Hi all.

My mk7 has the OEM dimensioned 195/50 R15 tyres. 

 

To improve ride quality, I am considering increasing the tyre profile to 60 (195/60 R15).

 

Has anyone done it? It's a big difference and I am not sure if there's enough space to fit these tyres. 

 

If anyone has done it, did you notice an improvement in ride quality?

 

Cheers.

2 hours ago, solid_snake said:

Hi all.

My mk7 has the OEM dimensioned 195/50 R15 tyres. 

 

To improve ride quality, I am considering increasing the tyre profile to 60 (195/60 R15).

 

Has anyone done it? It's a big difference and I am not sure if there's enough space to fit these tyres. 

 

If anyone has done it, did you notice an improvement in ride quality?

 

Cheers.

Hi, guessing yours is a pre facelift mk7? Haven't tried this myself but could you maybe try moving to 195/55s as these were standard on the mk7 facelift, so will definitely fit (tho I'd bet 195/60s would fit too). 

Someone more techy than me could probably confirm whether or not you need the speedo or mileage counter reprogrammed to take account of the increase in rolling radius.

🤓

The increase in profile will make the speedo read slow.

Have a play with a calculator like this to see the effect:

https://www.willtheyfit.com/index.php?width=195&aspect=50&diameter=15&wheelwidth=6&offset=50&width2=195&aspect2=55&wheel_size=15&wheel_width=8.5&offset2=30

Hi all, thanks for your responses. I am aware of the impact on the speedo reading, I don't mind it.

 

I am mostly interested in understanding if it will make my ride significantly smoother and how that would affect steering feel/handling. I know what's the theoretic impact, but I would like to get an opinion from someone who has done it already.

 

Cheers.

I've changed from 50s to 55s and the ride is a lot soster..also I have speed cushions in my road and now rides over with ease..

No different in price and speed difference is not noticeable 

Glad I changed

£198 four all 4 fitted

17 minutes ago, Danny cj said:

I've changed from 50s to 55s and the ride is a lot soster..also I have speed cushions in my road and now rides over with ease..

No different in price and speed difference is not noticeable 

Glad I changed

£198 four all 4 fitted

Hi Danny,

 

Thanks for the response. Nice to hear that it makes the ride softer. I can assume that the 60 would be even cushier.

 

How do you find the handling when comparing the 55 profile to the 50 and the steering feeling?

 

Also, where did you fit the tyres for £198? Bargain!

5 hours ago, solid_snake said:

I am considering increasing the tyre profile to 60 (195/60 R15)

That is quite a large increase, you might be better to use '55'

As unofix said 60 maybe a bit to much as that's a lot more rubber to Flex.. there was a small difference with handling on corners but I drive like my mum now as I'm getting older so dont race around..

The 50s that were on there felt like they had no give over pot holes or road humps but 55s seem to cure that.

I am in Farnborough and used a local company called value tyres but think they have more places in the uk

As in the photo they do the same.ish price as long as you book and order a week in advance 

My son uses black circles which seem to be roughly the same price aswell

There is a noticeable difference in ride comfort between the 50s and 55s.  

Back in my Peugeot days, they came with 195/55/15 as standard on the sports versions.  (Back when a 15" alloy was considered large!)  People used to fit 50 profiles instead as they were much cheaper, due to being used on Fiesta's and therefore produced/stocked in larger quantities.  It totally ruined the comfort on the Peugeots, so I always switched back to the 55 profiles after buying a used one.  

I can't comment on doing the same on a Fiesta, but would also suggest that 55 profiles would be the better option than 60 profiles.

Yes, I agree, go 55s, you'll notice the difference

Nice to see that increasing the side profile to 55 makes the ride cushier.

To be honest, I think the 50 is ridiculously low on this car.

I will probably go for a 55.

Well, it's been a while, but I did change the tyres to 195/60 R15. I have to say, this has been by far the best upgrade I've done to the car. The cabin is much quieter, the car handles much better, and it rides over bumps, potholes, and damaged roads like a car should. Highly recommended.

On 2/27/2026 at 11:16 AM, solid_snake said:

Well, it's been a while, but I did change the tyres to 195/60 R15. I have to say, this has been by far the best upgrade I've done to the car. The cabin is much quieter, the car handles much better, and it rides over bumps, potholes, and damaged roads like a car should. Highly recommended.

Thanks for posting an update :)

Out of curiosity, what brand / model of tyre did you go for? & have you tried the speedo against a GPS to see if it's now under-reading?

🤓

2 hours ago, wordchild said:

Thanks for posting an update :)

Out of curiosity, what brand / model of tyre did you go for? & have you tried the speedo against a GPS to see if it's now under-reading?

