Replacing a tyre when driving in Europe

[GMcL]

Originally Posted by Sotosound

Many thanks for all of the replies.

So.... loads of administrative hoops to jump through, legalised bribes to pay, and badges to wear.

Sheesh! Still, once that's done we should be ok.

Is there an online source that anyone is aware of that facilitates conversion of UK tyre spec to equivalent European tyre spec? That's the one thing that, to my mind, will be the biggest challenge.

Not quite sure what you are looking for here. A 235/45 x 18 95 W tyre in the UK is the same in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, wherever. They have an e followed by a number which tells you which country they were tested and approved in for use across Europe. I'm not aware of tyre manufacturers running different compound for different countries or car manufacturers having special orders of tyres for one market other than the summer tyres (UK standard tyre), all year tyre (Michelin Cross-Climate idea with M+S on the wall and three mountains peaks) or full on winter tyres with a softer compound to deal with excess cold.

Yes, the environment admin side needs tidying up and standardising. Crit'Air for France, Umweltplakette for Germany, separate vignettes for Switzerland, Austria and Czechia. You can have so many damned stickers on the windscreen you can't see where you're going. Don't be put off though, taking your own car you'll wander off the beaten track and see things you'd miss otherwise and that's part of the holiday.

[Whippy]

And if you're planning on visiting Germany, stay away from the sausage. It's the wurst.

[Wagon Sailor]

For years we'd get our tyres replaced in Germany on cost grounds. There was never any issues with sizes and specs. I agree with the advice to take a spare.

As to vignettes and as I've said before, you don't need them if you avoid the motorways. We always avoid them in Switzerland and Austria, happy to enjoys better scenery on that part of the journey.

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by S60inFrance

I live in France and tyre sizes here are the same as the UK, I would imagine all of Europe is the same? One thing to note however, if you have a puncture that necessitates a new tyre, you would have to have 2,in France at least. They are not allowed to replace a single tyre so it's always a pair. Their attitude to tyres here is much better than the UK, even the crappiest old wrecks have got a set of Michelin fitted, no budget tyres!

So European rim sizes are measured in inches?

[GMcL]

Originally Posted by Sotosound

So European rim sizes are measured in inches?

Yes, both my Focus cars, ordered in Germany have been delivered on 19" rims. All my wife's cars since 2009 have come on 15, 16 or 17" rims. The only two cars I'm aware of that had metric sizes were the BMW 635i and the Austin Metro. I'm sure there'll be others but they are few and far between.

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by GMcL

Yes, both my Focus cars, ordered in Germany have been delivered on 19" rims. All my wife's cars since 2009 have come on 15, 16 or 17" rims. The only two cars I'm aware of that had metric sizes were the BMW 635i and the Austin Metro. I'm sure there'll be others but they are few and far between.

Many thanks. This is what I was wondering about.

On a continent that's orientated around metric measurements it seemed unlikely to me that they would ever deal with wheel rim sizes using inches.

And despite having driven in Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal in numerous rental cars, I've never bothered to read what's printed on their tyre walls.

[Whippy]

I would imagine that wheel and tyre sizes are fairly nominal, is a 17" wheel really 17"?

[loki_the_glt]

Originally Posted by Sotosound

So European rim sizes are measured in inches?

If you check your car's handbook it will tell you what the recommended/advised tyre sizes are for it.

As pointed out by other posters almost all wheels are of imperial diameter - Ford Granada 2.91 Ghia/Ghia X were the only other mainstream cars with metric diameter (390mm IIRC) wheels.

Unless you are planning to fit cross- or bias-ply tyres or have one of the above-mentioned cars the tyre will have a metric width measurement, a %age aspect ratio and an imperial internal diameter (e.g. 185/70/15 is 185mm wide, has a sidewall height that is approximately 70% of 185, and an internal diameter of 15 inches). Cross- and bias-ply tyres used imperial units for both width and internal diameter (e.g 6.40/13 is 6.4" wide and has a 13" internal diameter).

[Sotosound]

Just found a French online tyre reseller called "Pneus Online", and their size selection dropdown boxes are: -

1) Largeur - tread width in mm

2) Hauteur - sidewall height as percentage of tread width

3) Diametre - in inches!!!!!

I'm quite surprised that EU wheel diameters weren't legally respecified to be in mm after Brexit.

[DaveNP]

Originally Posted by Sotosound

...
I'm quite surprised that EU wheel diameters weren't legally respecified to be in mm after Brexit.

It has always struck me as slightly bizarre and slightly amusing that tyre widths are in mm and rims in inches, but I suppose it's history if the British Empire and the Americans were making imperial size rims the rest of the world followed until radial tyres came along measured in mm, and as time has gone on with exponentially more vehicles in existence introducing metric rims is flying in the face of reality.

The other thought I had with regard to tyres whilst holidaying in Europe or parts of the UK is to consider where you are going, Aylesbury is a reasonably large town with multiple tyre shops, but if you're in a more remote area (even in the UK) sometimes things we expect to buy instantly need to be shipped in and may take a day or two to arrive (once had to wait 48hrs for a driveshaft to reach us on holiday in Aberystwyth which was a bit of a culture shock).