Tire Question: Step down to 255/60r17 or up to 275/60r17?

Dec 12, 2013 | 03:57 PM

FearAgent

Thread Starter

Newbie

Joined: Dec 2013

Posts: 3

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2005 ML350 SE

Tire Question: Step down to 255/60r17 or up to 275/60r17?

Hey guys,

I'm having trouble finding decent All Season tires at 275/55r17 for a 2005 ML350 SE with 17x8.5 rims. What would be the downsides to either going with a narrower 255/60r17 or larger 275/60r17 (4.7% speed error)?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Last edited by FearAgent; Dec 12, 2013 at 09:55 PM. Reason: Typo

Dec 12, 2013 | 06:42 PM

art_arev

Super Member

Joined: May 2013

Posts: 504

Likes: 7

From: Harare, Zimbabwe

2003 ML55,2007 ML63

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearAgent

Hey guys,

I'm having trouble finding decent All Season tires at 275/50r17 for a 2005 ML350 SE with 17x8.5 rims. What would be the downsides to either going with a narrower 255/60r17 or larger 275/60r17 (4.7% speed error)?

Any advice would be appreciated!

255/60R17 is the correct size for your car. 275/50R17 is already to low, so your speedo is not accurate anyway. 275/60R17 will be better (more accurate) than your present size.
The thing with the tyres is to try to keep the overall size (tyre+rim) as close as possible to the original. If you are using 16"rims than your profile must be 65 e.g 255/65 R16. If you have 17" ,then 255/60R17, if 18" then 255/55R18 and so on. Everytime you increase the size of your rim by a inch, you must decrease your profile by 5 units. Look at the examples and you will figure it out.