Large tire + wheel size is ridiculous

[mrsilv04]

A buddy who is a salesman for a Chevy dealership actually has customers who ASK for the SMALLER wheels when there is a choice.

On his own Suburban, he has the 16" tires and wheels, even though 17's were available for that year. When I asked him about it, he said he ordered it with 16's because the tires are cheaper.

 

[wantin150]

FWIW, these "new" cars with the 22+ rim sizes are called "Donks". Yep, that's the name. Take an 80's Monte and put those ridiculous rims on it.

Now, on the same note, Pirelli manufactures a 30 inch TIRE. Yep, to fit a 30 inch rim. (I apologize if I linked it improperly.)

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.j...at=All&x=72&y=5

Nothing like dropping over $8k on tires. But, I guess if you can afford the vehicle...

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: wantin150
Nothing like dropping over $8k on tires. But, I guess if you can afford the vehicle...


A very small percentage of the population will appreciate the looks. Most will consider the driver to be, ummm, "uneducated".

Having a wheel/tire size that promotes good handling is one thing, but sacrificing all performance, handling, and suspension to attract attention requires strange priorities!

 

[Mr Nice]

$2172 for a 30 inch tire

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
$2172 for a 30 inch tire

Is that for a bus?

 

[Audi Junkie]

Bigger is better.

 

[97tbird]

while i do realize handling/MPG is most important, I do wish carmakers would make fender/wheel gaps smaller on cars...european cars seem to do that very well, and no matter what size the wheels/tires are, you don't have an ugly huge wheel/fender (tire/wheel well) gap...it looks nice, the wheel well filled up, and no need for bigger wheels to enhance looks.
and I really really hate a huge wheel gap.

My Tbird has 16" rims, and has a normal 225/60/16 tire, and right now I have 235/60/16 (just wider tire)....looks nicer than 225, and handles better, but doesn't fill the wheel/fender gap that I hate...I do feel a bit jealous when i see Tbirds that have 17" (or 18", but 17" is enough) wheels/tires...they look a lot better with the fender/wheel gap almost gone...(and probably doesn't compromise much on handling)

 

[Bill in Utah]

Quote:
I do wish carmakers would make fender/wheel gaps smaller on cars


I wish they were bigger.

Snow and slush already get built up to a point that once you pull off the freeway, if you turn and hit a bump, you (at the least) make a lot of noise to damaging your fenders.

I'd had enough buildup that I could not turn. Had to knock off the stuff to continue...

Bill

 

[1sttruck]

We tried putting 15in snow tires on Our 2006 Taurus but they wouldn't clear the disc brakes. We ended up with some 16in snow tires slightly wider than stock, same height, but now there isn't enough clearance for chains.

 

[Audi Junkie]

When thinking about mpg and much bigger diameter, on the highway mpg could be relative unaffected, but stop-n-go means more inertia to fight.

 

[bdcardinal]

my DD has 18" wheels and 235/40/18 tires. there is no need for snow or winter tires here, so i don't have to worry about that. they look good on the right car. my mustang had 17" wheels, but was lowered a lot so there was a small gap in the wheel well. the mustang had brembo brakes on the front, and my DD has brembos all around, so i have to have larger wheels to clear them.

 

[javacontour]

I think it's only going to get worse.

One of these places opened up near our local mall

http://www.rentnroll.com/

The website has audio, so turn your speakers down.

 

[Saturn_Fan]

Originally Posted By: javacontour
I think it's only going to get worse.

One of these places opened up near our local mall

http://www.rentnroll.com/

The website has audio, so turn your speakers down.


Renting to own a set of rims is crazy. But there are those among us who will do it to gain instant gratification whether they have the money or not. Crazy.

 

[Bobert]

All that's needed is for the rim to clear brake rotors, any bigger is just for bling.

Formula 1 cars have small wheels and fairly large sidewall profile. They have no problem with grip at over 2G's.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Personally, I always liked the look of 15/16" rims on trucks with bigger tires to fill the wheel well gaps.

I HATE seeing a beautiful truck rolling down the road with 18+ wheels and low profiles tires....TOTALLY ruins the whole concept of owning a TRUCK! And it looks butt a$$ nasty, in my opinion, to see all of this spinning chrome.

I'm a fan of slighly lifted trucks, and when I see one, if it's nice looking I'll take a good long look...but it's an INSTANT turn off if I see big huge ugly rims rather then respectable sized rims.

For cars OR trucks, doesn't matter to me, low profile tires have NO PLACE on your standard vehicle....bmw's, mercedes, etc are a different story.

People like the idea of low profile tires with bigger rims til they have to replace those tires....then all they'd rather do, is get one at a time or buy used.

Believe me, I cry at the shear thought of when anyone of my 3 trucks are due for tires....they ALL use 16" LT 265/75's, and for a good set of all terrains, I'm now looking at $1,000+ for my Dodge Diesel which is due for new shoes come summer.

 

[ccs v2.0]

Originally Posted By: Bobert
All that's needed is for the rim to clear brake rotors, any bigger is just for bling.

Formula 1 cars have small wheels and fairly large sidewall profile. They have no problem with grip at over 2G's.

You do know that the FIA rules tightly regulate the sizes of the wheels, tires and brakes. Otherwise, F1 cars would be pulling far more than the 5 Gs they already do when braking and drivers would need G-suits.

 

[Blokey]

...not to mention their center of gravity is like 4" off the ground, their track and wheelbase are much greater than a street car given their size and they have huge wings to generate hundreds of pounds of downforce.

Lots of factors involved in pulling huge Gs.

 

[Footpounds]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Dude, huge wheels are the BOMB. The extra 500 lbs of these baby's helps snow traction.

Unless these people re-gear (yeah, right) with these huge wheels, isn't their performance (i.e. acceleration) going to be, shall we say, lacking?

 

[wantin150]

Anyone see the video of the donk at the drag strip? I'll hunt around and post up. Good view!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8znD7-l5Tmo

 

[Audi Junkie]

Junk aftermarket wheels for the masses makes for plenty of barely used oem wheels on the market. I just grabbed 2 new 16" polished clear-coat wheels for $100 each shipped. 6 identical wheels makes for good rotation schemes.