Kia Forte tires

One compact sedan, four different original tire sizes, spanning 15-inch steel-wheel territory up to an 18-inch on the GT. That spread is wide for a car this size, and it is why a Forte quote given down the phone from the model name alone is a guess.

The sizes Kia fitted

The BD generation runs from 2019 to 2024. Sizes and pressures here are confirmed on the 2023 car.

• 195/65R15 on FE and LX. This is the volume fitment.
• 205/55R16 on LXS.
• 225/45R17 on GT-Line and EX.
• 225/40R18 on GT.

Four sizes exist because wheel diameter moves with trim while the car underneath stays the same. The practical effect is that the tires get wider and the sidewalls shorter as you go up the range, so a GT tire is a different purchase from an LX tire in price and in ride. Nothing about the trim name is visible from a tire size lookup if the wheels were changed after the car left the factory. See finding your tire size.

Where the Forte puts its placard

The driver's door sill, on the driver-side centre pillar. The Kia owner's manual describes the tire and loading information label as located on the driver's door sill, giving the original tire size and the recommended cold tire pressures.

That is the group-level wording in Kia's shared manual format rather than a statement about this exact model and year, so confirm it on your own car. Open the driver's door. If the edge of the door is bare, look at the upright post beside the seat, which is the B-pillar. Our tire pressure placard guide covers which makes print it where.

How to read it once you find it

1. Cold pressure, front.
2. Cold pressure, rear. Equal to the front on this car.
3. The original tire size, which is one of four on this model line.
4. The spare, printed separately and normally at a much higher figure.

Cold means parked at least three hours, or driven under about a mile. A tire warms as it rolls and its pressure rises with it, so a reading taken after a drive is high and will tempt you into letting out air the tire needed.

The verified pressure, and the one we will not give you

33 psi front and rear. Two independent pressure sources agree exactly on 195/65R15 at 33 front and rear, and on 225/45R17 at 33 front and rear. One of them also gives 205/55R16 at 33 front and rear.

The GT on 225/40R18 is different. One source gives it as 35 front and rear, and the second does not carry it, so that figure rests on a single source and we are not going to print it as fact. If you have a GT, the label on your own car is the authority. Set it to what the sticker says, not to the 33 that covers the rest of the range, and not to a number someone quoted you for a Forte in general.

Front and rear are equal on the corroborated fitments, so setting all four to one number is correct on those cars. That is worth saying because on several other compacts it is not.

Replacing fewer than four

The Forte is front-wheel drive across the range. There is no all-wheel-drive system to protect, so fitting one or two tires is a normal conversation and not a compromise. No Kia numeric tread-depth tolerance was found in our sources, so the judgement is made by looking at the other tires on the car.

Two new tires belong on the rear axle. A front-drive car with fresh grip at the front and worn tires at the back is the one that steps out under braking in the wet, which is the opposite of what most people expect. See how many tires and mixing tire brands. For a puncture in the tread, repair against replace is the first question to ask.

What changes on a mobile Forte fitting

• Direct TPMS, with a sensor in each road wheel, so the job ends with a reset or a relearn rather than a pressure check alone.
• Four possible sizes on one model. We confirm the size on the car rather than from the trim badge before loading tires.
• 225/40R18 on the GT is a low-profile fitment on a small car. Mounting is routine, but rim damage is easier to find on these, and we will tell you if we see it.
• Light wheels and a small car. Nothing here is awkward to lift or reach in a driveway or a street space.

What we do

We supply the tires and fit them where the car is parked. Pressure goes to the figure on your own label rather than to a database, the TPMS is reset or relearned where the car supports it, and the old tires leave with us. Pricing is on our mobile tire replacement page.

Questions people ask

• What psi does a Forte take? 33 front and rear on the 15-inch and 17-inch fitments, corroborated by two sources, and the same figure on the 16-inch from one source.
• What about the GT on 18s? Only one of our sources carries it. Read that car's own label rather than trusting a single-sourced figure, including ours.
• Where is the label? The driver's door sill, on the centre pillar. If the door edge is bare, check the upright post beside the seat.
• Can I fit just two tires? Yes on this car, and they go on the rear axle.
• Are front and rear different? Not on the fitments we could corroborate. Both axles take the same figure there.
• Do you reset the tire light? Yes, where the vehicle supports it. Each wheel carries its own sensor.