Skip to content
Sidewall

225/50R17

225 mm across the tread, a sidewall 50% of that — 113 mm — on a 17-inch rim. That puts the whole wheel at 25.9 inches tall.

113 mm sidewall657 mm · 25.9"
Sidewall
4.43"
113 mm
Overall
25.9"
656.8 mm
Circumference
81.2"
2.063 m
Revs per mile
780
per minute at 60 mph

What it needs to sit on

i

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 25.9×8.9R17 — tall by wide, in inches.

What goes wrong on this size

i

93 drivers have filed a complaint. 0 of them ended in a crash, and nobody was hurt. Nobody died.

85 of them name what let go, and it is most often crack. Michelin is named more than any other brand.

What let goComplaints
crack22
blister20
blowout19
tread separation15
road hazard6
puncture3
not stated8

Where the wheel is named, 48 of 78 were on the front — the end that steers.

What fits instead

i

Same 17-inch rim, height within 3%. Past that the speedometer starts lying and things begin to rub.


SizeHeightRide heightSpeedo reads 60, you doCompare
205/55R1725.9" +0.1 %+0.3 mm60.0 mphside by side
245/45R1725.7" -0.7 %-2.3 mm59.6 mphside by side
215/50R1725.5" -1.5 %-5.0 mm59.1 mphside by side
235/50R1726.3" +1.5 %+5.0 mm60.9 mphside by side
215/55R1726.3" +1.8 %+5.8 mm61.1 mphside by side
235/45R1725.3" -2.1 %-6.8 mm58.8 mphside 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.


225/55R16124 mm sidewall — 10% more
225/45R18101 mm sidewall — 10% less
195/65R16127 mm sidewall — 13% more
245/40R1898 mm sidewall — 13% less
205/60R16123 mm sidewall — 9% more
255/40R18102 mm sidewall — 9% less

Tires graded in this size

Longest-lasting tread first. The grade is set by the maker and checked by regulators.


TireTreadwearWet grip
Hankook NEW ENGLANDER 4s600A
CONTINENTAL ContiProContact540AA
CONTINENTAL ProContact RX540A
CONTINENTAL ProContact TX540A
Granada GRANADA Touring HP520A
Americus Sport HP500A
Michelin Primacy MXM4500A
Sumitomo Mach 1 R201500A
SUMO Mach 3 R701500A
Tempra Mach 4 R302500A
Toyo Crusade HP500A
TOYO Crusade SXT500A

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 insteadReads 30Reads 50Reads 70Real miles per 10,000 shown
205/55R1730.0 mph50.0 mph70.1 mph10,008
245/45R1729.8 mph49.7 mph69.5 mph9,931
215/50R1729.5 mph49.2 mph68.9 mph9,848
235/50R1730.5 mph50.8 mph71.1 mph10,152
215/55R1730.5 mph50.9 mph71.2 mph10,175