Tyre Width

Tyre width is the first number you will see on any website or sidewall of any tyre. Common tyre widths from factory for the MQB cars is 235. Depending on how much camber and how low your car may be, you may be able to go up to 255 or 265 as we will discuss below.

Tyre Profile

Tyre profile is the second number you will see on any website or sidewall of any tyre. Common tyre widths from factory for the MQB cars is 35. Depending on how much camber and how low your car may be, you may be able to go up to 40 or 45 as we will discuss below.

Tyre Size

Tyre size is the third number you will see on any website or sidewall of any tyre. Common tyre sizes from factory for the MQB cars is 18". Depending on the specification of your vehicle. This may be 17" or 19" as well. Some performance SUVs and Saloons also come in 20" and 21" variants. 

Reading Tyre Sidewalls

Putting together the full tyre size may be difficult to understand. As above you can breakdown the numbers on a tyre to better understand them. Common sizes for MQB cars are 235/40/18 and 235/35/19. For this example, we will focus on 235/35/19. This effectively means that your tyre fixed to your wheel will be 235mm wide, 35mm tall and 19 inches in circumference. The manufacturer will more than likely stipulate the size of your tyres based on their testing at the factory. Sometimes with wider wheels, you may change this. However this can be complicated and confusing. Below we will list a range of values for you to gauge a general rule of thumb when looking for tyre sizes.

215 wide tyres = 7J Wheels

225 wide tyres = 7.5J Wheels

235 wide tyres = 8J Wheels

245 wide tyres = 8.5J Wheels

255 wide tyres = 9J Wheels

265 wide tyres = 9.5J Wheels

275 wide tyres = 10J Wheels

285 wide tyres = 10.5J Wheels

You can obviously run slightly stretched tyres which may differentiate the above tyre sizes recommended. We however only suggest diverting from the above tyre size by 10mm either side. Meaning a 8J wheel should only be suitable for a 225, 235 and 245 tyre.

What Type Of Tyre Should I Use?

Most modern tyres have multiple markers on them for fuel efficiency, wet whether performance and tyre noise. These are generally not regulated and tested by one specified governing body. Therefore all data and specifications are supplied, tested and pushed out by the tyre manufacturer and nobody else. Please take these with a grain of salt and use them as an indication only of how the tyre may perform. Online research on tyres will give you better advice and real world experience on how they drive, react and sound. More so than the provided data on the stickers you see online/in stores. Always select a tyre based on the performance and reasoning for needed replacements. This may be for track use, daily use or winter use. You should get this information directly online from the manufacturer. If not then you can generally tell from the difference in tread pattern on the tyre. Below you will see a selection of images of Summer and Track tyres, both of which will have similar characteristics. Summer tyres are generally heavily grooved but somewhat also smooth to allow for performance driving, but also all water to pass through them. This is to make sure they are road compliant and don't cause any issues for you, the driver, in wet conditions. Track tyres on the other hand have lower amount of grooves but provide much higher performance ceilings for track driving. The majority of track cars can be used on the road, even though this isn't always recommended.  

When should I change my tyres?

Ideally you should be changing your tyres once you are getting close to your wear markers. If you have a fast road or track orientated alignment, you may need to check the inside more so than the middle or outside due to increased wear from camber on the inside of the tyre. The legal limit for tyres before they become illegal is 1.6mm. This is legally binding and will get you into trouble if you go below this. You could be fined up to £2500 per tyre, it may invalidate your insurance and it will also fail an MOT test. Be sure to check your tyres before and after a track session to not be caught out.

Always bare in mind that track driving will cause excessive heat and wear on your tyres and therefore will only last a limited amount of time. Road driving for example you may see 3000-10000 miles of life from them. Track driving this can be drastically reduce from anywhere to 500-2000 depending on how your car is driven, aligned and setup.