215/45-17 vs 215/50-17 tire specs

I just checked out several tires at Tire Rack that I thought people might use on the 2010 Prius. I compared revolutions per mile instead of diameter. Taking a rough average of 5 or 6 tires by different manufacturers here is what I found:

195/65-15 832 rev/mile
215/45-17 843 rev/mile
215/50-17 817 rev/mile

So both 17 inch sizes are off a little from the standard 15 inch size but in different directions. I really don't think you would notice any difference driving the car except for a speedometer error. 8 rev/mile would be approximately 1%. Since virtually all speedometers indicate fast the 215/50 might give you a more accurate speedometer.

Interestingly a 205/50-17 comes very close in rev/mile (approximately 830) to the 195/65-15.

As of now I plan on sticking with the original 215/45-17 size, and unless something better comes along I will use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires for my first replacement. If I have tire or wheel problems due to the low profile 45s I will most likely go to 205/50-17s or buy wheels and use 205/55-16s.

 

just ordered 17 oem rims, instead of the oem 15s. the 205/50/17 is def the winner. not only will the rev/mile be similar, as stated above, but the 205 is slimmer, so less friction than the 215.

don't have springs on the car, so 50 series will fill up the gap a little better hopefully.

here are the comparisions i just did on tire rack.

bridgestone ecopia ep422 seems pretty good.

none of the tread patterns are super exciting, but hey, we're prius nerds...if we were in it for the excitement... errrr well


just coming to pay my respects! thanks!

 

I bought the 205/50s I have continental DWS. My speedometer is a little more accurate with the slightly bigger tire. I did 50 profiles for a slight bit more flex for ride comfort, but they are pumped up. Probably handling would be a little better, and car would look a little better, if I changed springs and lowered it a little. I can't lower it much because of dirt roads I sometimes use, so I decided it wasn't worth the cost.

 

Are 205s wide enough for a 7" wide wheel ?
The stock 215s look too narrow to start with, 205s must look even more so.

 

Yes, I have 17x7. Look on tire rack, they have all the sizing and weight information. Remember wider increases traction but also rolling resistance. There is more of a difference on the tire than 205s versus 215s though. If you want wider tires you need to drop down to 16s to get the correct diameter. I bought my wheels at tire rack, but tires locally. Tire rack has the information that will help you choose though.

 

I also have the 17"x7" but with the stock 215 wide tyres and I think they look too narrow on the rim, as if they would come off on hard cornering LOL, do the 205s look ok ?
TBH, I think Toyota should have used a narrower 17" rim to start with, it probably would have cut down on road noise as well.

 

Yes the 205/50R17 look fine, but it is an economy car. They do look narrow compared to my last car that had 225s. It feels much more planted, especially in the rain compared to the car I test drove. I did change rims and tires right away.

On harder cornering there is body sway because of the suspension, but the tires feel fine. You just need to get used to it, or change suspension. I decided that wasn't worth the money.

 

smaller diameter tires provide more torque compared to larger diameter tires

 

power is proportional to rpm x torque

Bigger tire diameter has lower rpm at the same vehicle speed which requires higher torque to provide the same power.

In the hsd the ice makes power independently to vehicle speed. MG2 however has a power curve that increases with speed, then decreases. Larger tires will provide more efficient operation and better acceleration at higher speeds, smaller tires will provide better acceleration at lower speeds. The smaller stock tires on the heavier 17s, likely hurt acceleration more at higher speeds The sizes are close enough not to worry about it, the extra rolling resistance is the bigger factor.

 

Interesting thread. I bought 17 scion tc rims and they came with 225 45 R17
Is this a potential problem? they have nice michelin pilot sports on them
any thoughts would be appreciated

 

I've spent a lot of time looking at this question, and I've entered into a bit of conversation with F8L on thd 205/50R17. F8L went ahead with the purchase of some Contis, and I was considering the same. F8L returned his because he just couldn't get over the very harsh ride.

We suspect the harsh ride comes from the fact that the 205/15R17s seem to come only in the XL (extra load) rating. Instead of having more sidewall for a softer ride, the tire is more rigid to handle the heavier load.

I ordered 215/45R17s today to replace my 60,000+ mile Toyos. I am getting the Michelin Primacy MXM4.

It would be great to get more reports from people who put the 205/50R17s on their wheels.

 

I agree with a priori. Additionally, TireRack recently tested the same Continental PureContact that I bought but in a different size. They criticized it for a harsher ride than the other tires in the test although it did very well overall. They offered the same criticism and praise that I gave the tire. This leads me to believe the problem was partially due to the XL rating and partially just a trait of that model of tire.

It would be great if others like austingreen would provide their opinions on the ride quality of their 205/50/17 XL tires. It would be great if the ride quality degradation was limited to that particular tire. IMO the 205/50/17 looks much better on the Prius than the 215/45/17 unless you plan on lowering the car a lot. With TRDs or Eibachs I think the 205/50/17 would still look nicer.

 

IMHO the ride quality of my procontact dws continentals is fairly good for a prius. I bought them in 2009 though, and those tires don't seem to be available today. My guess is the problem is with the pureContact not the 205/50/17.

 

Now we just need someone to try another tire like the Bridgestone Serenity Plus or EP422 to confirm.

 

I was close to picking up the Serenity Plus tires, particularly after the recent Tire Rack review, but I was thrilled to be able to pick up the Michelins at the price they gave me.

Perhaps it isn't all related to the XL rating, but it does make sense to me.

I'll probably need to run the Primacy tires at a variety of pressures to find the setting most appropriate/comfortable for me, and that may provide a bit more information. (I've run the Toyos at a pretty high psi.)

 

You made the right choice. Eventually someone will try the other tires and provide feedback. For your particular desires I think the MXM4 was the best choice overall.

 

so will these 225 be ok?
they are high performance tires and well, already have em?

 

They are much larger than I would recommend and you may have clearance issues on hard turns but you can try them. It will probably look really goofy too. LOL They are 1" taller than the OE 15s and 1.3" taller than the OE 17s.