Hi,

So, I've needed to change my alloys as my stock titanium alloys were BADLY corroded on the inner part and I noticed some vibration though what I suspect is buckling.

So I currently run the stock 2237340 alloys with 195/50/16 kumho tyres.

Now I've instead gotten 2222632 17 alloys. As from what I can find they will fit. (Have to order in a steering rack limiter for the steering rack to avoid rubbing) They should be cross compatible, right? (Felt a bit funny as they said fiesta 2012-2018 and not earlier.

I've no lowering on the car, so it's all stock and I can't seem to find out what tyres are best fit. I was thinking either 205/50/17 or 215/50/17. But I'm totally lost as what ones to go for. Any suggestions for the right sizing?

Those tyres are too big, they will affect your speed reading.

The nearest equivalents to 195/50/16 are 205/40/17 or 195/45/17. These retain the same overall tyre circumference as your existing tyres to keep your speedo indicating correctly.

205/40x17 was specified by Ford as an option on Zetec S and Titanium in an old (2010) brochure I have. Weirdly at that point the 17" option is marked " petrol only", can't see why, though.

Be aware that the 205/40x17s have less sidewall depth than your 195/50x16s (82mm vs 97.5mm) so are more vulnerable to kerb/pothole damage. 195/45x17 would give you 87.75.

8 hours ago, pcaouolte said:

Those tyres are too big, they will affect your speed reading.

The nearest equivalents to 195/50/16 are 205/40/17 or 195/45/17. These retain the same overall tyre circumference as your existing tyres to keep your speedo indicating correctly.

Yeah, that did come to mind, though I had wondered if I could use forscan to recalibrate the circumference of the wheels to give an accurate speedo readout. Pretty sure that can be done, right?

My main woe was interference with the size of the tyre and the car though :(

4 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

205/40x17 was specified by Ford as an option on Zetec S and Titanium in an old (2010) brochure I have. Weirdly at that point the 17" option is marked " petrol only", can't see why, though.

Be aware that the 205/40x17s have less sidewall depth than your 195/50x16s (82mm vs 97.5mm) so are more vulnerable to kerb/pothole damage. 195/45x17 would give you 87.75.

Weird, that petrol only is marked. My concern with going bigger meant less tyre meat, which is a bit of a hard pill for me. I love the look of a smaller wheel with a chonker of a tyre. I went with the 17s as they were a really decent deal and money is tight with all the other bits I've gotta do to the car before mot.

The original tyres on the 16s were 45s but I wanted some extra cushion so went with the 50 when I needed a new change.

Logically a 215/45/17 should be the same as a 205/50/17?

Again speed issue isn't my concern, it's moreso compatibility in the physical fit with a steering limiter added

43 minutes ago, Cacti said:

Logically a 215/45/17 should be the same as a 205/50/17?

You'd get more sidewall but they'd both make your speedo under-read by 3-4%. Also clearance might be an issue with 215.You can play about with various sizes on calculators like this:

https://www.willtheyfit.com/index.php?

If the ride is your main concern then 16s or even going down to 15s are a better choice. 40 profiles tend to be "sports" compound tyres and thus not cheap.

10 hours ago, Cacti said:

The original tyres on the 16s were 45s but I wanted some extra cushion so went with the 50 when I needed a new change.

Just spotted that. Yes, standard on a 2010 Titanium was 195/45x16. So you've already put your speedo out (about 4% under-read).

OK - I've been through all of this, as my mk7 had 17" wheels from the factory.

Ford started the mk7 on 205/40/17 tyres, then realised the not-strong-enough wheels were all being bent. The factory size inceased to 205/45/17.

I have tried 215/40/17 and 205/45/17 after buying the car on 205/40/17.

Clearance isn't an issue for any of the above, and as my mk7 is a 'S' it has sport suspension, i.e. slightly lower than yours.

I strongly urge you to buy 205/45/17 - they fit, and factory sizes, and there is a good range of tyres to choose from, as it is a more common size used by many car manufacturers.

Use this website to give you exact numbers, but your speedo will be fine - they all underread from the factory anyway.

https://www.wheel-size.com/calc/

But Mr Bloodaxe is correct - 17s are awful on poor UK road surfaces, so unless you've already actually bought the 17" wheels, I'd think again.

