[aayushnair]

Originally Posted by sagpatel

Thanks Do you mean, 185-60 R14 ?
Currently I have 175/70/R14 so upsizing wouldnt void warranty?
Currently I am in my fourth year of extended warranty.

Yes, 185/60/14, is a good match are just over the +,- 3% difference at -4%.

You can also try 195/60/14 which are 2% shorter.

Skoda/VW is known to be finicky about their warranty process.

So this is something you can check by calling them.

In my 3 years of ownership (my car too is in it's 4th year now - starting tomorrow!) I have faced a warranty issue once when one of the head lamps developed some sort of weird markings on them, they denied warranty replacement saying i've changed the bulbs. I had upgraded to Philips Extreme Vision (55/60) - and this was not an upgrade. They said no cause the bulbs had a silver coating and that was the cause , i still cannot come to terms with that attempt to reasoning.
Anyway it wasnt something major, so i didnt bother following it up further.

I have upgraded to a larger size 195/55/15, but the Skoda guys told me it wouldnt void my warranty.

I would recommend calling your service advisor or speak with the service center manager about any concerns you may have.

I feel 175/70 are to skinny and take away from the cars excellent handling prowess! It feels much better on thicker and slicker tires.

Cheers,
Aayush.

[swathyd]

It is good to check the correct size before you jump into buying something which is undersize . The correct upsize for Fabia is 185/65/14 . One can even consider going for a 195/65/14 . Anything shorter will curtail already pathetic GC .

[sagpatel]

I went for Michelin XM2 185/70/14. now the ride is much improved over stock apollos. The tyres are also very silent.

[yogesa]

Originally Posted by sagpatel

I went for Michelin XM2 185/70/14. now the ride is much improved over stock apollos. The tyres are also very silent.

Hi @Sagpatel

Considering you have spent four+ months and a few thousand kilometers on the new shoes of your Fabia, what is your experience about the Michelin XM2 185/70/14 vis-a-vis the standard 185/60/14?
Also how much did they cost you? My Goodyears have reached their end of their service after around 43000Kms, and I was wondering if I could replace them with 195/65/14 of Bridgestones or Appollo.. I am told that the Sidewalls in both of these are tougher compared to GoodYear and Michelin.

@Sagpatel and Senior TBHPians, Request yor advice.

[bharatsomany]

Originally Posted by yogesa

Hi @Sagpatel

Considering you have spent four+ months and a few thousand kilometers on the new shoes of your Fabia, what is your experience about the Michelin XM2 185/70/14 vis-a-vis the standard 185/60/14?
Also how much did they cost you? My Goodyears have reached their end of their service after around 43000Kms, and I was wondering if I could replace them with 195/65/14 of Bridgestones or Appollo.. I am told that the Sidewalls in both of these are tougher compared to GoodYear and Michelin.

@Sagpatel and Senior TBHPians, Request yor advice.

yogesa,
The 186/60R14 is too small for the Fabia. The correct size is 185/60R15.
As for 195/65R14, I believe it requires a minimum rim width of 5.5" whereas the Fabia comes with 5" width in 14". The 15" is another story of-course at 6" width. I do believe it is possible to fit even 195/65R15s without the need for any MODs.

[sagpatel]

Originally Posted by yogesa

Hi @Sagpatel

Considering you have spent four+ months and a few thousand kilometers on the new shoes of your Fabia, what is your experience about the Michelin XM2 185/70/14 vis-a-vis the standard 185/60/14?
Also how much did they cost you? My Goodyears have reached their end of their service after around 43000Kms, and I was wondering if I could replace them with 195/65/14 of Bridgestones or Appollo.. I am told that the Sidewalls in both of these are tougher compared to GoodYear and Michelin.

@Sagpatel and Senior TBHPians, Request yor advice.

Hi. Sorry for late reply. Xm2s are very silent and grip is excellent. Ride is also much better compared to stock Appollos 175/70/14 (yes mine is elegance and came with 14 inch alloys instead of 15 and 175 instead of 185..may be when the fabia facelift was initially launched, they were providing 14 inch alloys and not 15). Overall extremely satisfied with xm2 and would definitely recommend. Have done about 4k on them and not a single issue so far. Got them for 4.7k each including alignment and balancing.
Regarding 195/65/14, one of the dealers suggested they are not recommended for fabia. May be someone who has fitted them can suggest you from his experience.

[fiestarry]

Guys, after reading through all the posts I am confused about the correct upgrade to the stock 185/60 R14 that the Fabia 1.4 Tdi comes with.

I dont want to go R15 which would mean changing to 15" alloys isnt it?

Is 185/65 R14 a good upgrade ? Apparently not as per the online tyre guides.

What is the truth my Fabia brethren ?

[bharatsomany]

Originally Posted by fiestarry

Guys, after reading through all the posts I am confused about the correct upgrade to the stock 185/60 R14 that the Fabia 1.4 Tdi comes with.

I dont want to go R15 which would mean changing to 15" alloys isnt it?

Is 185/65 R14 a good upgrade ? Apparently not as per the online tyre guides.

What is the truth my Fabia brethren ?

