Tired of Low Profiles~ I'm going super MPG style- 13s! Are my reasonings justifiable?

[azneinstein]

Car: 02 Toyota Corolla *98-02 style*

So I've had 17s for the past 2-3 years, finally got some curb damage which created a slow leak- so instead of refinishing/repair- decided to just go stock or smaller.

WHY I HATED 17s low profiles:
- Tires are so expensive, and they don't last long compared to regular ones, 20k vs. 30-50k
- Feels every bump, talk about bus boners in my car
- I'm not a racer, and I'm not trying to be
- A full car of people can cause the car to bottom out or scrape on hard turns
- Not 100% sure but I'm certain they're heavier than my stock steelies and tires which probably killed my MPG if even by a little and torque because of the added weight

I found somebody selling good condition 13s
*Pros*
- Much better ride comfort, I know I'll be floating a bit
- Better MPG and possibly power if they're even lighter than steelies
- Less worries on curb damage

Things I'll lose: Handling, styles (god knows the girls are flocking to my corolla already), grip. Also, 13" tires are a bit harder to find- but definitely not impossible nor is it "rare expensive."

Anything I miss?

 

[Demo24]

Your speedo could read incorrectly changing rim/tire size by that much. Make sure the diameter isn't going to change much or you will need to get it adjusted.

16's would probably be the better choice and a lot easier to find a wide variety of tires.

Also, will 13's even clear your brake rotors?

 

[Arkaign]

I agree that oversized wheels on economy cars are just more trouble than anything else. That said, 13" is overdoing it. Just go stock (14" IIRC).

Yeah, extra unsprung weight in large/heavy cheapish 17" wheels on a 1.8L Corolla with tiny CV axles and such is kinda bad.

16" = nooooooo. For some damned reason, 16" is generally harder to find than 17", and quite often more expensive or the same price. Why? I have no clue. 15" on the other hand is quite noticeably cheaper than anything 16"+.

I can't emphasize this enough : stock size 14" will be your best bet.

EDIT: You won't really lose much if anything in grip, though the tires will obviously flex a little more under hard cornering (please avoid this in a Corolla, lol). A decent set of 14"ers will hold the ground as well as you will ever need on that car.

 

[azneinstein]

Also, will 13's even clear your brake rotors?

Thank god you mentioned this... I'll check right away... but it's stock corolla rotors and pads so I think so.

But thanks for the help and decision making- this is mainly a financial decision as well: Fixing the rim was quoted at $100-150, the guy with the 13s I got down to $160 with good tires. Even though it's still cheaper to get it repaird, I'm just tired of the low profiles in generally and all the trouble they bring. usability>styling

Also, I'm surprised that the very small amount of cheap 4x100 rims/wheels on craigslist, people are asking $80-100 for steelies with no or crap tires.

 

[jlee]

Thank god you mentioned this... I'll check right away... but it's stock corolla rotors and pads so I think so.

But thanks for the help and decision making- this is mainly a financial decision as well: Fixing the rim was quoted at $100-150, the guy with the 13s I got down to $160 with good tires. Even though it's still cheaper to get it repaird, I'm just tired of the low profiles in generally and all the trouble they bring. usability>styling

Also, I'm surprised that the very small amount of cheap 4x100 rims/wheels on craigslist, people are asking $80-100 for steelies with no or crap tires.

13" mid-90's Sentra steel wheels will not clear the front brakes on a 98-02 Corolla. I'm going to guess these won't fit either.

 

[T2urtle]

13s and 14 are extremely hard to find.

everything i found was 15 and 17-18.

Get a set of 15's for the corolla. Your 17's might be heavier then stock but my wheels aren't 25lb stock 17's and 20lb FORGED 18. Its easiler for me to find 18's and the MPG difference is about 1 mpg for me. The tires you get plays a big role in 20k miles or 60k. I got 50k out of my last set. It all depends on what you get. sticky tires will give you 20k tread life.


if i had a rolla like yours, i would look in maybe 16's max or if i can get a deal on 17's. Tires are still about $100 each and love that price point. My 18's tires are just about that point as well.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

13s and 14 are extremely hard to find.

everything i found was 15 and 17-18.

Get a set of 15's for the corolla. Your 17's might be heavier then stock but my wheels aren't 25lb stock 17's and 20lb FORGED 18. Its easiler for me to find 18's and the MPG difference is about 1 mpg for me. The tires you get plays a big role in 20k miles or 60k. I got 50k out of my last set. It all depends on what you get. sticky tires will give you 20k tread life.


if i had a rolla like yours, i would look in maybe 16's max or if i can get a deal on 17's. Tires are still about $100 each and love that price point. My 18's tires are just about that point as well.

205/55/R16 is usually the cheapest around here thats normally stocked.

 

[Arkaign]

13s and 14 are extremely hard to find.

everything i found was 15 and 17-18.