....which exact tyre? I always look at Camskill to give a good list of what's available at sensible prices.

There is nothing more important than tyres in an emergency, so I always buy ones that stop me sooner.

If you look between 205/45 and 205/40 on their website, you'll see how many more quality 205/45 are available.

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m54b0s457p0/Car_Tyres_-_MPV_Tyres_-_People_Carrier_Tyres_-_17_inch_R17_inch_-_205_45_17_205_45R17

So recently I had to get new tyres for my Subaru - old tyres were Michelin MPS4, but I'm not using the car as much and didn't want to spend that much.

Kumho have recently released a new tyre, and the reviews are excellent. If you want to save some money and not compromise on stopping distance (by more than a few percent), I strongly recommend this specific tyre - the PS72.... NOT the PS71.

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m54b0s457p226270/Kumho_Tyres_Car_Kumho_Ecsta_Sport_PS72_205_45_R17_88Y_XL_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_D_Wet_Grip%3A_A_NoiseClass%3A_B_Noise%3A_72dB

2 hours ago, orangecurry said:

....which exact tyre? I always look at Camskill to give a good list of what's available at sensible prices.

There is nothing more important than tyres in an emergency, so I always buy ones that stop me sooner.

If you look between 205/45 and 205/40 on their website, you'll see how many more quality 205/45 are available.

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m54b0s457p0/Car_Tyres_-_MPV_Tyres_-_People_Carrier_Tyres_-_17_inch_R17_inch_-_205_45_17_205_45R17

So recently I had to get new tyres for my Subaru - old tyres were Michelin MPS4, but I'm not using the car as much and didn't want to spend that much.

Kumho have recently released a new tyre, and the reviews are excellent. If you want to save some money and not compromise on stopping distance (by more than a few percent), I strongly recommend this specific tyre - the PS72.... NOT the PS71.

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m54b0s457p226270/Kumho_Tyres_Car_Kumho_Ecsta_Sport_PS72_205_45_R17_88Y_XL_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_D_Wet_Grip%3A_A_NoiseClass%3A_B_Noise%3A_72dB

I've ran kumho for years as the price performance is ideal. I was going to just get some new kumhos in all honesty

2 hours ago, orangecurry said:

do OK - I've been through all of this, as my mk7 had 17" wheels from the factory.

Ford started the mk7 on 205/40/17 tyres, then realised the not-strong-enough wheels were all being bent. The factory size inceased to 205/45/17.

I have tried 215/40/17 and 205/45/17 after buying the car on 205/40/17.

Clearance isn't an issue for any of the above, and as my mk7 is a 'S' it has sport suspension, i.e. slightly lower than yours.

I strongly urge you to buy 205/45/17 - they fit, and factory sizes, and there is a good range of tyres to choose from, as it is a more common size used by many car manufacturers.

Use this website to give you exact numbers, but your speedo will be fine - they all underread from the factory anyway.

https://www.wheel-size.com/calc/

But Mr Bloodaxe is correct - 17s are awful on poor UK road surfaces, so unless you've already actually bought the 17" wheels, I'd think again.

Cheers for that. Sadly I already have the 17s as for brand new ford performance wheels at £100 per corner delivered I couldn't say no. I love the look of 15s with huge tyres though. Maybe be when I can afford I'll consider.

I guess the pros are that I mainly do 80% motorway driving so

But thanks for clarifying with fit. I looked at one of the previous posts tyre calc and the 215/45/17 didn't seem much bigger than my stock ATM either

3 hours ago, orangecurry said:

I strongly urge you to buy 205/45/17 - they fit, and factory sizes, and there is a good range of tyres to choose from, as it is a more common size used by many car manufacturers.

Yes, I agree, that seems the best choice for the 17s, many Mk 7.5 ST owners have gone down that route.

