Transit mk7 ride heights and tyre sizes

[DickP]

Hi,

I'm looking into buying a Transit mk7 but I am conscious that they appear to come with a variety of tyre sizes. Given how close they are to being 2.00m tall, are all SWB Transits less than 2.00m or do some of the factory tyre and wheel sizes put them over 2.00m?

Was it only the RWD models which had the larger tyres?

Given the intended use of the van, having slightly more clearance than that with the tiny wheels and tyres would be a big help. (e.g. like the LWB models)

Thanks!

[the dutch guy]

wheel size does extremely little for ride height. if you want to keep the van below 2 meters you need to drop the springs at the back. you can win 5~7cm easy as the front is lower to begin with.

normal SWB is between 197 and 205cm at the rear with a empty cargo bay and normal sized tires. the front is ~190cm.

[knobby1]

wheel size does extremely little for ride height. if you want to keep the van below 2 meters you need to drop the springs at the back. you can win 5~7cm easy as the front is lower to begin with.

normal SWB is between 197 and 205cm at the rear with a empty cargo bay and normal sized tires. the front is ~190cm.

Bugga...mine is 265cm....but it is a Hi-roof LWB RWD...I suspect there's no transit higher...unless the AWD version is a tad higher...but I've not seen one in person yet....a bit rare they are..!

Lord Knobrot

[DickP]

Thanks The Dutch Guy, so what are the standard tyre sizes?

I have seen the SWB with small tyres and others with big. Are the bigger ones put on by the owner then?

[yzr750]

Thanks The Dutch Guy, so what are the standard tyre sizes?

I have seen the SWB with small tyres and others with big. Are the bigger ones put on by the owner then?

Depends on the model, I think the lower power versions have 15's and the higher power ones have 16's, at least here in Oz they do.

[bigjohnthomas]

Its on the weight my boy
less than 300 has 15s and above 16s
Unless its a limited then its got 16 inch alloys init
The discs are bigger over 300 so girly little 15s won't fit over the calipers

[yzr750]

Its on the weight my boy
less than 300 has 15s and above 16s
Unless its a limited then its got 16 inch alloys init
The discs are bigger over 300 so girly little 15s won't fit over the calipers

Ah, that makes sense.

[the dutch guy]

But remember: the rim size is bigger but the tire is not.

The only proper way to control the ride height is with aftermarket air suspention.

[Jim Archer]

Trust me, when you have to push big fat 4 stroke road bikes up a ramp into the back of a RWD 350, you can tell the difference between 65 and 75 profile tyres

185 15s are a lot smaller than 215 16s. Best part of 25mm at the axle by eye.

Jim

[bigjohnthomas]

Quite a big bigger overall
Side by side 15 and 16 with standard tyres on ..
But only the height of a house brick
Approximately 1 meter

[the dutch guy]

if you take the tyre sizes 185/75 15 and 215/65 16 and do the math you get this:

width: 30mm wider. (should be obvious)
wall height: identical at 5.5" for both.
diameter: 25.9" vs 27" = +4.2% higher tyre.

is if you were to mount the bigger rims on a <300 transit you would not even take out the offset of the speedo, it only makes 2.5mph difference when the tyre is new.
this does mean there is a LOT more drag as there is more rubber on the road and thus higher fuel consumption. and no, it wil not corner better. you need to select better brand and type of tyres if that is your goal.
bigger tyre: more expensive to buy and uses more fuel. totally over the top to do simething like that on a SWB or light duty use case.

visually it looks more impressive, but in actual use the difference is smaller then you think.

weird, it is almost like those eggheads at ford knew what they were doing.

[bigjohnthomas]

You might say that but....
When I swapped from 15s to 16 " alloys on my mk 7 it made no difference to fuel used at all
One sometimes forgets that a transit is a 2 tonne blob with the aerodynamics of a gable end
A bit more rubber on the road makes little difference

[Altransit]

Standard 15" tyres, as used on the 260/280/300 are 195/70/15, heavier vans use 215/75/16, so nearly 10% larger rolling radius on the heavier vans.
Interestingly, although the bigger tyres will reduce the revs at a given speed, when I fitted them to my 280, it actually increased the fuel consumption slightly, probably due to it being slightly over geared, and needing more gear changes around town

[bigjohnthomas]

I've got 235/50 /18s on my little van and the mpg is sh*t
Should of kept the trampy old mk7

[the dutch guy]

You might say that but....
When I swapped from 15s to 16 " alloys on my mk 7 it made no difference to fuel used at all
One sometimes forgets that a transit is a 2 tonne blob with the aerodynamics of a gable end
A bit more rubber on the road makes little difference

it does make a big difference, but it is dependant on driving "style". if you drive very eco you wil notice it but if you are the average van driver ass-riding audi's on the motorway at 100mph you will not notice that difference of fuel consumption a lot....