Ford Fiesta Titanium X Wheel Damage

[Adamwhitrow]

I've recently purchased a Ford Fiesta Titanium X with Low profile tyres fitted to it. The wheel is a 205/40R17 Tyre profile. I have had it for less than a month and the wheels have been damaged significantly (sidewall) people have been telling me that if I change the tyre from Low profile to Normal profile it will affect Speedo etc but I can't see any other way to stop the car from damaging the wheels and this is on two of four low profile tyres. Is there anything I can do? I live on an estate which is still being built and there are Low manhole covers which could be causing damage but never had problem on old car? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[TomsFocus]

You can't just fit bigger tyres to your wheels, it'll put the speedo out and likely cause scrubbing issues on either the suspension or the bodywork.  You could fit the standard Titanium wheels & tyres, they have 195/50/16 but even that is still quite a low profile. 

Really you must be hitting the drain covers or potholes to be causing that damage though, so the best thing is to try and avoid them!

[isetta]

On my previous Fiesta Zetec after damaging 3 alloy wheels I changed to steel wheels with 175/65/14 tyres. These are the standard size on the Econetic diesel fiestas.  Not very stylish(and with plastic wheel trims from Tesco), but more practical.  I'm more interested in the practical rather than style but i appreciate not everyone thinks the same. 

[cjay1]

You can change to bigger tyres but there is a limit to how big and you will need to recalibrate the speedo. I've seen a couple of options in forscan to do this but never tried it.

[jbell]

I use 205/40/17s in summer and 175/65/14 in winter which is also a correct spec as above. 

I got 4x14 inch alloys plus tyres for about £450. Obviously significantly more costly than steelies, but looks much better. 

[dwalker]

My past 2 cars have had that size of tyre/wheel and I've never had any such problems. 205/40/17 isn't that low profile compared to many audis etc out there. You need to avoid hitting kerbs whilst parking and slow down/avoid potholes. Makes for a more comfortable journey as well.

[DaveTheDog]

Unfortunately the 205/40R17 are not very practical on the Fez resulting in a crash bang wollop of a ride but they do look smart (when clean).
Its either avoid the pot holes/man hole covers or change the wheels married up with more forgiving tyres.