I’ve had my ’08 Focus now for around 3years.  Bought the car with 17” low profile tyres already fitted, however as I am no expert in the field of automotives I thought nothing of it.

 

Now throughout this time I have had nothing but issues when it comes to my tyres.  I reckon I have had 8 flats – all different wheels.  Taken it to a number of garages who haven’t said anything other than bad luck.

 

Had a flat this morning so put the spare on and took it Halford Autocare to get a new tyre fitted (bear in mind this is the first time Halford’s have changed my tyre…).

 

Without any questions from me, they believe my Focus has Fiesta wheels on it.  Apparently there’s no way these are Focus wheels.  The ref on the tyre is 205/40/R17, however that’s the tyre and not the wheel/alloy itself.

 

You’ve probably already surmised that I’m a complete novice when it comes to car talk, but could this be a reason why I have so many issues with my tyres?  I’m guessing I don’t have a leg to stand on in terms of picking this up with the company I bought the car from?  Would this also affect my insurance policy should I ever want to claim?

 

Thanks.

The fiesta has 4 bolts to hold the wheel on and the focus I believe has 5 bolts so fiesta wheels won't fit on a focus axle. Do you have a picture of the wheels just to be sure they aren't aftermarket or anything. I'm sure the stud layout is different between the fiesta and focus. 

Post a picture of the alloys, we will be able to tell what they are off then.

205/40/r17 is a size used on both Focus and Fiesta I believe. Halfords "mechanics" or "vehicle technicians" (or whatever other stupid job title they've got now) usually can't tell the difference between their head and their backside, so wouldn't take every word they say as gospel.

As for blowing out 8 tyres, I think you've just really unlucky or you're driving down a road full of glass shards every week. Are they getting punctured on the tread (as you can get them patched up for a tenner or so)? Or is the sidewall split?

205/40/17 are horrible profile tyres.  They're not used on any mk2 Focus as standard. 

They are standard on Fiesta ST, but I hated them even on there.  Give a rough ride, skip over rough corners and are so easy to damage.

Also if they're not extra load that could explain why youve popped so many.

Here's a picture I had saved already when I tried (unsuccessfully) to claim compo from the council for a pothole destroying my alloy.

 

 

On ‎26‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 7:42 PM, TomsFocus said:

205/40/17 are horrible profile tyres.  They're not used on any mk2 Focus as standard. 

They are standard on Fiesta ST, but I hated them even on there.  Give a rough ride, skip over rough corners and are so easy to damage.

Also if they're not extra load that could explain why youve popped so many.

Maybe that's what they meant to say, rather than 'only' Fiesta wheels.

Is there another tyre you would suggest to go on these 17" wheels?

Those are Focus alloys, just with the wrong tyres on.

205/50/17 is standard on those.  

You could always swap to some 16" alloys with 205/55/16 instead, more sidewall for a better ride, more robust and are a common, cheap tyre size.

Another point to prove how the so called "mechanics" at Halfords have no idea what they're talking about.

You will want to get that sorted actually as you've got more than 6% difference in the overall circumference of the wheel. Basically that means when your speedo says you're doing 60mph, you're actually doing more like 55mph. Then at 30mph you're doing 28.

I doubt whoever put those tyres on will have altered the speedo, however you can always get an accurate speedo app on your phone that uses GPS and will tell you your actual speed and then decide if it needs altering.

On 3/30/2018 at 10:55 AM, Luke4efc said:

Another point to prove how the so called "mechanics" at Halfords have no idea what they're talking about.

You will want to get that sorted actually as you've got more than 6% difference in the overall circumference of the wheel. Basically that means when your speedo says you're doing 60mph, you're actually doing more like 55mph. Then at 30mph you're doing 28.

I doubt whoever put those tyres on will have altered the speedo, however you can always get an accurate speedo app on your phone that uses GPS and will tell you your actual speed and then decide if it needs altering.

Thanks.

 

Is it not the other way around?  So if am doing 60, I'm actually doing 65?

5 hours ago, Hurrikeen said:

Thanks.

 

Is it not the other way around?  So if am doing 60, I'm actually doing 65?

No. The smaller the wall thickness, the smaller the circumference (on the same size alloy). Therefore for each revolution of the wheel you cover less distance. You would therefore need more revolutions to get the same speed. Since your speedo is calibrated to the larger tyres, it won't know that you're now covering less distance per revolution of the wheel.