225/45R17
225 mm across the tread, a sidewall 45% of that — 101 mm — on a 17-inch rim. That puts the whole wheel at 25.0 inches tall.
- Sidewall
- 3.99"
- 101 mm
- Overall
- 25.0"
- 634.3 mm
- Circumference
- 78.5"
- 1.993 m
- Revs per mile
- 808
- per minute at 60 mph
What it needs to sit on
It mounts on a rim between 6" and 8.5" wide, and the tread follows the rim: roughly 5 mm of section width for every half-inch, so about 213 mm across at the narrow end and 238 mm at the wide one. Written the way lift kits and wheel wells are, it is a 25.0×8.9R17 — tall by wide, in inches.
What goes wrong on this size
122 drivers have filed a complaint. 2 of them ended in a crash, hurting 3 people. Nobody died.
100 of them name what let go, and it is most often blowout. Continental is named more than any other brand.
| What let go | Complaints |
|---|---|
| blowout | 30 |
| tread separation | 25 |
| blister | 23 |
| crack | 11 |
| out of round | 6 |
| road hazard | 5 |
| not stated | 22 |
Where the wheel is named, 77 of 98 were on the front — the end that steers.
What fits instead
Same 17-inch rim, height within 3%. Past that the speedometer starts lying and things begin to rub.
| Size | Height | Ride height | Speedo reads 60, you do | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 205/50R17 | 25.1" +0.4 % | +1.3 mm | 60.2 mph | side by side |
| 245/40R17 | 24.7" -1.0 % | -3.3 mm | 59.4 mph | side by side |
| 215/45R17 | 24.6" -1.4 % | -4.5 mm | 59.1 mph | side by side |
| 235/45R17 | 25.3" +1.4 % | +4.5 mm | 60.9 mph | side by side |
| 215/50R17 | 25.5" +2.0 % | +6.3 mm | 61.2 mph | side by side |
| 235/40R17 | 24.4" -2.3 % | -7.3 mm | 58.6 mph | side by side |
| 205/45R17 | 24.3" -2.8 % | -9.0 mm | 58.3 mph | side by side |
| 245/45R17 | 25.7" +2.8 % | +9.0 mm | 61.7 mph | side by side |
Same height, different rim
Bigger rim, same overall height. Sharper steering, harsher ride, and far less rubber between your wheel and the next pothole.
Tires graded in this size
Longest-lasting tread first. The grade is set by the maker and checked by regulators.
| Tire | Treadwear | Wet grip |
|---|---|---|
| Hankook KInERGy GT (OE) | 740 | A |
| Hankook MAVIS TRACTION CONTROL | 700 | A |
| Hankook KInERGy ST AS | 600 | A |
| CONTINENTAL ContiProContact | 540 | AA |
| CONTINENTAL ProContact RX | 540 | A |
| CONTINENTAL ProContact TX | 540 | A |
| Granada GRANADA Touring HP | 520 | A |
| Americus Sport HP | 500 | A |
| Firestone AFFINITY AS | 500 | AA |
| Hankook veNtus Prime3 (OE) | 500 | AA |
| Michelin Primacy MXM4 | 500 | A |
| Summit Mach 3 R701 | 500 | A |
If you fit something taller
A taller tire covers more ground per turn, so the needle reads low and the odometer counts short. Over ten thousand miles on the dial, the last column is what you really drove.
| Fitted instead | Reads 30 | Reads 50 | Reads 70 | Real miles per 10,000 shown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 205/50R17 | 30.1 mph | 50.2 mph | 70.3 mph | 10,039 |
| 245/40R17 | 29.7 mph | 49.5 mph | 69.3 mph | 9,898 |
| 215/45R17 | 29.6 mph | 49.3 mph | 69.0 mph | 9,858 |
| 235/45R17 | 30.4 mph | 50.7 mph | 71.0 mph | 10,142 |
| 215/50R17 | 30.6 mph | 51.0 mph | 71.4 mph | 10,197 |