Yes, R15 means you need a 15" wheel. Personally, I feel the handling of the 14" is not upto the mark and I would spend some money to go for a 215/50R16 on 7x16" wheels. Knowing that is an odd size, the other option would be to go for 205/50R16 in Yokohama S-Drive or Michelin Pilot Preceda (PP2). But that's me!

185/65R14 is smaller than the original size and not recommended.
I would suggest going for 195/65R14 or even 205/65R14 if your rim width permits (5.5" is the recommended min width for both), else you could just go for a 185/70R14 which will get you a decent width and diameter without any fuss.

[fiestarry]

Originally Posted by bharatsomany

185/65R14 is smaller than the original size and not recommended.
I would suggest going for 195/65R14 or even 205/65R14 or a 185/70R14 which will get you a decent width and diameter without any fuss.

Can you please explain how 185/65 is smaller than the original 185/60 R14 .
How will 185/70 give me a better width ?

I suppose R15 alloys for Fabia will cost in excess of 30,000 for a set. Not required. With tyres it will be half a lakh !!

I wonder what the best option would be in R14 size . Any considered views?

[bharatsomany]

Originally Posted by fiestarry

Can you please explain how 185/65 is smaller than the original 185/60 R14 .

As far as I understand it, the stock sizes for the Fabias sold in India were:
185/60R15 - 6Jx15 - Elegance - 603.00mm
175/70R14 - 5Jx14 - Active/Ambition - 600.60mm

Compare these to the sizes you mention:
185/65R14 - 5Jx14? - Dealer Modified? - 596.10mm
185/60R14 - 5Jx14? - Micro Tyre Edition? (No offence intended) - 577.60mm

Further Compare what the worlds best tuners install (TUV certified) on the Fabia:
215/35R18 - 8Jx18 - ABT Fabia - 607.70mm

How will 185/70 give me a better width ?

Compared to the 175/70 stock size, the 185 would give you better width (same as the stock setup of the top model). I temporarily missed that you were already on 185/65s, my bad.

I suppose R15 alloys for Fabia will cost in excess of 30,000 for a set. Not required. With tyres it will be half a lakh !!

I'm not sure what they would cost, but the Alloy Wheel Thread shows some good wheels at sensible prices. Anyhow, you clearly specified you wished to stay with the 14" and I simply added my views on what I feel is a very useful upgrade. Observe the "But that's me!"...

I wonder what the best option would be in R14 size . Any considered views?

Assuming the rim is 5" wide, the only viable option in my opinion is the 185/70R14 or else 195/70R14 if you're adventurous enough (I've installed Yokohama A-Drives of that size on a friends Ford Figo but never tried a Fabia).

[YVES]

Originally Posted by bharatsomany

As far as I understand it, the stock sizes for the Fabias sold in India were:
185/60R15 - 6Jx15 - Elegance - 603.00mm
175/70R14 - 5Jx14 - Active/Ambition - 600.60mm

Have not seen Fabia in 15 Inch Rims, both old and new models , Maybe Fabia Scout had 15 Inch.
185/60 R14 is correct size. may be 185/65 R14 as upgrade, if its worth the benefit and it does not scrape arch when fully loaded

[bharatsomany]

Originally Posted by YVES

Have not seen Fabia in 15 Inch Rims, both old and new models , Maybe Fabia Scout had 15 Inch.
185/60 R14 is correct size. may be 185/65 R14 as upgrade, if its worth the benefit and it does not scrape arch when fully loaded

YVES,
Since the cars don't match Skoda's published specification, it would be wise to make proper measurements to verify fitment possibilities.

Skoda India - Fabia - Specifications

[smrsraja]

Friends, thank you for sharing information and your experiences.

My long standing wish for fitting alloy wheels to my fabia (petrol) got fulfilled. Bought 15 inch alloy wheels (onyx brand), costed 22k. Tyre is Bridgestone B250...

[93000BHP]

How is the performance of 185 65/R14 in place of 185 60/R14.
the former seems to be available more easily and also cost lesser than the latter.

[yogesa]

Originally Posted by 93000BHP

How is the performance of 185 65/R14 in place of 185 60/R14.

I had installed this tyre-size on my TDI Fabia. Before this I had the 185-60-14 size, which would scrape the underbelly of most of the road humps of Pune.

After the upsize to 185-65-14, i could feel a subtle increase in the car's height, and the scraping of the road humps completely stopped.
I got better grip on the highway runs, and the confidence to tackle bad roads and undulations on the roads.

I had checked the Tyre-upsize-calculator, the difference was less than 2%, and so was recommended.

There was no noticeable drop in the fuel consumption, and somehow I felt the car was better than before.

Originally Posted by YVES

may be 185/65 R14 as upgrade, if its worth the benefit and it does not scrape arch when fully loaded

Even with four Big Adults and Luggage, the tyres never came close to the arch. The tyres were inflated at 32psi Nitrogen.

Originally Posted by 93000BHP

the former seems to be available more easily and also cost lesser than the latter.

This is true. Most of the dealers don't have this size in stock. However, when i checked, Apollos and Bridgestone are easily to come by.


Go ahead with the upsize.