first off, understand that while i am somewhat into cars, i am not a car guy. i love reading about them, checking them out and driving them, but i
know fuck all about actually working on them.
so....
when you have low profile tires, say like MM's or even on that Sonata I posted a link to, what are the potential issues? i'd imagine you gotta be
careful going over bumps and potholes so as not to dent the rims, but what else? how do they affect the handling of the car? mileage? what about in
winter time?JawnDiablo - 7-18-2007 at 03:11 PM
yeah be careful of potholes, curbs and bumps.
i had low pros on another set of wheels and i had a lot of road noise and felt every crack in the road.
as far as handling, it seemed like the tread pattern mattered more than the tire profile. i had these yokohamas that had a real aggressive tread
patttern that really gripped, but they didnt last half as long as the bf goodrich tires i currently have.Spoiler - 7-18-2007 at 04:50 PM
most low profile tires are now made with an extra ply (called XL or extra load),so as long as the air pressure is right and the car/truck is not
overloaded,they should be fine.A few years ago,the low profiles were popping and rims were getting damaged every time you hit a pot hole.Good retail
stores have fitment guides,that tell you the sizes that are recommended for your car.DO NOT buy wheels and tires that are too big for your car,this
can mess up your fuel injection,your milage and speedometer.With the right size upgrade,you can sometimes improve the cars handling....but the ride is
normally a little rougher,but only slightly on newer cars.If you go to a dealer that knows what he is doing,and you spend enough money,you can make
your car look better,handle better and not have any issues at all.Don't cut corners trying to buy cheap tires,go with a good name brand tire that has
a good warranty.Some dealers offer a road hazard warranty for an extra fee,this covers the tire completly (nails,blowouts etc..) and is well worth the
extra money.You will get less milage out of the high performance low profile tires,no way around that,but your car will look damn good while your
wearing them out.Spoiler - 7-18-2007 at 05:03 PM
also,always keep your factory wheels and tires.this way,if you want to go on a long trip...you can just put the factory wheels/tires back on your car
and not put all that milage on your "dubs".JawnDiablo - 7-18-2007 at 06:41 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Spoiler
also,always keep your factory wheels and tires.this way,if you want to go on a long trip...you can just put the factory wheels/tires back on your car
and not put all that milage on your "dubs".
its also a good idea for the snowy seasonMurk - 7-18-2007 at 11:02 PM
i've had plenty of friends with 'em and unless you like driving on the slow side and always being careful, they are a pain in the ass. i'm a bit of
an aggressive driver.Dave - 7-19-2007 at 12:04 AM
it cant be a bit of a rough ride at times but handling is way better, i have a 50 series tire on my car and i love it (which isnt too small), gotta
watch the bumps tho, in the winter regular size tires/wheels.tireironsaint - 7-19-2007 at 12:25 AM
I'll never see the point of that shit. I like cars and have no problem with customizations, but low profile tires and those rims and all that shit are
(to me) the vehicular equivalent of some mongoloid walking around with his pants hangin' below his ass and thinkin' he looks anything other than
completely retarded. This reminds me of the shit I saw at this car show I went to a few months back in Moab, Utah. There is apparently a
sub-sub-culture in the car world of people who think it's really cool to use their bagged trucks to drag the ass end of their trucks on the road until
it tears parts of their trucks off. Of course, these are all modded out, foreign made mini-trucks, but who the fuck came up with the idea that tearing
the shit out of the back of your vehicle (that you have sunk all that fuckin' cash into, no less) is something cool to do? Not to mention the fact
that these idiots are destroying roads paved with our tax dollars. I dunno, to each their own, but there are far too many people in this world whose
brain functions make no sense to me.clevohardcore - 7-19-2007 at 12:49 AM
My car is low to the ground. I'll post a pic.JawnDiablo - 7-19-2007 at 06:56 AM
I'm pretty open minded to car stuff.
I can appreciate a twin turboed supra putting out 700 hp on the street the same as I can a cherry numbers matching 67 GTO. If it is done tastefully,
then I can respect it. I drive a civic because it is reliable and economical, yet I'd love to have a hobby car to wrench. Money situation won't allow
it. I go to hot rod shows where theres no cars newer than 1963 as well as some import shows where some of the stuff looks like it came out of a video
game. Any style is easily ruined by tasteless accessories / paint. Those big alluminum wings are a prime example. They serve no purpose on a front
drive vehicle, yet alone a plane. Very ugly, and even the Asian kids around here had them for a minute, and they usually have their cars looking
pretty clean.BDx13 - 7-19-2007 at 10:16 AM
so how are the size of tires measured? (told you i don't know shit. my car has four tires, that's all i know!) is it like circumference, width,
thickness?
are there sizes in a reasonable middle ground? something not as big and puffy looking as the ones i have, but not little, rediculous looking
rubberbands?
i'd definitely consider upgrading the rims & tires on my car to something that looks... less stock (again, i'm not flashy), but i am not fucking with
changing that shit for roadtrips and winter driving.
point me at something that looks cool, but that i can live with reasonably year round.moforn - 7-19-2007 at 01:09 PM
Tire size is measured by three numbers- the width in mm/the profile (sidewall height) expressed as a percentage of the width of the tire (ie-a tire
205 mm wide with a 50 profile would have a sidewall approx. 102.5mm high) and finally the diameter of the rim it fits on (in inches).
My s4 wears 225/50/16s so they're 225mm wide, have a sidewall around 112.5mm high and fit 16 inch rims.
When switching tire/rim combos the outer diameter should be as close to factory as possible to keep factory gear ratios and an accurate speedometer.
This means larger rims and lower profiles go hand in hand- if I upsized to 17" rims I'd want tires with a 40 profile (more or less). I find a 50
profile looks about neutral (not balloony, just normally proportioned), 40 looks just about right if you're going for an aftermarket look, 30 can look
good but starts getting into the overt "tuner" look that I'm not a big fan of (but to each their own.)
BD- google tells me you've got 215/60/16s, 215/50s on a 17" rim or 215/40s on an 18" rim would fit well and look pretty clean.
tirerack.com lets you see a number of different wheels/tires on most models of cars.Dave - 7-19-2007 at 01:14 PM
The tires on the Sonata are Michelin Energy MXV4 S8. The side of the tires read, "P 215/60 R16," then, "94V M+S".
The milage calculator is pretty great. Does deviating too far from the stock setup also affect things like traction control and abs?
And the tirerack site is a DOPE use of technololgy. I enjoyed previewing every singe rim on my '06 Sonata. AND saving PDF with all the necessary
info.upyerbum - 7-19-2007 at 07:53 PM
The Thorp Board knows all.Dave - 7-20-2007 at 06:24 AM
