Winter tire size question

[xceebeex]

I am looking to pick up some winter tires for my wife's 2019 Hatchback and I found a really good deal on some slightly used blizzaks, but they are 205/50/17's versus the stock 215/50/17's.

They are almost too good of a deal to pass up are there any other things to consider other than the speedo being a little off and the odometer adding a little more miles than actual?

Are there any ways to correct for the new tire size?

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[Dimitron84]

At 65 mph you will only be going 64 mph, if anything maybe good way to prevent wife speeding? If you can get them at a good deal I would! Also the 205 will make cutting through snow easier as it's a narrower tire. And odometer would add less miles... Right?

 

[xceebeex]

Yea I can get them for a really good deal. He is only asking $120 for all 4 and I think he said they were only used for part of one winter. And no, smaller diameter tires will actually lead to the odometer reading more miles.

 

[unholy79]

Just my preference but i wouldn't do it. I had an '05 GTI many years ago, and I went for wheels an inch smaller than stock (steel) with tires (Blizzaks) that were also narrower than stock (Tire-Rack Recommended even). On ordinary curves below the speed limit, regardless of PSI - I could feel the sidewalls bending over (not sure the scientific term but it wasn't comfortable). I wound up spinning the car into a telephone pole at 45 mph on a very slight curve, dry asphalt, on a 30F morning (no black ice either). YMMV but I'd recommend sticking to something near stock.

 

[Erin Tyres]

... Are there any ways to correct for the new tire size?

No, there is no menu setting to adjust the speedometer or odometer for tire size. Dividing by 1.01 does not seem all that hard, but it is not configurable.

 

[xceebeex]

No, there is no menu setting to adjust the speedometer or odometer for tire size. Dividing by 1.01 does not seem all that hard, but it is not configurable.

I certainly not saying the math is hard, I was just wondering if it was configurable so the odometer would be as close to accurate as possible so I would maximize the bumper to bumper warranty (since smaller diameter tires would lead to more miles bring read on the odometer).

I should clarify a bit and say I know there isn't a stick way to adjust for tire size, but I wasn't sure if there was a tool like a tuner or something.

 

[Erin Tyres]

Oh I just meant that it would have been really easy for Honda to provide a menu for tire size adjustment. They successfully implemented LKAS, adaptive cruise control, voice activated commands, and lots of other wonderful stuff. So one little menu on the setup screen would have been a cinch.
In my opinion, we should not have to drive around saying, "66 is the new 65!" just to properly interpret our speedometers.

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