I was at tire shop yesterday and I noticed two different brand tires (Yokohama and Falken) same size tires 205/45/17 but when you put them side by side, they have different size in sidewall. The Yokohama's ES100 is more low profile (I thought they were 40series) and the Falkens I thought were 50series (beefier sidewall).

Anyone know why?

 

It may just be how the tread is cut into the shoulder of the tire that gives the appearance of a taller or shorter sidewall.

 

Some of it could be shoulder differences, as noted above. Also, diameters vary between manufacturers for the same tire size (usually by a fairly small amount). The Tire Rack has pretty detailed specs, but since they don't carry Falken you can't look up the specification differences between this particular pair of tires.

 

I know tire sizes vary even by size. A few years ago I had a set of 4 dunlop graspics snows 205-55-16 mounted on my A4 Audi. When I go home I noticed one of the tires was narrower than the other three. Believe it or not the narrower tire was actually a 215-55-16, same exact brand.

 

All tires are made differently....the numbers help, but they aren't perfect. Tires of the same size can vary greatly between the companies and the type of tire. The same is true for tire width....one 205/50 could easily be wider than another 205/50.

 

They are both very popular in the Mini community but which is better between the 2 on actual road?