Please critique my wacky car-LOWERING idea. :-)

[mareakin]

My 2007 Corolla comes stock with 185/65/15 tires (rolling-diameter = 24.4 inches). I currently have 195/60/15's (rolling-diameter=24.2 inches.)

I was thinking about "lowering" the car by going for 195/50/15 tires. These tires will have an overall rolling-diameter of 22.7 inches. This is a good 1.5 inches less in rolling-diameter.

I will have effectively lowered my car by .75 inches.

This will leave me with a huge gap in the wheel well, and I think it will look real ugly.

But, I don't care!

The speedometer and odometer will be slightly off too!

I might lose a little bit in fuel economy because it will now take more revolutions per mile! This might be somewhat offset by the fact that there will be very SLIGHTLY less rotational inertia.

Anyways, I think my plan will sacrifice a little bit of everything for a little extra handling! Due to the lowered ride height and lower-profile tires!

What do you think? Dumb idea! Probably! Lol.

 

[StevieC]

Lowering a 2007 Corolla?

C'mon... Really?

Nothing wrong with a Carolla but not when it's lowered IMO.

If anything put a lift kit on it and some big tires on it, something like this:

 

[JHZR2]

ricer?

It is a corolla, it is an appliance that is not going to "handle" regardless of what you do with it.

keep it right so that it is safe and set up to respond the way the engineers set up the suspension geometry, etc. If you want to upgrade it (not sure why you would want to on a corolla though), then do it right.

For a driving appliance with all else stock, I dont think youll see any appreciable benefit to make it worthwhile.

 

[rpn453]

I did that with an '87 Grand Am. I went from 195/70R14 to 195/60R14. The rusty car was ugly before and ugly after so I didn't care much how it ended up looking, but I did prefer the lower sidewall look despite the big gaps. It definitely handled and accelerated better. Fuel economy may have been affected, but I didn't track it well enough back then to say for sure.

Those Corollas aren't pretty to begin with, so I'd probably go for it. Post some before and after pics if you do it!

 

[sciphi]

Get some sticky OEM-size tires and call it good. No sense in giving up any mileage for a look.

 

[Dave Hess]

I problem I see with the Corolla is that is rides very high from the factory, the gap makes it look looks like a Ford Ranger

 

[rpn453]

After further thought, 195/60R15 is already a good tire size as a compromise of handling and ride comfort. I didn't have any good-handling tire options in 195/70R14, but you must have a bunch in 195/60R15. I think I'd stick with that size.

 

[tomcat27]

if you want better handling, go to a 215/50/15 (or whatever is closer to OEM diamter) or do a plus 1 to 16" tires

 

[Jim 5]

The wheel well gap will look bigger. You'll be gearing the car down so acceleration will be a bit better and fuel economy will be a bit worse.

The car won't look significantly better, and maybe worse. I wouldn't bother.

 

[expat]

I think Top Gear did an episode where they tried to improve the track performance by lowering etc.
Anyone know the link?

 

[brandini]

Biggest improvements were from sticky rubber and weight loss.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I tried 255/35-18 with AMG wheels inplace of OEM 235/45-17 on my E430, the ride was so much worse it was not enough to over come the little improvements in the performance/handling dept to justify the cost of 18" wheels and tires.

The same with S2000, the +1 wheels/tires combo improved performance a little but the ride suffered much more and the cost of +1 is so high. If I race this S2000 once in a while then the +1 may make sense, since I don't it doesn't make sense for daily use. I actually am running +0 on S2000 now, OEM Front:215/45-17 Rear: 245/40-17, Now: Front:225/45-17 Rear: 255/40-17. Cost increase is minimum, ride is about the same but handling/performance improves good amount that I can feel when taking on/off ramps at higher speed.

For corolla, you should stick with OEM size, they are the best for your car.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: mareakin
My 2007 Corolla comes stock with 185/65/15 tires (rolling-diameter = 24.4 inches). I currently have 195/60/15's (rolling-diameter=24.2 inches.)

I was thinking about "lowering" the car by going for 195/50/15 tires. These tires will have an overall rolling-diameter of 22.7 inches. This is a good 1.5 inches less in rolling-diameter.

I will have effectively lowered my car by .75 inches.

This will leave me with a huge gap in the wheel well, and I think it will look real ugly.

But, I don't care!

The speedometer and odometer will be slightly off too!

I might lose a little bit in fuel economy because it will now take more revolutions per mile! This might be somewhat offset by the fact that there will be very SLIGHTLY less rotational inertia.

Anyways, I think my plan will sacrifice a little bit of everything for a little extra handling! Due to the lowered ride height and lower-profile tires!

What do you think? Dumb idea! Probably! Lol.

Putting smaller diameter but wider sticky tires is very common in autocross, this is a pretty extreme example but you get the idea. There is almost no downside in terms of performance.

I have to ask what your goal is with "good handling"?
What I did on my Neon was slot the front struts to get 1.5 or 2 degrees of camber and got a $80 rear sway bar from a sport model. Now my car is nearly perfectly balanced IMHO, I can get the back end out at will off the gas and while braking but its still will stay neutral at part throttle in a corner. All from a $10 file and a $80 sway bar.
I find I don't even care what tires I'm using at this point, handling for me is about being able to get the car to do what I want, when I want. Sticky tires will make a car faster in the corner but no less annoying if its just the same Grandma proof understeer...

 

[chrome]

There's a LOT more to good handling than a 0.75" drop in ride height. There are many good/great handling cars out there with stock ride heights, as the handling comes from optimized suspension geometry, damper tuning, sway bars and good tires.

Is it legal in your area to have a speedo which is inaccurate?

 

[tonycarguy]

The new tires have 6% smaller circumference, which a lot. The faster running odometer means your car's value will depreciate faster. Is it worth it?

Also your budget method isn't as cheap as you think. After lowering it you still need to re-align the suspension

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: tonycarguy
The new tires have 6% smaller circumference, which a lot. The faster running odometer means your car's value will depreciate faster. Is it worth it?

Also your budget method isn't as cheap as you think. After lowering it you still need to re-align the suspension

Just putting smaller diameter tires on, does not change the alignment at all. Even dropping the car 3/4" with springs wouldn't require an alignment with a strut suspension. Camber doesn't change much anywhere in the travel.

 

[ItsuMitsubishi]

wow marekin,

that's borderline riceboy! You're better off doing like my little cousin and getting an entire lowering strut assembly for the co-rollerskate. Sure, between my cousin's body kit and ride height, he could plow parking lots and driveways during the winter, but just going for smaller tires is totally not worth it IMO.

 

[bigmike]

I've had plenty of friends shave off reflectors off the road. The general consensus here though is any modification to the car is bad.

I drove a lowered truck for 11 years. It handled better and I enjoyed the way it looked. It also gave me alot of headaches. Now I enjoy having a stock vehicle. I think age has something to do with it.