Anyone done the above, and stuck with it? I know it's been mentioned, just wondering the current situation. If you've done this, how did it work out for you?
I sold the car so I didn't have the 205/50/17s on there for long but I prefer that over the 215/45/17s. Just watch which tires you buy. A lot in that alternative size are XL rated which may increase ride harshness. XL tires should be safer and resist blowouts more though. If ground clearance is an issue then go with the 205/50/17. It's not much but every 1/2" counts right?
One big hurdle, if you use Costco or someone with similar culture, could be convincing them to mount alternative size. Actually I'm so fed up with them after their last cock up (sold me 3 right and one left X-Ice) I may just shop elsewhere. It'll be a while, but I love to window shop.
Get a price from them then take it to your local equivalent to Discount Tire. Most places will match or come close.
Funny: Kal Tire was close or even lower, when I checked AFTER buying those X-Ice at Costco (for another vehicle). Except rebates are mail-in at KT. They're a couple/three blocks from us, strong contender. Yeah we drive around winters on 195/65R15 snows. 205/50R17 are virtually same OD. Think they'll easier ride, better fuel economy.
Do you mean the speedo issue? That it reads about 4% fast? That's legislated, I don' mind it. Regarding odo, it's a bit of mystery if toyota adjusted for 215/45R17, which does 1~2% more revs per given distance, comparing to stock 195/65R15. 205/50R17 is virtually the same revs as stock, VERY slightly less.
What do you mean it's legislated? Yes, I meant the speedometer, to compensate for the appoximate 1.5-2 mph discrepancy.
Legislated as in legislated. And yes, if I put a 1.5% larger OD tire on a car with speedo reading 4% high, it'll read a little closer to accurate. It'll be 2.5% high.
Yes, I understand you typed legislated, I wasn't sure what you meant. The governments made laws legislating the need for an inaccurate speedometer? Thanks for the tire info.
Yes, a car can read higher than actual (but must fall within a certain %) but can never read below actual. Different manufacturers have varying degrees of speedometer discrepancy with German cars typically having the highest "errors" (apparently because their clientele is more likely to swap out the stock tires for larger rims)