Get a set of 15's for the corolla. Your 17's might be heavier then stock but my wheels aren't 25lb stock 17's and 20lb FORGED 18. Its easiler for me to find 18's and the MPG difference is about 1 mpg for me. The tires you get plays a big role in 20k miles or 60k. I got 50k out of my last set. It all depends on what you get. sticky tires will give you 20k tread life.


if i had a rolla like yours, i would look in maybe 16's max or if i can get a deal on 17's. Tires are still about $100 each and love that price point. My 18's tires are just about that point as well.

By 13s and 14s are extremely hard to find, are you talking tires, custom rims, or stock steelies? Because steelies are tires of the 14" variety are probably the easiest thing in the world to find due to their incredibly common production in economy cars like Sentra, Focus, Rio, Cobalt, Cavalier, Neon, Civic, Corolla, etc for most of the past 20 years. Tires at 14" are cheap as hell.

He's already dumping the 17"ers, and often $100 will get you a set of 4 14" tires (or close to it) on special from Tirerack, Discount Tire, or the like. Of course, tire prices have increased the past couple of years due to various influences such as labor prices, trade/taxation, and rubber/transport prices.

 

[Arkaign]

Ah, just did some quick research, the stock 14" P185/65R14s are available at Discount Tire for $40/ea, and a $50 rebate is offered when you buy 4, which brings the total to $110

Free roadhazard, and they're rated at 40k miles (typical economy tire).

 

[Throckmorton]

13" tires are very hard to find. 14" is OK but not very good selection. Stick with 15".

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I saw this titled and really REALLY hoped it was fleabag.

My recommendation.. for a Corolla... look on tirerack.com and figure out the most common size and go with that. Probably 14"..

I bet you could find someone on craigslist that would trade, even curbed up. Black steelies don't look too bad either.

 

[brblx]

pretty sure 02's had 14's available. if you want to swap, just buy some stock steelies (dirt cheap used, or, maybe 200-300 new depending on the source (dealer probably wants at least 60 a wheel)).

also there's no way that curb damage ('curb rash') can make a slow leak. do you mean curb damage as in you hit a curb head on and bent the wheel? and bigger wheels should not cause the car to bottom out, unless you have the wrong size tires.

...and also i doubt you'll save that much on tires if the 17's you're running are a common size. i had aftermarket wheels with 205/40/17 (yeah, i know, almost quality as rubber-bands) and the tires were barely if any more expensive than the 195/60/14's i put back on it. $60-70 for something decent but fairly cheap, either way.

 

[exdeath]

Just get some OEM 14 x 5.5 steel wheels and 195/70/14 tires (very cheap and common tire). It's one thing to go from 17"+ aluminum wheels to 14" steel wheels, but comparing 14" to 13" is going overboard, negligible, and beyond diminishing returns.

OEM wheel/tire for your car is 175/65/14 or 185/65/14.

Also your car bottoming out has nothing to do with the wheel/tire.

 

[jlee]

Just get some OEM 14 x 5.5 steel wheels and 195/70/14 tires (very cheap and common tire). It's one thing to go from 17"+ aluminum wheels to 14" steel wheels, but comparing 14" to 13" is going overboard, negligible, and beyond diminishing returns.

OEM wheel/tire for your car is 175/65/14 or 185/65/14.

Also your car bottoming out has nothing to do with the wheel/tire.

That's a pretty substantial difference (7.8% speedo difference, and almost an inch more on the sidewall) - I'd try to stick with a factory sized tire.

 

[Zenmervolt]

WHY I HATED 17s low profiles:
- Tires are so expensive, and they don't last long compared to regular ones, 20k vs. 30-50k

That's because you're buying summer tires instead of regular all-seasons. There is absolutely no reason that the larger size of 17" tires would make them wear out faster. Buy touring all-seasons and you should get 60,000+ miles. Buy a set of high-performance summer tires and 20,000 miles is about right. Either that, or your car's alignment is shit, which still isn't the tires' fault.

- Feels every bump, talk about bus boners in my car

Yup, low-profile tires do that to some degree, but usually it's not that bad. You sure that your suspension is OK?

- I'm not a racer, and I'm not trying to be

Then why the hell are you buying summer tires?

- A full car of people can cause the car to bottom out or scrape on hard turns

That's suspension, not tires. You're overloading the car.

- Not 100% sure but I'm certain they're heavier than my stock steelies and tires which probably killed my MPG if even by a little and torque because of the added weight

Not enough that you'd notice.

I found somebody selling good condition 13s
*Pros*
- Much better ride comfort, I know I'll be floating a bit

Slightly better ride, but chances are that it won't be incredible or anything.

- Better MPG and possibly power if they're even lighter than steelies

Not enough that you'd notice in normal driving.

- Less worries on curb damage

This is probably the only one that is really significant.

As others have said, there's a good chance that 13" wheels won't fit over your brakes. Find out the OE wheel/tire size for your car and go with that.

ZV