Tires: p215/55r17 vereses p215/60r16, tire placard, size tires

Question
I have p215/60r16 size tires on my car yet the manufacturer says I should have p216/55r17 on instead. The tire size that I have on now has lasted for 50,000 miles. Which size do you recommend? and is there really that big of a difference?
Sincerely,
tire challenged.

Answer
Jennifer,

I suspect there is more going on here, so let's start with the basics:

On every vehicle sold in the US – and I am told this is worldwide, but I have not been able to verify this - there is a sticker – commonly called the tire placard - that lists the original tire size and the proper pressure for that size.  The placard is usually located on a doorpost or in the glove box – but sometimes it is located in the trunk or on the fuel filler door.

So what does the vehicle tire placard say?  It's quite possible that P215/55R17 is on that palacard - then that solves the problem.

But it is also possible that someone changed wheels and put those on - and that's OK, too.

In either case, you are stuck with the wheels you have and unless you want to replace them, I'd suggest sticking with what you have.