Why I LOVE smaller wheels and tires!

[Lolvoguy]

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/effects-of-upsized-wheels-and-tires-tested

I also enjoy the added protection my wheels get from a taller sidewall. Sad that auto manufacturers don't design cars with narrower tires and smaller wheels anymore. Even "economy" cars are running 16's

 

[camrydriver111]

Interesting article. You do get better handling with the larger wheels though. It's always a trade-off.

16 is still a pretty small size. On your Camrys and Corollas I don't see the wheels getting too large.

On luxury cars some of those sidewalls are ridiculously small though.

 

[gabriel9766]

When i went car shopping i made sure the car i was looking for had small wheels and tires. I'm happy with my 215/60/16 continental tires. They range from 16-19inch on my car.

 

[JHZR2]

I cant stand these huge wheels and tires. Yeah, handling is a bit better, but its just not sufficiently compelling on highway offramps and wherever else one typically drives.

They cost more, and in many cars, the brakes are no larger to make use of the space... And empty space in the wheel barrel looks stupid.

I agree that 15-17" wheel sizes are about optimal.

But my issue with the article is that they didnt seem to make an attempt at reducing wheel/tire mass on the larger sizes. Assuming one is keeping the outer radii the same, there may be something to be said for selecting different wheels and tires to reduce the mass. I get it that then other things wouldnt be apples to apples, but I wonder what the effect would then be.

 

[LotI]

My Accord Sport came with 18" wheels and tires that weigh 53# each. 235/45/18.

I installed aftermarket 17" Kosei wheels that I bought for my '12 Accord and get better mileage, comfort and noise. I drive 3,000 miles/month and the comfort is worth it. Each wheel and tire weighs 38# each wi a Pirelli P7+ 215/55VR17.

There is a loss of absolute cornering grip.

My winter tires are 16" with a similar weight to my 17's.

The 2016 Accord Sport comes with 19" wheels. Ouch.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

I HATE big dubs and no-profile tires on non-performance cars.

 

[joegreen]

Lets not forget cost. My 195/70r14 on my mercedes are $65-70 a tire.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Those ultra low profile tires convert your rims into curb feelers, expensive ones at that.

One thing they did not mention. Those stiff low profile tires have an interesting handling quality on many vehicles. The contact area is very stiff across the width of the tire and as the body rolls you can get to a point where the contact patch gets lifted on the side all at once and you'd better be quick to catch it and have some run off area to the side.

 

[BTW]

Agreed, I hate that most cars have huge wheels and LP tires. [censored], even my Grand Cherokee Limited came with 18's.

Our E46 BMW has 16's and handles better than most cars on the the road thank you...

 

[Mr Nice]

No need for BIG wheels on econobox.

Lots of younger folks lover big wheels.... until they need to buy new tires.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: joegreen
Lets not forget cost. My 195/70r14 on my mercedes are $65-70 a tire.


I have those on my 300D as well and the suspension is designed around that spec. So one gets a camber change when cornering that ensures a flat tread on the road anyway after the tire flexes. The car corners as well as one could possibly imagine, even if it's "soft" by modern video-game standards. Eg turn the wheel and get an instant response. Quick-ratio steering on modern cars has jumped the shark in this regard as well. They seem to be in a contest on who can have the fewest turns lock-to-lock, now that power steering feel has moved up in tech.

 

[IndyIan]

There's some debate if F1 should move from the 13" wheel to something like 18", but there's no consensus that the bigger wheels will even equal the performance of the current ones.
The cars are so light that it may be hard to get a consistent contact patch on lower profile tires, while running enough pressure to keep sidewall flex reasonable.
Of all the tires I ran on my Neon, I think my favorites were the 205/60R13 summer tires. Lots of grip, very forgiving breakaway when autocrossing, rode smooth, and were quiet. If they fit on the Focus I would put them on, but they did size the front brakes so even 15" are tight.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

"Aesthetic appeal" Those big wheels make a vehicle look like it's running down the road on chicken legs.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I guess I'm a bit different than everyone else, but I do like basic stuff on vehicles. I would have been completely happy if my Focus came with 14'' steel wheels along with crank windows and manual locks.

The 195/60-15 aren't too bad on it - but I absolutely would not have bought one with 16 or 17'' wheels. Small and skinny are what I prefer.

I wouldn't mind finding a few sets of steel wheels for it for winter and summer.

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

So basically if you are wasting money for a daily driver if you upgrade your 15" wheels/tires.
3.076% better braking and 6.7% better "stability"

At least here in Buffalo with the pot holes we have you are going to bust the [censored] out of your rims and low profile tires, they simply do not handle bad road conditions and collect curb rash.

Comparing the tire sizes the prices are almost more than double for the stuff Im looking at.

Had low profile tires with large rims on my daily driver when I was young and stupid.

 

[Benzadmiral]

The Regal came with the 18" wheels and tires. I'd love to go down to 17" if I could. But the car was designed for 18" and 19". Would going down a size change the steering and handling to a significant degree? The car is a daily driver, highway and city "streets," and isn't tracked or driven very aggressively.

 

[MCompact]

In my garage I have one car on 15" wheels, one on 16", two on 17" and one on 18". Aside from replacement cost, the 17" and 18" setups have survived road hazards as well as the 15" and 16". Almost every car I'm currently considering is equipped wit 18", 19", or 20" wheels, so you have to pay to play; for me it's more than worth it.

Having said all that, I "downsized" the tires on the Club Sport from the 225/50-16 factory fitment down to 205/55-16. A couple of friends who raced them told me that the 205/55 tires had more than ample grip for a light, low horsepower(150 hp chipped) car and that there was a small but consistent reduction in lap times.

 

[JTK]

Yep. I don't care for the huge wheel and lack of rubber for a daily-driver. This is one of the reasons I steered my mom into a new Camry LE with 16s and simple plastic wheel covers. Cushy ride, better in the winter and you don't feel so bad about curb rash.

 

[hattaresguy]

Modern cars seem to do OK with big wheels and tires, I guess the suspensions are designed for them now.

I keep my vehicles stock, gone are my days of modifying cars.

 

[KitaCam]

This article comes up here every few years (it's from 2010)....and the same comments reappear...The Kitacam definitely improved its ride and performance after being shod with lightweight 17s, up from 15s steelies, along with much better performing tires...a bigger/better combo that weighed about the same as OEM (46lb vs 44)...