Extra load (XL) tyres on a Fiesta?

[Prawo Jazdy]

Our Fiesta is due some new tyres, and I’d like to put all season tyres on it for the odd icy/snowy day that it might see. All the ones I’ve looked at in the right size online are XL rated.

This sounds unnecessary for a small car. Is it a bad idea/going to result in a noisy, bone-shaking ride? Or be just fine? The size is 195/50R16.

[trevalvole]

My understanding is that XL means the tyre can take the higher air pressure required to support a heavier load and that it doesn't necessarily mean that the sidewalls are substantially stiffer. The explanation I've seen is that if you take a unfitted tyre, you can often deflect the sidewall with your hands and therefore the sidewall strength is only a very small part of what holds your wheels off the road when there's, say, 300kg sat on each one. It is the air in the tyre that supports the vast majority of the weight. I also recall that a few years ago Michelin reduced the number of different load indexes they listed and one of the reasons for that was that the normal and XL tyres were often the same physical tyre, just with a different label. I presume what they did was just list the tyre with the XL load index.

Edited by trevalvole on Sunday 31st October 17:22

[stevieturbo]

Wouldn't worry too much about it. If they're the tyre you want, just go for it.

[Prawo Jazdy]

Thanks for the replies, that puts my mind at rest a bit.

[Robotron70]

XL is usually on tyres for heavier vehicles that carry heavier than usual weights more frequently, but doesn’t give you any additional load capacity.

4x4’s, people carriers, SUV’s etc.

Good explanation here - https://www.protyre.co.uk/car-help-advice/tyre-car...