I have just picked up my new to me L322 and its going to need tyres at some point soon.

There seems to be a much greater choice if up the tyre size to 55's from 50.

Of those of you who have made this change are there any draw backs? slower acceleration?

Thanks

The speedo will read either spot on or slightly under read your actual road speed so you have to be more careful with watching your speed. This can be adjusted with the GAP-IID tool though. If you are drag racing and throwing it round bends at the limit of traction the tall sidewall may slow you down a bit but most people preffer the look and slighly better ride quality. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

Thanks for that, certainly not going to to be doing drag racing or cornering hard.

Thinking of getting the new Pirelli SF2's but they might be overkill for down in Surrey

I bought a set of wheels that came with 55 ratio tyres fitted and was surprised at how 'mushy' the ride felt with just the 5% difference.
I put 50% tyres on and the ride felt more 'taughter'.
I appreciate that different tyre makes may feel different anyway but I prefer the 50% size.

same for me, had 55's when I got the car (they had about 5mm on them at the time) , nothing too bad about them

but then I replaced them with 255/50 R20's Pirelli Scorpion Zeros with PCNS ( supposed to lessen the tyre noise - maybe but I can't really determine if that's true or not, could just be a marketing thing)

Using 50 Aspect Ratio tyres was a small improvement for me, car seemed more sure footed when throwing it around, all this is pretty subjective as you will also get people swearing how much better using 55's are - so only commenting on my personal experiences

Not to do with performance but I reverted to 255.50.20 because, with advancing years and some health problems, I found it very difficult to get the 255/55/20 out of the boot, even with the spare wheel lift.

On one occasion it jammed, neither in nor out, and I had to phone a mate to come and get it out.

Not a problem for all you youngsters.  John
2008 Stornoway Grey 3.6 Tdv8 Vogue
2005 TD6 Java Black Vogue - Written off!!
GAP iiD BT
2003 Discovery TD5 Auto, Nanocom Evolution - gone to a new home!
MasseyFerguson 152 - No electronics!! - Sold

Tyres will each have their own characteristics so that will be a factor, but my experience was much as that of others here, ie 50 profile gives quicker and sharper steering responses, 55 a more cushioned ride.

Some insurers would regard fitting a non-standard size as a 'modification' so there is probably a case for telling them to be on the safe side if you go for 55, the greater ride height could affect on the limit handling so would potentially affect risk assessment.

If you have a full size spare wheel then if you don't buy a tyre for it also, if you have to mount it following a puncture you'd have different rolling circumferences on the same axle, not desirable. Maybe OK if you treat it like a space saver and just use it to limp to the tyre shop. Only Range Rovers since 1988

I did what you're looking at doing, going from a mixed bag of 255/50/20s to 255/55/20s. Obviously, switching from cheap rubber front and rear to quality rubber all round made a huge difference to both comfort, noise and driving feel. Regardinghte speedo, it now reads spot on with GPS via Waze. Not ideal as I'd rather it reads slightly over so I'll use the Gap IID tool to change things.

For reference, I know there's a lot of love for the Pirelli's on here. I ended up going for Continental All Season 2s as I wanted the 3PMS symbol for driving in the mountains in France. The Pirellis don't have this or else I've have had them. I'm very happy with the Contis though, I'm off to France on Saturday so can give you a better cold weather report on them after that.

Thanks for all the replies.

A couple of people have suggested looking at 275/45/20 as this give more stability and is virtually the same rolling size as 50's. However they are a fair bit more expensive

I have two sets - summer and winter the winters on 19 rims the summers on 20 I run 255 55 tried the pirellis but too soft for me I have Pilot sport for the summers side wall a lot stiffer than others so not too much of a compromise on feel and for the winters Goodyear ultra grip on 19 which are a lot softer so a lot of the difference can be just the tyres.
Just a bit of info