I purchased a set of 17x8 alloys from Lee on here, they are fitted with nearly new 225/45/17 Toyos which I plan on using for track days.

I've recently had fitted some 215/45/17 Pirelli P Zero Neros to the standard wheels which I may fit to the 8" wheels. Has anyone had any experience of stretched tyres or how it affects tyre performance?

 

 

^^^^ Legal limits for tyre sizes.

 

perfect :-) just what I wanted to hear, will keep them and flog the original alloys

 

Tyres

• Stretch tyres are becoming more popular as the craze from Europe hits the United Kingdom. Fitting this type of tyre to your car is illegal and could adversely compromise the handling of your vehicle. The fitting of this type of tyre contravenes the Type Approval of the vehicle and renders it not fit for purpose as well as potentially invalidating your insurance. This could lead to a prosecution of dangerous condition of vehicle, namely Sec 40A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and is subject to a £100 Fixed Penalty Notice and three penalty points endorsed onto your driving licence or being reported to Court.

I thought I would point this out.

 

I agree completely. That's why I posted the chart above so the OP is aware what is classed as legal and not. His selection is ok for 215s on 8" wide rims. Just!

 

I'm not going to comment on your specific tire size but I did buy a car with stretched tires once so here's my 2 pence worth:

Some tyre brands take to a 'stretch' better than others, but the feedback on this comes from users. The stretch results in the sidewall of the tire coming into contact with the road surface. The amount of stretch obviously effects how severely. Tyre sidewalks are not designed to used in this way and so are not rigorously tested in this fashion. Some people will insist that stretched tyres are okay but why would anyone want to take the risk. And a quick Google will probably bring up plenty of horror stories. Stick to tires that are the right size for your wheel, they are safer, less road noise, better grip and longer life.

also cracks in the tire sidewall are often hidden by the stretch. Especially on the inner edge as lots of these are fitted to 'slammed' cars with lots of camber so if you do run this type of set up make sure you check them over frequently. There is a reason stretching is legally questionable and why most tire fitters won't do it. My advice, don't!

 

Pretty interesting read and well researched - http://trafficlawadvice.co.uk/tyre-stretch-poke.html

Essentially as long as your wheel tyre set up is able to pass an MOT it is legal. However the performance side is still unknown, so I will contact some friends who work in Motorsport and get their views. Its not a massive stretch and looking at the table above it should be fine.

I don't want them stretched for any aesthetic reason, purely because I recently purchased them and want to use them rather than selling them for bugger all! Worst case I keep them in the original rims an use them as winter tyres as they have good wet grip.

I will contact Braid and Pirelli to see their views though.

Cheers,

Ian

 

I run 225 tyres on 8.75" wheels. Theoretically legal (just) and they pass MOT every year at a Subaru main stealers with no issue at all. As far as handling goes I have not noticed any difference to when the same tyres were fitted to my 7" wide wheels on the other end of the width scale.

Just for info, I run Yoko Parada Spec 2 tyres on these wheels.