4 hours ago, Cacti said:

I've ran kumho for years as the price performance is ideal. I was going to just get some new kumhos in all honesty

Get the PS72 if so - it's the latest revision of their 'best' tyre. I also recommend (from experience) Hankook and Vredestein as mid-range tyres. If you have a sports car and push hard, spend more than this. But I currently have Vredestein Ultracs on the Fiesta, as they were the best tyre/price IMO for a Fiesta-type-car at the time.

I put the first pair of new Ultracs on the rear at 85k miles when I got the car, and after 10k I put them on the front; (yes I keep a spreadsheet on my cars) the car is currently on 117k miles; so that's 32k miles in total, 22k on the front. They are getting near to the wearbars. Grip in sand is awful :)

Dang... replying to this thread has just cost me GBP 405.86 - as you said, Ford selling off these lightweight yet allegedly strong wheels was tooo tempting 😁

On 2/13/2026 at 12:16 PM, Cacti said:

Cheers for that. Sadly I already have the 17s as for brand new ford performance wheels at £100 per corner delivered I couldn't say no.

On 2/15/2026 at 9:47 AM, orangecurry said:

Dang... replying to this thread has just cost me GBP 405.86 - as you said, Ford selling off these lightweight yet allegedly strong wheels was tooo tempting 😁

Must resist temptation! They are nice wheels, though. 😁

I did some man-maths. New lighter/stronger? wheels at 400 GBP were the same price as getting the Snowflake 17s refurbed and bends removed (again). Decent refurb is 70+VAT per wheel; straightening 30? GBP?

18 hours ago, orangecurry said:

I did some man-maths. New lighter/stronger? wheels at 400 GBP were the same price as getting the Snowflake 17s refurbed and bends removed (again). Decent refurb is 70+VAT per wheel; straightening 30? GBP?

Erm, I seem to have made a purchase. 😂😂

I think Cacti works for Ford....

(Ford parts-sales brainstorming session) so how are we going to shift all of these 17" wheels that are not fashionably large?

Yes Cacti?

2 hours ago, orangecurry said:

I think Cacti works for Ford....

(Ford parts-sales brainstorming session) so how are we going to shift all of these 17" wheels that are not fashionably large?

Yes Cacti?

Can a Mod not go in and change the name on his profile to Henry Ford? 😂

Slightly off topic, I don't suppose anyone, I'm looking at you @TomsFocus 😉 , has the relevant part number for the appropriate centre caps, do they?

19 minutes ago, mickywrx said:

Slightly off topic, I don't suppose anyone, I'm looking at you @TomsFocus 😉 , has the relevant part number for the appropriate centre caps, do they?

You guys are in luck, those are on sale as well! 😄

Genuine Ford 54mm Black Alloy Wheel Centre Caps with Logo Set of x4 2037230 | eBay UK

Also worth noting these wheels use global nuts. So if you currently have older wheels using the flat top nuts then you shouldn't use them with these.

4 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

You guys are in luck, those are on sale as well! 😄

Genuine Ford 54mm Black Alloy Wheel Centre Caps with Logo Set of x4 2037230 | eBay UK

Also worth noting these wheels use global nuts. So if you currently have older wheels using the flat top nuts then you shouldn't use them with these.

You sir, are a scholar and a gent. 😎 Much appreciated, Tom.

Now delete the link so other folk have to come begging too. 😂

'Global' nuts?

...and 24 quid for centre caps? That costs more than the wheels, nearly.

33 minutes ago, orangecurry said:

'Global' nuts?

...and 24 quid for centre caps? That costs more than the wheels, nearly.

Ford switched to the same nuts on most models in the mid 2010's, hence the 'global' name.

The nut seats in the wheels are slightly different to the old type nuts, so using the wrong type of nuts can cause the wheel to come loose or damage the nut seats over time.

They are easy to tell apart. Old style nuts have a flat top. Global nuts have a domed top.

Some wheels were compatible with both types of nut during the crossover years, but I don't know whether these wheels are or not. The parts catalogue only shows the global type with them.

The centre caps are less than £24 with the 10% discount code. If you already have 54mm caps then you can just reuse those.

Ahh right - Ford 'Global'. I already have better aftermarket nuts, but when I swop the wheels over, I'll make sure I fit the correct nuts.

Conical or spherical, I'm a bit of a wheel nut.

See what I did there?