[Dorchester2]

Originally Posted by IGH

The make of tyre you choose is always a matter of personal choice but in my opinion 205's are the way to go.
Cheers

A personal choice maybe, but the well-known quality of the brand very much matters as can testify some independent & professional advices. The value on wet ground (A, B, C...) isn't at all subjective, but seriously tested, at least I assume it. Our safety depends on that. Only Dunlop, Goodyear, Michelin, Pirelli, you name it & a few good & reliable others for me...

When I bought my set of crown alloys, there were cheap Chinese tyres on them that were suspiciously unevenly worn. I left them during the summer best two months: that was appalling!
Same misadventure with a pair of Serbian tyres on my 25 which were as slippery as soap in corners!

Another parameter that matters: better to slightly over inflate your tyres than the contrary. My Chinese tyres above had likely been largely under inflated before, that's why the edges were far more damaged than the centre. Personally I'm checking tyres pressure at least once a month, even twice if the car is frequently used.

Hence a few mm in width looks for me far less important that brand, pressure and condition indeed: better a good used pair of tyres than a brand new inferior & cheapo one... so much so that a good pair isn't necessarily much more expensive. I don't want to be greedy on my safety & my passengers', but price difference related to a few unsuspected mm cannot be justified properly.
IMHO difference between a premium 195 and a bad 205 looks abyssal...