Does Wheel Size Matter?

I would say up to a 17 in tires will have some benefits. I had a 1994 Dodge Ram 1500 with 16 in tires and it handled real good.

 

Here's a whole bunch of reasons to stay with normal tires and wheels, even if you've got lots of Las Vegas cash!:

This guy would have had to change speedo printed circuitry, and other issues:
http://www.wheels.ca/article/27671

The guy in here had to buy a smaller diameter for Winter use:
http://www.wheels.ca/article/19671

And notice that the site is called WHEELS. right under my nose.

 

On the newer cars and trucks all you have to do is change the programming on the OBDII Computers.Which you have to buy a special tuner to do that nut it also changes your overall performance.

On older cars and trucks all you have to do is get the size you want then get your speedometer recalibrated but you also have take in account of the rear gear ratio too.

 

One guy's tires were cracking on the big wheels (too much or too little air). Loss in acceleration, etc.

I think I talked myself out of the idea. I thought about after seeing a big 1929 Packard Phaeton with those huge 22" wheels. But I think those two articles did it.

 

Size Does Matter - conditionally

There are two issues with size. Frist the bigger the tire, the higher the axel and the closer the axel is with the center of gravity the less roll in corners and the better the weight distribution. But I don't think tire diamter is what your asking. I think you are asking about tire side wall and I think it matters only if you have a suspension to take advantage of it. Shorter sidewall tires will react faster to steering inputs. But most station wagons don't have sport suspension so it doesn't matter. However there is one last consideration. If you want to maximize your tire patch (the area of tire contacting the ground) you should be thinking of short sidewall tires becasue they typically have a less bulbous cross-section which means that almost all the width of the tire you can jam in your inner fender will be on the ground. I happen to like that look.

John

 

Thanks John. Looking at your Avatar, the '56 Dodge has lots of room under those big fenders. I'm planning on building my own real woody, and trying to build in the best features while providing a substantial styling to it. IIRC, the big mid-50's Mopars had 15" wide WIDE footprints, That size of tire isn't going away soon, and might make more sense in my case.

You car looks gorgeous by the way.

 

actually....the BIG tires in the compounds available to the public are not any better than a 'old BFG fatty with raised white letters'
pro's n con's!! for everything

they dont have any roll and very little absorption of road bumps...theres a reason all these lil 'rubber bumper' cars keep sliding out of control !!

A shop truck that we did for a guy...PT cruiser!..took the stockers off...put blingy wheels and lil rubber band tires on it..and lowered it!!
....(HE picked the wheels n tires and body height)

now keep in mind..the new tires were only (in overall height)..only an inch taller...but looked monstrous!

he came back a few days later...whining about the ride..."its like a skateboard" he says......NOoooo....Reeeely???
after we schooled him for an hour...he left content to wear a 'kidney belt"
anyhow...you dont get into the "brakes vs rolling mass" issue till you get up into the BIG wheels depending on what your car came with:confused:

no?...yes?...i forgot the question

 

You got a few more factors to thunk on. I figured the ride would be harder with the lower profile tires. I didn't think their flatter and wider footprint would be much of a detraction to steering, but it would add more stress to the entire power steering system, too.

So far 15" wheels with big, honking, fat, Michelins are looking real good.

 

tires are part of the suspension. where do you think the term float boat came from? the more side wall you have the bigger cushon of air you are on. and the more flex the side walls have. but you could increase you rim size 1 to 2 inchs and not have to much of a differance in ride quality.

 

So instead of a 15" rim, I could go to 16" and install tires with higher sidewalls, if I can find any, right?

 

No. you want to keep the over all diameter of your tires the same. example; a tire size 205-75 15 has close to the diameter of a 215-70-15. i know the rim size is the same but the 70 series has a wider tread. so if you increase your rim size and match tire size; 205-70-16 which is also close to the same diameter as a 205-75-15 but now it wider and has a lower profile.

to help with the numbers:
section width divided by 24.5
that number times the (aspect ratio devided by 100)
that answer times 2 + rim size = tire diameter

 

Ah ha! Got ya! He can be a bit thick the boy, but eventually he gets it.

 

glad to help turn on the light bulb over your head

 

You have no idea how close you are to the fact of the matter. It's just getting dark right now, and I was just gonna do that!

 

You mean the light actually came on?