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-   -   VW Polo : Tyre & wheel upgrade thread (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-alloy-wheel-section/92635-vw-polo-tyre-wheel-upgrade-thread-8.html)

Hello BHPians , booked a polo 1.5 TDi comfortline . Looking to upgrade the wheels , presently it comes with 185/60-15 . Please help me with the pros and cons of the mentioned upgardes , 205/55-15 or 205/50-16.

Hey F2005 , the tyre upgrade looks good from the back . Is it on stock wheels or aftermarket alloys? Could you post close up pics from the side

Hi Karizma,
The tires are on stock 15` wheels. Hope this pic helps.

Looks good buddy , What is the difference you feel in terms of ride quality , handling , fuel efficiency after changing to these from 185/60-15 Apollo tyres ?

I changed the tires on the delivery day itself. So, can't comment on the stock Apollo tires.
Coming to the S-Drives, the car has done 3600 kms and I feel the grip is more and the car feels more planted at high speeds and cornering. I am getting a fuel efficiency of around 18 kmpl average with equal city and highway driving.
The tire noise is also less now. Have to see when more kilometers are done.

Guys need some advice on Polo tyres.

I just had my 3rd servicing at 34k kms. Service personnel mentioned that there is some wear on front two tyres, even though he said they will probably do another 10k kms.

I later went to a wheel balancing center and even the mechanic there mentioned that there is some wear on the tyres and may need to change in next few thousand kms.

My question is that what is a general life of the OEM tyres. I generally drive in the city with 2-3 yearly long drives. I do use a lot of engine braking (VW said that my brakes are still good for another 15k kms at my 3rd service). - just to give you a reference of my driving and hence tyre wear.

What can I expect a normal life in kms for the tyres?

Second question is that what size should I change to - 170/70 or upgrade to 185/65 (I do not plan on buying alloys, will retain the 14 inch steel rims). There is also 195/60 but that may be too much for the power at hand.

Given these size options, should I retain the Acelere (or Alnac) or is there a better choice for these sizes?

Adding tyre size calculations. Please advice.

185/65/14 should be good. And tyre life depends on a lot of factors, but 40k kms is also not bad. I will suggest rotate the tyres and use the tyres for 5-6k kms more and then change them .

Yes I have rotated them, generally have followed a 6-7k interval for balancing and rotation.

Now they should work till around 40k.

Any suggestions on the tyre make and model?

Thinking of upgrading Polo Highline's stock Acelere 185/60 R15 to MRF ZSport 205/55 R15. Any reviews/suggestions?

Reading this thread it seems that the 185/60 R15 and 195/60 R15 are both valid upsize alternatives for the Trendline (replacing the stock 14 inch rims with 15 inch).

I am, however surprised, that changemytyre.com does not mention the 195/60 R15 as an alternative. It lists the 195/55 R15 and 205/55 R15 as choices (within 15 inch).

To add to the confusion, forum member Nikhilb2008 had earlier posted on this thread that

"195/55-15 is not recommended as that is the technically wrong size"
"205/55-15 is definitely overkill."

Now I am confused. Are these two sizes unfit for the Polo with 15 inch rims?

I am leaning towards the 195/60 R15 for the extra ground clearance but if its a no-no will settle for the 185/60 R15.

The Trend is 175/70 R14 right?

You can pick from
1) 185/60 R15
2) 195/55 R15
2) 205/55 R15

All are well within the safe upgrade limits. The new 1.5L Diesel engine can take the extra load from 205. So, no need to shy away from that. :)

195/60 is a wrong upgrade as its outside the safe limit of 2%. Is simply too tall a tyre for the Polo.

My pick would be the 195/55. The only problem is the lack of options.

+1 to deetjohn. :)

The beauty about the German and Japanese cars is no matter how high you go with the tire upgrade (within sanity of course), they do not protrude out of the chassis.

W.r.t the 1.5 TDi, it can easily handle 195 & 205 width tire without any major issues on both performance & economy.

I personally recommend 205/55/R15 (if you are looking to upgrade to 15") as I have been using it for over 15K kms on my GT and have had no issues. Its a decent balance between performance & comfort, and I think also looks aesthetically much better :).

Thanks, deetjohn and Vik0728. Much appreciated.

Yes, Trendline stock is 175/70 R14.

Both these options (195/55 R15 and 205/55 R15) appear attractive.

195/55 has 0.51 cm less diameter than my 175/70 R14 stock tyres so my hope of adding a little Ground Clearance will be dashed.

205/55 -- Seems ideal (and adds 0.60 cm ground clearance) but reading your replies I'm not sure it should be mated to my 1.2 L standard Petrol engine.

Oh! Don't put the 205 for the 1.2L petrol variant. That car will lose all its peppiness.

And please note, whatever that you might gain by an upsize will go away once the tread wears. But if you want 195/55 R15 so badly, go for it and bump up the air pressure by a bit, if loss in Ground Clearance is a big concern.

My suggestion will be 185/60 R15 all things considered. :)