Changing from Continentals to Michelin

Trotter

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In order to get the Three Peaks + Snow symbol, I’m changing my Continental Vanco’s to Michelin Agilis CrossClimate.
Tyres fitted atm are 215/70 R15.
I can get 225/70 R15’s at a better price than the 215’s.
Anyone got any advice about increasing the width by 10 mm ?
 
Are your tyres ready for changing Del? You have a few years yet you can run the M&S tyres on high passes abroad
 
Checking @ Kwikfit, they will do 15% discount on 4 tyres, at 215’s, bringing the price down to a similar price.
Answered my own question 🙄
 
I changed my Vanco Campers for Agilis CrossClimates on the front wheels a few months ago. Wish I'd done it at the previous change. Will be changing to CrossClimates on the rears as well when there's a bit less tread on them.
 
I think I changed from 215/70 to 225/70 on my Ducato based motorhome (at least I know I have 225/70 Cross-Climates fitted now :) )

Effect of 225/70 instead of 215/70 ....
Speedo will overread a little less
Acceleration will be slightly reduced
ODO will increase slightly slower
Engine will run at a slower RPM for a given TRUE speed
Improved Fuel Economy
Greate Ground Clearance
More compliant ride
Less precise steering

Those are the things I can think of.
Overall I would suggest the 225s over the 215.
Trev makes good points but I think the extra width would not be enough to cause a problem considering some people fit things like Goodrich BFGs and are able to run them without modification.

IIRC, I had to get the 225s to get the higher Load Rating (the 215s max rating is not as high) but I think I would have gone for the 225s anyway.
 
I have just had a set of 4 cross climates fitted at quickfit (on my road car), and with the 15%they were the cheapest anywhere.
The offer probably wont last long when everyone wants them for winter.
Fantastic tyres, although I still use BFG A/Ts on the 4wd.
 
I think I changed from 215/70 to 225/70 on my Ducato based motorhome (at least I know I have 225/70 Cross-Climates fitted now :) )

Effect of 225/70 instead of 215/70 ....
Speedo will overread a little less
Acceleration will be slightly reduced
ODO will increase slightly slower
Engine will run at a slower RPM for a given TRUE speed
Improved Fuel Economy
Greate Ground Clearance
More compliant ride
Less precise steering

Those are the things I can think of.
Overall I would suggest the 225s over the 215.
Trev makes good points but I think the extra width would not be enough to cause a problem considering some people fit things like Goodrich BFGs and are able to run them without modification.

IIRC, I had to get the 225s to get the higher Load Rating (the 215s max rating is not as high) but I think I would have gone for the 225s anyway.
Why would the speedo not read correctly and the RPM be affected by increase in width? I could see a difference in readings by a larger circumference but not width.
 
Why would the speedo not read correctly and the RPM be affected by increase in width? I could see a difference in readings by a larger circumference but not width.
You are quite right. It is the increase in circumference that makes the difference, not the width.

But you need to look at the profile AND the width to get the picture ....
225 is in mm and is the width, so 10mm larger in width.
70 is the profile, and is a percentage of the width. So the height of the tyre from rim to tread is 70% of 225. Which is of course more than 70% of 215 (around 7mm more).
So the tyre diameter on a 225/70 is 14mm (7mm + 7mm) more that a 215/70. On a 15" wheel, that makes the circumference around 2% larger, hence affecting speedo and gearing.

This is why when people want to fit wider tyres on cars, they should generally go lower profile to get the same overall rolling circumference. Go two sizes up in width (say 205 to 225) and you should drop a profile (say 60 to 50) to get the Speedo to read approx the same.

Personally on vans, I like to oversize the tyres a bit for lower RPMs mainly (saved 400 revs at 65MPH on my VW T4 - made it much nicer on long motorway drives)
 
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In order to get the Three Peaks + Snow symbol, I’m changing my Continental Vanco’s to Michelin Agilis CrossClimate.
Tyres fitted atm are 215/70 R15.
I can get 225/70 R15’s at a better price than the 215’s.
Anyone got any advice about increasing the width by 10 mm ?
Del you will be fine withe the extra 10 mm mate
 
In order to get the Three Peaks + Snow symbol, I’m changing my Continental Vanco’s to Michelin Agilis CrossClimate.
Tyres fitted atm are 215/70 R15.
I can get 225/70 R15’s at a better price than the 215’s.
Anyone got any advice about increasing the width by 10 mm ?
im on bridgestone. i like , tride others. still like-ing them. ok. ridding high. ok.pj.
 

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