205/55 R17 Tyres Explained

205/55 R17 is a tyre size that is used by many everyday cars. Vehciles which require a good balance of comfort, grip and handling. For both town and motorway driving. The numbers are simple. 205 is the tyre width in millimetres. 55 means that the sidewall height is 55% of the width (in this case about 112.8mm). R17 simply tells us the tyre fits a 17 inch wheel. You'll find this size on a wide range of family and compact cars, plus some small crossovers that need a good mix of ride comfort and stability. Premium manufacturers on the page include Michelin, Continental, Pirelli, Bridgestone and Goodyear. mid range options include Hankook, Kumho, Yokohama and Falken. Value choices include Wanli, Tomket, Mazzini and Royal Black. Popular models in 205/55 R17 you can buy here include the Michelin CrossClimate 3 and the Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2. To confirm this is the right size, check the tyre sidewall, the driver's door sticker or your vehicle handbook, or enter your registration for exact matches. Also check the required load and speed rating for your car.

The first 3 sets of numbers that you will see when reading a tyre size tell you the width, profile and diameter of your tyre. In this case, for the tyre size 205/55 R17 this is broken down as follows: 205 - the width of the tyre in millimetres. In this case 205mm wide. 55 - the height of the sidewall as a percentage of the width. In this case 55% R17 - the diameter of the tyre's inner rim in inches. Essentially what size of wheel this is intended to be fitted onto. For this size, that is a 17 inch wheel

If you are looking for the recommended tyre pressure for 205/55 R17 tyres, you will find that this will depend on the manufacturer and model. Each vehicle manufacturer has their own tyre pressure recommendation for their model, that will deliver an optimal performance for your vehicle. Check the following if you are unsure what the correct tyre pressure is for your 205/55 R17 tyres Tyre label - this is often the best place to find your tyre pressure information. It is located on the door jamb on the driver’s side of the vehicle. It is a small rectangular label that provides the driver with the recommended tyre pressure and tyre sizes. Vehicle handbook - Quite often the vehicle handbook with contain a section that relates to the technical details for the tyre. This should include the required tyre size, load rating, speed rating and recommended tyre pressure.

The sidewall height of a 205/55 R17 tyre is calculated by using the profile information of the tyre size. In this instance 55. This tells us that it is 55% of the tyre's cross-section width. When looking at a tyre, the sidewall height is the distance between the tread line of the tyre and the rim line. Given that this tyre size has a cross-section width which equals 205mm, we can work out that the sidewall height is 55% of 205 – this comes to 112.75mm.