60R/18 wheels.

I cannot find for love nor money 18" steel rims, so *assume* the better option is to drop to 17" rims and gain a 1/2" of rubber on the winter tyre sidewalls - so 225/65R/17.

Q1: is the assumption to drop to 17" correct / necessary, or am I just looking in the wrong places (in the UK)

Q2: I think some RAV4s come supplied with 19" rims, would this be a better option  - so 225/55R/19 ?

Q3 - most importantly - does anyone know if the brake caliper housing will fit inside a 17" steel rim?

Many thanks all.

So, where are you going that is likely to need full cold weather tyres? If it were me, I'd simply stick all season rubber on the rims that I already have and not bother with the swap spring and autumn. And, 'yes', that is exactly what I have done. It also saves messing with two sets of TPMS valves etc..

If you really want a separate set of winter wheels, get some 18" alloys the same size as the one's you already have ... at least you can be perfectly confident that they fit.

[Mojo1010]

Maybe give another tyres a try before changing the all the wheels, Michelin cross climates as suggested above. 

[Frazzled]

Hi Philip & Mojo and thanks for quick replies.

Winter tyres needed as I spend a fair bit of each year in Vorarlberg, Austria - they are a legal requirement just to get up to the local pass at 1200m, some of the others are nearer 1700m and not always cleared of snow daily, so alternatives are not even an option.

I moved to the RAV4 from an 18 year old Touran, for which we always switched to snow tyres on steel rims in the winter - and with good reason: many of the roads have high granite kerbs to keep washout gravel off the surface or deep concrete runnels to take the spring melt-water. Slip-sliding into these is not infrequent especially when going downhill fully loaded, and I know from bitter experience alloys don't come off well (outer flanges tend to 'peel' off the 'drum'), whereas the local garage / wheel shop has plenty of experience banging steel ones back into shape.

So the questions stand.

* Does anyone know why 18" steel rims aren't available (Touran was on 16", no issue finding them) when 17" & 19" seem to be?

* Does anyone have 17" rims / wheels? If so, I assume caliper clearance will be fine - my Toyota dealer only seems to offer / know about alloy wheels ...

Tx

F

[forkingabout]

Michelin Cross Climate 2 is Three-peak mountain snow flake certified tyre.

https://www.michelin.co.uk/auto/advice/winter-tyres-guide/european-winter-tyres-regulation

[philip42h]

5 minutes ago, forkingabout said:

Michelin Cross Climate 2 is Three-peak mountain snow flake certified tyre.

https://www.michelin.co.uk/auto/advice/winter-tyres-guide/european-winter-tyres-regulation

... and the legal requirement for Austria states:

"For a tyre to qualify as a winter tyre, it must carry the labels "M+S", "M.S." or "M&S", or a snowflake symbol (which may appear with or without the other labels). Accordingly, all-weather and all-year-round tyres are only suitable for use as winter tyres if they carry one of these labels."

So the vast majority of "all season" tyres will qualify as 'legal' - certainly anything carrying a 3PMS label should be fit for purpose.

But I suspect that the OP really wants a full cold weather tyre. And I haven't been able to find anything in 18" steel, nor a PHEV running on 17" rims so I really can't help much further ...

[Roger_N]

It seems the only way to find out is to try it, if you can find someone near you with a 17" rimmed Rav4 see if they will let you try it on your car.