🤓

I got a great deal on a used set of four in excellent condition because I didn’t want to spend too much in case I didn’t like them or something felt off. Like I said, I expected them to be more comfortable, but they actually exceeded all my expectations. It honestly feels like driving a completely different car, and over road imperfections it's as if it has premium suspension. Also road noise and vibration is significantly reduced.

The speedometer isn’t really off either. I think it under-reads by less than 1 mph at 70 mph, which is negligible. As far as I know, you can also adjust it using Forscan. And keep in mind that 195/60 R15 is an approved size for this car.

2 hours ago, solid_snake said:

I got a great deal on a used set of four in excellent condition because I didn’t want to spend too much in case I didn’t like them or something felt off. Like I said, I expected them to be more comfortable, but they actually exceeded all my expectations. It honestly feels like driving a completely different car, and over road imperfections it's as if it has premium suspension. Also road noise and vibration is significantly reduced.

The speedometer isn’t really off either. I think it under-reads by less than 1 mph at 70 mph, which is negligible. As far as I know, you can also adjust it using Forscan. And keep in mind that 195/60 R15 is an approved size for this car.

Sounds a great upgrade for sure 👌

The more narrow the tire, the smoother the ride. The sacrifice is the handling will be slightly less sharp.

The construction specifications of the tire carcass also have a big impact on ride quality. I have auto crossed my Mk7 extensively with 205/55 R 15 Dunlop tires and could adjust the pressures to the track conditions or if I was running a bit more fuel than normal in the tank.

The really big factor in ride quality is the choice of dampers. The basic Fiesta is transformed by adding a set of Koni dampers, either the yellow sport dampers or the orange STR-T. Or you can go to the more affordable but still excellent KYB Excel G dampers. They deliver great ride and are very affordable. I have purchased and installed them on my Fiesta’s and will buy them again.

13 hours ago, solid_snake said:

I think it under-reads by less than 1 mph at 70 mph, which is negligible.

The various online calculators estimate that 195/60x15 would put the speedo out by around 7%. I've found speedos generally over-read by 3-4mph so you might be not too far out.

Quite a few Mk 8 ST owners have swapped 205/40x18 to 225/40x18 and reported that eliminated the over-read.

Just remember you've lost your "comfort blanket" when calculating if that pesky speed camera might have got you!😀

44 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Just remember you've lost your "comfort blanket" when calculating if that pesky speed camera might have got you!😀

A small piece of advice from me - I now use Waze on just about every car journey.

Why? Well IMO it's the best 'sat-nav' available, but even just driving about your local area it displays your real speed in the bottom corner.... and it's pretty good at warning you about every pot-hole, and speed-camera, and mobile/police cameras....

On 3/2/2026 at 1:39 AM, Scottman said:

The more narrow the tire, the smoother the ride. The sacrifice is the handling will be slightly less sharp.

The construction specifications of the tire carcass also have a big impact on ride quality. I have auto crossed my Mk7 extensively with 205/55 R 15 Dunlop tires and could adjust the pressures to the track conditions or if I was running a bit more fuel than normal in the tank.

The really big factor in ride quality is the choice of dampers. The basic Fiesta is transformed by adding a set of Koni dampers, either the yellow sport dampers or the orange STR-T. Or you can go to the more affordable but still excellent KYB Excel G dampers. They deliver great ride and are very affordable. I have purchased and installed them on my Fiesta’s and will buy them again.

You’ve tried quite a few different shocks, very interesting. Is your car a standard Fiesta, or is it a sport model / lowered setup?

Also, which set of shocks did you find to be the most comfortable?

Cheers,

I have owned a 2011 Fiesta since they were launched in North America. I was surprised that Koni had not developed a damper for the Fiesta in Europe or the U.K. Because it would have been a huge improvement over the very much “built to a price” original equipment dampers. So I contacted Koni product development and offered them my then new Fiesta to develop a set of single adjustable dampers. I later shared some parts off my 2016 Fiesta ST with them to develop ST specific dampers for that version.

The KYB Excel G dampers are a very good damper as well. One of the more salient features of them is that they are a global market product and they will work with most mild lowering coils available because the European market and UK Fiesta are sold with a lower ride height coil as standard. So, no worries about the valving being damaged because of the shorter coils. KYB also sells most mounts and the rear shock protective shields at reasonable prices to do a top notch install job.

As far as “ which damper is the most comfortable?” I would say that the KYB Excel G dampers are smoothest of the three I discussed here.

My 2011 has eurathane bushings in place of the original ones, so softness is not at the original level to be honest with you regarding the change in ride quality as I perceive it. The ride is definitely smoother. But I was not aiming for that when I was doing the suspension work on my 2011, I felt that it was unacceptably soft in stock condition and so I was focusing on giving it a more performance oriented suspension tune.