I’m sure (or I was) the Passat is 205/55/R16, but when I type my reg no into one of the tyre sites I get 215/55/R16. There are car data sites out there and they say 205.

Anyone know of a good and accurate way to get the tyre spec? Before anyone asks, I’m nowhere near the car so I can’t go and check!

Ring a VW dealer

A dealer is going to be the closest you’re going to get to definitive short of a visual inspection (assuming a previous owner hasn’t fitted four incorrect tyres). For online, Blackcircles has an ‘enter your reg’ checker IIRC.

Are you remembering the size of the spare wheel, perhaps?

205 is far more common and cheaper. Only 10mm difference. Can be quite a variance in spec sometimes as well as people making adjustments for ride/look/price. I wouldn’t get too hung up on it, either will do.

Incidentally,

If you’ve got undersized tyres fitted, it’ll cause your speedo to over-read even more than it does normally, so you’ll be driving everywhere slower than you think.

Can you not just go by what the current tyres are? The online no. plate checkers are notoriously unreliable…

What does it say on inside of fuel flap or wherever else they’ve put the tyre pressures?

Maybe it should have 215’s on, and you put the wrong ones on last time?

I could go by the current tyres uf I were with the car, but I’m not, and I want to order the tyres now…

Some sites list both 205 and 215 for the same model.

Is SWMBO close to the car? Phone her and get her to have a look. Use the helpful guide on Black Circles to show her what to look for.

No, we’re both here. Will have to call the dealer tomorrow.

Now I’m thinking they might be 215 because they are all £90 ish whilst 205s are £60 ish, and I definitely paid £90 a corner last time.

stick 205s on, you will get a much better tyre for less money than the wider ones

Why so much difference?

My Galaxy runs 215/60/r16’s, of which two need changing next week. What are the issues with dropping a tyre size?

I’m more concerned about what the insurance company will say.

Difference in price is down to supply and demand.

Just checked online, 205s are 1.7% smaller than 215s.

On that car the speedometer does not read the usual 10% under, it reads about 6-7% under. So if I were to fit 205s it would bring it more into line with other cars I’ve had if I were to simply ignore the difference and continue to cruise at an indicated 70.

In other news, I need to take a dump at some point, do I do it now, or wait until the last minute of turtle heading so the relief is more intense?

Definitely the latter.

If you’ve got undersized tyres fitted, it’ll cause your speedo to over-read even more than it does normally, so you’ll be driving everywhere slower than you think.

Am I missing something here? 205/215 refers to the width of the tyre carcass, 55 is the profile, so a 205/55 and a 215/55 should have the same outside circumference, so there should be no effect on your speedo. If you were dropping wheel size from 205/55/R16 to 205/30/R14 then maybe …

Am I missing something here?

yup. how tyre sizing works 😉

the profile is a % of the width so a wider tyre with the same profile has a larger circumference.

Could be either, cars often come approved for a few sizes. Its all in the manual.

It doesn’t always work. My car was supplied with inch bigger alloys than the car reg plate sites say but the bigger size is correct on the dealer systems.

Mine has it in the owners manual for the two wheel sizes that it came out of the factory with.

yup. how tyre sizing works

the profile is a % of the width so a wider tyre with the same profile has a larger circumference.

A ha! That would explain it. Every day is a skool day 😳