We bought a Honda Accord Sport L Hybrid in January. I wanted the EX-L Hybrid, but choices are still limited. I was very reluctant to get a car with low profile tires. The dealer made the deal when they agreed to swap the wheels with an EX.
I still don't get why wheels are so big and the profiles of the tires are so low. Old man yelling at cloud
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Glad to hear some dealers are still willing to do this.
How do you like your Accord? I was very close to buying one, but it was a first model year, so I was a bit weary. Plus I really wanted something with AWD and more ground clearance.
Cars are getting bigger and taller, so asthetically they need bigger wheels to match, then you have the bubbly size of the vehicles looking obese so now the tires need to be thinner and lower profiles to bring the sportiness back.
But why do we need sportiness on non-sporty cars?
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My dad was ahead of his time. In the 80’s he had the dealers swap rims on the cars he wanted. To blackwalls. Today, imho the only non blackwall would be a Vogue on a Caddy or retro classic cars…he found white stripes to be gaudy and unnecessary
Because otherwise this:But why do we need sportiness on non-sporty cars?
People buy what looks good then justify with "reasons".
That’s a reason why I told my dad to only get an LE-level Camry or Prius if he’s using it for Uber. He does miss his parking sensors and 360 camera only the XLE Premium/XSE and Limited have. But the base 16” wheels with cheaper tire replacement was the big draw.
The opposite is happening to 15” tires - they’re increasing becoming a Chinesium size.
The opposite is happening to 15” tires - they’re increasing becoming a Chinesium size.
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Be funny if I stick to my old ways, or, get 24's on our next car. Sometimes, we goody two-shoes have some bad ideas. I definitely want 360 cams, the trailer brake controller if not standard, dual screens in the back, air suspension, Brembo six piston with 16" rotors, 36 speaker stereo, all the stuff my dad would pass on, so why not 24" rims....
As a millennial, I don’t get why the automakers feign stuff you don’t really use with the stuff you want in higher trim levels. Want that 360 camera with the parking sensors? You need an XLE/XSE Premium/Limited(or EX-L/Touring in Honda-speak) and you’ll also get a moonroof/panoramic roof, a marginally better “premium” sound system, etc. I’m debating buying a set of wheels from my neighbors but the trade-off is that they’re 17s and I would want more sidewall for bad roads.
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I've always felt Japanese and American sold options in packages, not a la carte. Whereas 20 years ago, the Germans sold things a la carte.
I love the example on my 335. For a mere $1,400, you got sport seats, sport shocks--people said $1,400 is worth it for the seats alone.
Then you got an external engine oil cooler that was never shown anywhere, not even on the window sticker. Wait, but that's not all.
You got staggered tires, instead of 225 17's all around, you got 255/35-18 rear and 225/40-18 front, and a different style rim. I guess that offers a little more grip and adds a little understeer which everyone thinks is good for the most part.
All that for $1,400--the complete opposite of fake badges and spoilers and packages. But that was the 2007 model year. Pretty sure BMW does exactly the same today, in large costly packages.
We are happy with it. It is my wife's car. She was worried about going up in size from her Civic while I wanted her to have the extra safety features. She has gotten used to the size and loves how much better the back up camera is. We both like routinely getting 60 mpg or even better this time of the year. Mpgs drop in the winter. For AWD and ground clearance my Dodge pickup does fine.
An odd combo of options leads to a lot of vehicles sitting on the lot not sold. It cost the lot space and interest rate to the dealers or manufacturers unless it is a custom order. Having "packages" or trim levels reduce this problem, as do selling mostly black, white, and silver colored vehicles.
I still believe smaller cars like a Civic, Corolla, Mazda3, etc…. only need 16 inch wheels max.
For ride quality I like a little bit of beef on sidewall.
Accord or Camry only need 18 inch wheels max.
Exotic cars 20 inch wheels.
For ride quality I like a little bit of beef on sidewall.
Accord or Camry only need 18 inch wheels max.
Exotic cars 20 inch wheels.
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I have 285/70R17 on stock wheels on my 2005 Silverado and 235/60R15 and 215//70R15 on my 84 Oldsmobile. I paid $400 for a set of barely used BFG radial ta on Camaro wheels I sold for $150 for the Cutlass and $800 on sale for duratracs on the truck through the Goodyear plant sale. My wife's Hyundai has 16". None of them are extremely expensive.
I totally agree with this curmudgeon take. It was one of the things I liked about our new Carnival, was that it had the more basic 17" wheels. Ride is softer, tires last longer than the thin sidewall tires (generally), and are cheaper to replace; especially because this specific 235/65/17 size is quite common. It also meant that buying my winter tire/wheel setup was cheaper. I admit, I do like the way the nicer, larger OEM wheels look on this van. But I'll take the smaller ones, and did.
Halfway home after examining a likely trade up (Mazda3 to Mazda CX-5), I realized I hadn't noted the tires.
I turned around and drove back to find 17" wheels. Essentially sealed the deal.
I turned around and drove back to find 17" wheels. Essentially sealed the deal.