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Are small cars over-tyred these days ?
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#11
 
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Re: Are small cars over-tyred these days ? -
03-18-2007
, 10:20 AM
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Trevor wrote: "Paul S" <anybody (AT) anyone (DOT) plus.com> wrote in message news:45fc48cd$0$8714$ed2619ec (AT) ptn-nntp-reader02 (DOT) plus.net... I've noticed lots of small cars are now wearing big wheels and tyres. Like Clios and Corsa's with 185/55 x 15. Are manufacturers overdoing it a bit - the owner has to replace these more expensive tyres eventually, and they quite often lead to increased road noise. They give better handling than a smaller tyre. Not always the case & in wet / damp conditions a light car on wider wheels can have a greater tendency to skid / aquaplane. |
Most of our driving in the UK is done on dry roads, so overall, wider tyres
are better as far as grip is concerned. Although with 255 tyres on my own
car, I appreciate the problems of driving in very wet conditions, or on
snow.
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Unless you're driving a Rolls Royce I doubt you would tell the difference in noise levels between a small tyre and a larger one. You certainly can .... although I agree not to an unbearable extent. |
width.
Mike.
#12
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Mike G wrote: Fashion is not dictated by need. If it were, many of those that make a living from it would be out of business. Mike. Thanks all. You've confirmed my thoughts. Seems it's the tyre manufacturers/retailers that are benefiting. I bet the average motorist doesn't realise this is happening. |
true, though maybe not true, where a new BMW model handled a little bit
harshly.
The story was that the marketing dept. wanted a low profile, wide tyre,
which were the latest fashion at the time, whereas the designers wanted
to stick with the usual thin and high tyres, which helped a little with
the suspension - absorbing bumps more than the low-profiles.
The Marketing dept. won the day, and the car was fitted with low profile
tyres, giving the car a rather harsh ride, which would have been
transformed completely with fatter tyres.
Alan.
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#13
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Paul S <anybody (AT) anyone (DOT) plus.com> wrote: Mike G wrote: Fashion is not dictated by need. If it were, many of those that make a living from it would be out of business. Mike. Thanks all. You've confirmed my thoughts. Seems it's the tyre manufacturers/retailers that are benefiting. I bet the average motorist doesn't realise this is happening. There was a story around 10 years ago, which would be nice if it was true, though maybe not true, where a new BMW model handled a little bit harshly. The story was that the marketing dept. wanted a low profile, wide tyre, which were the latest fashion at the time, whereas the designers wanted to stick with the usual thin and high tyres, which helped a little with the suspension - absorbing bumps more than the low-profiles. The Marketing dept. won the day, and the car was fitted with low profile tyres, giving the car a rather harsh ride, which would have been transformed completely with fatter tyres. |
You only have to look at the majority of concept cars to see what look like
19s under the arches and 245/30 profile tyres...
--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com
#14
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"DougP" <DougP (AT) binternet (DOT) com> wrote in message news:G--dnQbXg4bc1WDYRVnyvgA (AT) bt (DOT) com... Trevor wrote: "Paul S" <anybody (AT) anyone (DOT) plus.com> wrote in message news:45fc48cd$0$8714$ed2619ec (AT) ptn-nntp-reader02 (DOT) plus.net... I've noticed lots of small cars are now wearing big wheels and tyres. Like Clios and Corsa's with 185/55 x 15. Are manufacturers overdoing it a bit - the owner has to replace these more expensive tyres eventually, and they quite often lead to increased road noise. They give better handling than a smaller tyre. Not always the case & in wet / damp conditions a light car on wider wheels can have a greater tendency to skid / aquaplane. Swings and roundabouts. Most of our driving in the UK is done on dry roads, so overall, wider tyres are better as far as grip is concerned. Although with 255 tyres on my own car, I appreciate the problems of driving in very wet conditions, or on snow. |
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Unless you're driving a Rolls Royce I doubt you would tell the difference in noise levels between a small tyre and a larger one. You certainly can .... although I agree not to an unbearable extent. IME, trye noise is more down to tyre design and make, rather than tread width. |
--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com
#15
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I've noticed lots of small cars are now wearing big wheels and tyres. Like Clios and Corsa's with 185/55 x 15. |
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Are manufacturers overdoing it a bit - the owner has to replace these more expensive tyres eventually, and they quite often lead to increased road noise. |
fashion but it becomes self defeating after a while; a manufacturer likes to
share components across ranges to save costs. Brakes, for example, it may
well be that a given brake design can cope* with the Focus sized machine but
needs 14" wheels (or 15s, or whatever) to fit... so it's cheaper to put the
Fiesta on the larger wheels than design smaller brakes.
*their words of course.
--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com
#16
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"Paul S" <anybody (AT) anyone (DOT) plus.com> wrote in message news:45fc48cd$0$8714$ed2619ec (AT) ptn-nntp-reader02 (DOT) plus.net... I've noticed lots of small cars are now wearing big wheels and tyres. Like Clios and Corsa's with 185/55 x 15. Are manufacturers overdoing it a bit - the owner has to replace these more expensive tyres eventually, and they quite often lead to increased road noise. Some of the larger tyre sizes are cheaper as they are more common. |
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Would a wider tyre wear as quicly as a narrow one? |
relatively lightweight machine were that there was a small difference
favouring the 185s, but, the Ka spent more time on the track on 185/60/13s.
--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com
#17
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"SteveH" <steve (AT) italiancar (DOT) co.uk> wrote in message news:1hv51iw.1k8mg9t1i9owahN%steve (AT) italiancar (DOT) co.uk... Paul S <anybody (AT) anyone (DOT) plus.com> wrote: I've noticed lots of small cars are now wearing big wheels and tyres. Like Clios and Corsa's with 185/55 x 15. Are manufacturers overdoing it a bit - the owner has to replace these more expensive tyres eventually, and they quite often lead to increased road noise. I'd tend to agree that they're over-tyred - the Ibiza hire car I had last week was a basic 1.2 on steel wheels..... wearing 195/60 x 15s. Why does a poverty supermini need bigger tyres than most hot hatches of the 80s and 90s did? Because wide tyres, and/or wide wheels are more fashionable. |
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Also because in general, wider rubber equals better grip. |
take a better designed 165 width tyre over a cheap "this looks cool who
cares about the wet?" design on a 195 width.
--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com
#18
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Mike G <metier (AT) lycos (DOT) co.uk> wrote: "SteveH" <steve (AT) italiancar (DOT) co.uk> wrote in message news:1hv51iw.1k8mg9t1i9owahN%steve (AT) italiancar (DOT) co.uk... Paul S <anybody (AT) anyone (DOT) plus.com> wrote: I've noticed lots of small cars are now wearing big wheels and tyres. Like Clios and Corsa's with 185/55 x 15. Are manufacturers overdoing it a bit - the owner has to replace these more expensive tyres eventually, and they quite often lead to increased road noise. I'd tend to agree that they're over-tyred - the Ibiza hire car I had last week was a basic 1.2 on steel wheels..... wearing 195/60 x 15s. Why does a poverty supermini need bigger tyres than most hot hatches of the 80s and 90s did? Because wide tyres, and/or wide wheels are more fashionable. Also because in general, wider rubber equals better grip. Mike Yes, it's a fashion thing. A 1.2 Ibiza certainly doesn't need more rubber on the road than my 75, ffs. |
--
"Get a paper bag"
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