What's up with the dubs?

[DrMrLordX]

I've been trying to learn more about the pros and cons of oversized wheels that seem to be showing up as stock equipment on sport compacts all over the damn place. Here's what I think I've learned so far:

Pros:

Wider wheels = more contact patch = better traction (to some extent)
Look good to some people (not me)
Reduced wheel hop on overpowered FWD cars (due to combined wheel/tire weight)

Cons (versus a smaller wheel size with similar tires):

Reduced acceleration
Reduced steering response
Reduced fuel economy
Increased tire cost (higher sticker price + cost of ownership)
Increased wheel cost (higher sticker price)
Garish appearance (typod this earlier)

Am I off-base here? And, more importantly, if someone went into a dealership wanting to buy a sport compact with the smallest/lightest wheel within reason that could clear the calipers (plus an ECU reflash to accommodate the overall change in wheel+tire diameter), what would the salesperson say?

 

[Zenmervolt]

There are two performance reasons for larger wheels:

1) To clear larger brakes.
2) To allow easier flow of cooling air around the brakes (this is a very small secondary concern).

Otherwise, it's strictly the current styling fad. 19 and 20-inch wheels on family sedans are, frankly, absolutely ridiculous. Of course, with the sheer monstrous size of newer cars larger wheels become a necessity to hide the fact that a company's new "sportscar" is bloated and about 1,000 pounds overweight.

ZV

 

[Saga]

They show up on stock equipment because trendy retards have turned them into the current fashion trend for cars.

 

[zerocool84]

It's been around for this long and you're barely asking?

 

[DrMrLordX]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
There are two performance reasons for larger wheels:

1) To clear larger brakes.
2) To allow easier flow of cooling air around the brakes (this is a very small secondary concern).

Otherwise, it's strictly the current styling fad. 19 and 20-inch wheels on family sedans are, frankly, absolutely ridiculous. Of course, with the sheer monstrous size of newer cars larger wheels become a necessity to hide the fact that a company's new "sportscar" is bloated and about 1,000 pounds overweight.

ZV

Okay, that makes sense. Aren't larger brakes often needed to accommodate all these overweight sports cars?

Originally posted by: Saga
They show up on stock equipment because trendy retards have turned them into the current fashion trend for cars.

Yeah, thought so. Just wondered if there was more to it than met the eye.

Originally posted by: zerocool84
It's been around for this long and you're barely asking?

I never thought much about it in the past. A few of the sport compacts are starting to look pretty good (Cobalt SS Coupe, for example), but dealing with 18" wheels . . . don't know if I could stomach that. Or the cost of replacing those low-profile tires. Ye gods.

 

[LTC8K6]

http://www.mediafire.com/imgbn...ca4280100eb6e5d16g.jpg

The 18" wheels just looked a lot better on my Jeep to me.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
http://www.mediafire.com/imgbn...ca4280100eb6e5d16g.jpg

The 18" wheels just looked a lot better on my Jeep to me.

Yes, but with 18 inch rims a jeep still has a good amount of tire side wall height left. I think the OP is refering to the very low profile tires.

I've seen way too many people ding a rim on a pot hole with the low profile tires to ever think they are practical. Besides that I think they are pretty ugly anyways.

 

[alfa147x]

Some cars should just have the 'dubs' like some of the SUV's by Benz' just dont look good with the 10 inch wheels they come with
The sweet spot is 17inches IMO but also depends what vehicle...

 

[DrMrLordX]

Originally posted by: Bignate603

Yes, but with 18 inch rims a jeep still has a good amount of tire side wall height left. I think the OP is refering to the very low profile tires.

Partially. Low profile tires have their place but they wear out so quickly and put more stress on the wheel, yes. I wouldn't want them unless I was absolutely confident in the durability of my wheels and prepared to replace them every 10-15k miles. On a 14" wheel, low profile tires might not cost so darn much to replace (though they are not so common, I would imagine). On 18" wheels, tires get expensive.

I've seen way too many people ding a rim on a pot hole with the low profile tires to ever think they are practical. Besides that I think they are pretty ugly anyways.

There's a guy who lives nearby that has a VW (I think it's a GTI) with huge rims and little rubber band tires. I often wonder how he manages to avoid ruining his wheels on the roads around here, but somehow, he does it. Someone took out one of his side-view mirrors though (passenger side; he hasn't repaired it after being damaged for several months).

 

[BassBomb]

A decent quality 18" wheel is usually lighter than the stock 16" ( at least for my car )

16x6.5 stock
18x7.5 is what i was looking at

 

[LTC8K6]

What do people do about the spare, though? How do these add on dubs affect the use of a spare?

Being from the factory, my spare is exactly the same tire and chrome wheel.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
A decent quality 18" wheel is usually lighter than the stock 16" ( at least for my car )

16x6.5 stock
18x7.5 is what i was looking at

A quality set of 16's will weigh even less but people mainly get larger wheels for looks. Not many get them for performance.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
What do people do about the spare, though? How do these add on dubs affect the use of a spare?

Being from the factory, my spare is exactly the same tire and chrome wheel.

You can buy an extra wheel/tire as a spare.

 

[Apex]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
What do people do about the spare, though? How do these add on dubs affect the use of a spare?

Being from the factory, my spare is exactly the same tire and chrome wheel.

You're supposed to pick a wheel/tire combo that keeps the outer diameter the same.

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Originally posted by: BassBomb
A decent quality 18" wheel is usually lighter than the stock 16" ( at least for my car )

16x6.5 stock
18x7.5 is what i was looking at

A quality set of 16's will weigh even less but people mainly get larger wheels for looks. Not many get them for performance.

