Very much prefer my winter wheels and tires

[desura]

Regular tires came with car = 17 inch LRR tires.

Winter wheels I bought = 15 inch Nokian Nordman 5.

Winter wheels are so much better. MPG is roughly the same, actually might be a little better, not sure. But the ride is much improved, because there is a smaller wheel and more tire, and the grip is better too obviously.

WTF is the point of larger wheels to begin with? Just looks? Because they don't make much practical sense.

 

[jlee]

Regular tires came with car = 17 inch LRR tires.

Winter wheels I bought = 15 inch Nokian Nordman 5.

Winter wheels are so much better. MPG is roughly the same, actually might be a little better, not sure. But the ride is much improved, because there is a smaller wheel and more tire, and the grip is better too obviously.

WTF is the point of larger wheels to begin with? Just looks? Because they don't make much practical sense.

For most cars, primarily looks. For some cars larger wheels are needed to clear bigger brakes (i.e. I can't fit 16's on my GX470).

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Mainly looks and/or bigger brakes.
17" on my LS looks tiny (like 15" on other cars) unless it is lowered significantly.

 

[pauldun170]

After factoring in how big the brakes should be for the car I prefer keeping to whatever size offers the best balance of ride and cornering when paired with the appropriate tire. Never got into the "gotta have a rubber band on a huge rim" thing.
Having some sidewall is a good thing on NY roads
My last car handled just fine and took turns like a beast on 16's (225-55-16).
Our Mazda is pretty happy on 17's.

Having said that, my station car is rocking some 15's (205-65-15)
Never have to worry about rough roads. Tires are cheap
High speed cornering gets comical. You can almost visualize the sidewalls warping from the driver seat.

 

[JulesMaximus]

For most cars, primarily looks. For some cars larger wheels are needed to clear bigger brakes (i.e. I can't fit 16's on my GX470).

My wife and I have 18" wheels on both our cars as standard. I don't think 17" wheels would clear the brakes on either of our cars but the 18" wheels return a smooth and relatively comfortable ride. I'm glad my car doesn't have the 19" optional wheels though. My boss had 20" wheels on his CLS500 and kept damaging them and destroying tires. He finally put the 18" AMG wheels back on and hasn't had any trouble since.

 

[herm0016]

My winter 17s get about 1.5 mpg better. Tires are about 2 in less Dia, and weigh about 20 lb less vs. My summer all terrains on 18s.

 

[Yuriman]

"Low rolling resistance" is relative, and many winter tires actually have better rolling resistance than their all season and summer counterparts, which partly offsets the loss in mileage from cold air. Large rims are heavier and have more of that weight farther away from the point of rotation, and so rob acceleration.

On my Insight I run Michelin Energy Savers in the summer, and Nokian Nordman's in the winter (same size). The Nordmans have around the same rolling resistance as the Energy Savers, which are among the best all seasons for fuel economy. I find the Nordmans to offer a much softer ride, which is nice on dirt roads but they tend to "wallow" around corners a bit. The Energy Savers weigh 10.3lbs, whereas the Nordmans weigh in at 14.75-15lbs. Combine that with ~1lb heavier winter rims (11 vs 12lbs) and the car feels a lot less sprightly. The difference in grip in poor weather is tremendous though.

Summer vs winter:

Hoping at some point to trade out my winter rims for another set of stock rims to get the weight down. The spoked rims also tend to get packed with snow, and their reduced aerodynamics shows up at the pump, if only slightly.

EDIT: There are Insight owners who swap out their stock 14" 11lb rims for larger 15-20lb (or even heavier) 15-16" rims and find that from the added roatating mass of the wheels alone they're losing 15-25% of their fuel economy.

 

[skyking]

my beetle will work with 15's and I am on the lookout for a good set. Stock tires are 205/55r16, and they are great in the dry and wet, but that big foot on a small car sucks hard in the snow.
I think 195/65r15 in snow tread would be a huge improvement, with the same overall diameter.
The insight is such a sensitive beast, it was so well engineered. People try and improve on it and often fail because let's face it, Honda hit a home run there. There are many proven things that help and a whole bunch of fail too

 

[desura]

17 inch wheels plus 40psi tires is like traveling on wooden wagon wheels. I might just sell my stock wheels and get steel 15 inchers for summer wheels and tires.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

17 inch wheels plus 40psi tires is like traveling on wooden wagon wheels. I might just sell my stock wheels and get steel 15 inchers for summer wheels and tires.

Now all we need in this thread is the guy who insisted on inflating to sidewall

 

[skyking]

Of course, everyone knows you get the best traction inflated to sidewall

 

[Yuriman]

Now all we need in this thread is the guy who insisted on inflating to sidewall

I inflate to sidewall but I'm not going to advise others do it.

I enjoy still getting 70mpg when it's 15 below zero.

 

[skyking]

I enjoy whatever MPG I get whilst not in the ditch. The ditch cuts right into my schedule
Example of "not sidewall"
My truck has 80 PSI there, but with my typical towing loads that just cuts the center tread off my tires quickly.
70 is what works for even tire wear.
Then I get out to the ocean with the trailer, and drop the air to 30 PSI to go out on the beach. Massively great traction at 30 PSI in the sand.
Go to the convenience store with free air and pump them back up for the trip home with trailer.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Never got into the "gotta have a rubber band on a huge rim" thing.

It was my understanding that low-profile tires flex less, thereby improving cornering/handling.

 

[COPOHawk]

There is the law of diminishing returns here after a certain point. Especially with "donk" rims...pretty ridiculous.

 

[skyking]

below 50 in the aspect ratio, it is all about looks. There is not enough sidewall left to flex, and the ride is Sooooo lovely without those sidewalls.

 

[desura]

Of course, everyone knows you get the best traction inflated to sidewall

Wtf is inflate to sidewall? Like, to the max psi?

 

[jlee]

Wtf is inflate to sidewall? Like, to the max psi?

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/lets-talk-about-tire-psi-inflating-to-sidewall.335140/

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/lets-talk-about-tire-psi-inflating-to-sidewall.335140/

Legendary garage thread!

 

[NutBucket]

below 50 in the aspect ratio, it is all about looks. There is not enough sidewall left to flex, and the ride is Sooooo lovely without those sidewalls.

Only if ride comfort is your priority.

 

[Meghan54]

Only if ride comfort is your priority.

Yeah, he forgot to include the wheels being heavier (drops gas mileage), tires easier to damage, increased susceptibility to hydroplaning. All for looking cool on the ride.

 

[NutBucket]

I don't dispute any of those faults. Different strokes for different folks

EDIT: I don't agree with your hydroplaning comment. Assuming the same tread width it all comes down to tread design and depth.

 

[desura]

My winter tires are 70 sidewall

Heck, my 17 inchers are 50 sidewall, and that's a bit too firm. I've looked it up and it seems the max my car can handle is 55 on 17.

 

[JCH13]

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

Ta da...

I don't agree with 100% of what's presented in that article, but it gives reasonably objective and an apples-to-apples comparison of what happens when up-sizing wheels and tires. The big caveat here is that it is possible to buy larger wheels that are lighter than those tested which would mitigate or reverse the downside of up-sizing.

 

[Yuriman]

Although you might get lighter, larger rims, the rotational inertia equation has the radius squared, and larger wheels have more of the mass farther from the rotation's center, so the cards are really stacked against you.