Indeed

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: BassBomb

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Originally posted by: BassBomb
A decent quality 18" wheel is usually lighter than the stock 16" ( at least for my car )

16x6.5 stock
18x7.5 is what i was looking at

A quality set of 16's will weigh even less but people mainly get larger wheels for looks. Not many get them for performance.

Indeed

I do wish I could fit larger wheels on my car but anything larger than a 16" will hit my strut perches so I deal with the 4x4 look.

 

[LTC8K6]

You're supposed to pick a wheel/tire combo that keeps the outer diameter the same.

Well, that would work but I think we've all seen plenty where they clearly did not make such a choice.

Heck, a lot of cars do not have a spare anymore. It's often an extra cost option.

If they do have a spare it's that little donut, which is bad enough to use with your stock wheels, but I can't imagine using it with larger wheels.

Where would you put an extra full size spare? I guess it'd be taking up the trunk room.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Originally posted by: BassBomb

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Originally posted by: BassBomb
A decent quality 18" wheel is usually lighter than the stock 16" ( at least for my car )

16x6.5 stock
18x7.5 is what i was looking at

A quality set of 16's will weigh even less but people mainly get larger wheels for looks. Not many get them for performance.

Indeed

I do wish I could fit larger wheels on my car but anything larger than a 16" will hit my strut perches so I deal with the 4x4 look.

Wait...you drive a Neon SRT-4.

Are you on crack? Your wheels are already almost too big for the car, and you would get impact breaks every day in some cities.

This is the "4x4 look". This is sooooo far from it that it's not even funny.
Unless you think that this is what cars are supposed to look like, in which case I will rightfully call you an idiot.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Originally posted by: BassBomb

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Originally posted by: BassBomb
A decent quality 18" wheel is usually lighter than the stock 16" ( at least for my car )

16x6.5 stock
18x7.5 is what i was looking at

A quality set of 16's will weigh even less but people mainly get larger wheels for looks. Not many get them for performance.

Indeed

I do wish I could fit larger wheels on my car but anything larger than a 16" will hit my strut perches so I deal with the 4x4 look.

Wait...you drive a Neon SRT-4.

Are you on crack? Your wheels are already almost too big for the car, and you would get impact breaks every day in some cities.

This is the "4x4 look". This is sooooo far from it that it's not even funny.
Unless you think that this is what cars are supposed to look like, in which case I will rightfully call you an idiot.

FYI the regular srt comes stock with 17's which aren't shown there and that srt acr you have shown there is what I have and there is a lot of wheelgap with the 16's that come stock with it and the 4x4 look on a car is just a figure of speech if you couldn't tell but yes go ahead and call me an idiot.

 

[angry hampster]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
What do people do about the spare, though? How do these add on dubs affect the use of a spare?

Being from the factory, my spare is exactly the same tire and chrome wheel.

Not all cars have full-size spare tires. The one for my Jeep is smaller than the stock tires. I put bigger tires on it anyway. :laugh:

 

[Corn]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
A decent quality 18" wheel is usually lighter than the stock 16" ( at least for my car )

16x6.5 stock
18x7.5 is what i was looking at

This, and usually high performance tires which come with the larger wheels also tend to be significantly lighter as well.

 

[DVad3r]

My friends got a Mercedes with 2 sets of RIMS. Ones are some 16 or 17 inch stock hub cap looking type ones, and the other set I believe at 18 inch or maybe more AMG rims. His car performs much better with the hub cap rims.

I've been thinking about this rim thing also, and how dealers charge like 2 k more for bigger rims that you probably don't need asides from them bringing you looks. That's why any car I buy will come with the stock regular rims, no upgrades for me

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Corn

Originally posted by: BassBomb
A decent quality 18" wheel is usually lighter than the stock 16" ( at least for my car )

16x6.5 stock
18x7.5 is what i was looking at

This, and usually high performance tires which come with the larger wheels also tend to be significantly lighter as well.

And as has been pointed out, a quality 16" wheel will be lighter than a quality 18" wheel, while performance tires for a 16" wheel will be lighter than performance tires for an 18" wheel.

All else being equal, the 16" variation will be lighter.

Additionally, even if the 18" version were the same weight, it is still worse because it has more weight farther from the wheel's center which increases the rotational inertia and hurts acceleration and braking. The only performance reason to use larger wheels is to fit larger brakes.

ZV

 

[Gillbot]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
There are two performance reasons for larger wheels:

1) To clear larger brakes.
2) To allow easier flow of cooling air around the brakes (this is a very small secondary concern).

Otherwise, it's strictly the current styling fad. 19 and 20-inch wheels on family sedans are, frankly, absolutely ridiculous. Of course, with the sheer monstrous size of newer cars larger wheels become a necessity to hide the fact that a company's new "sportscar" is bloated and about 1,000 pounds overweight.

ZV

You forgot less sidewall for cornering flex.

 

[Corn]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Corn

Originally posted by: BassBomb
A decent quality 18" wheel is usually lighter than the stock 16" ( at least for my car )

16x6.5 stock
18x7.5 is what i was looking at

This, and usually high performance tires which come with the larger wheels also tend to be significantly lighter as well.

And as has been pointed out, a quality 16" wheel will be lighter than a quality 18" wheel, while performance tires for a 16" wheel will be lighter than performance tires for an 18" wheel.

All else being equal, the 16" variation will be lighter.

Additionally, even if the 18" version were the same weight, it is still worse because it has more weight farther from the wheel's center which increases the rotational inertia and hurts acceleration and braking. The only performance reason to use larger wheels is to fit larger brakes.

ZV

Just curious what percentage of stock OEM 16" wheels you would consider to be quality and/or more lightweight than the larger factory rim options? This thread is about OEM offerings, right?