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Will changing tyre size provide a better ride

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Old Jul 3rd, 2020, 10:27   #11
Adrian888
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I had an Audi A2 sport on 17” alloys, the car was notorious for harsh tooth loosening ride. Many owners changed to 15” wheels along with new shocks (cannot recall the type), some changed suspension bushes too. I also found it needs research into tyre brands/types for sidewall stiffness. I must admit my R Design V60 is a bit (actually a lot) hard on the rear end compared with the previous Passat even though the Passat was over 200kg lighter, the tyres are almost same profiles and rim size is the same.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2020, 23:02   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Adrian888 View Post
I had an Audi A2 sport on 17” alloys, the car was notorious for harsh tooth loosening ride. Many owners changed to 15” wheels along with new shocks (cannot recall the type), some changed suspension bushes too. I also found it needs research into tyre brands/types for sidewall stiffness. I must admit my R Design V60 is a bit (actually a lot) hard on the rear end compared with the previous Passat even though the Passat was over 200kg lighter, the tyres are almost same profiles and rim size is the same.
17" alloys & tyres on a Volvo is about as comfortable as you'll get, unless you want smaller alloys like 16" ones with tyres to match. However, 16" alloys on some models look a little out of place & the 17's just look much better.

An Audi A2 wouldn't be a car I'd class as being comfortable anyway, as they're notorious for having poor ride quality. Without changing suspension parts, alloys & tyres, its never really going to be a comfortable car. Even after you do all the suspension work etc, the ride may still be a bit firm. A2's just aren't a car built for comfort, unfortunately.

Your V60 has a different suspension setup to the Passat, so it can't really be compared in that respect. Your car is an R Design for a start, so the suspension is stiffer & lower... That makes the car feel more sporty or engaging to drive & that's why it may feel harder on the road.
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Old Jul 4th, 2020, 02:56   #13
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Wont the op's handling change, what with more tyre roll if changing to a higher profile?

Ive always preferred the 225/45/17.

Most of the Lagunas i have had come with that size apart from the last, a 1.9 Privilege 2004 model, that came with 205/60/16, most certainly not as planted in the cornering, quite wallowy. That felt so different to the Lagunas with the 225/45/17, also had an 08 2.0 Dynamique (saloon) on 215/55/16, again, could feel the difference in handling compared to the other remaining 3 estates, 2 dynamiques and one Initiale, all 1.9's. I was born in 72 and a bit of speed freak when the dogs aint in the car, having those 2 cars on the smaller wheels/tyres most certainly changed my driving style, as much to say, it slowed me down, then i decided to try the Volvo again

One question, would a smaller wheel/tyre size have less rubber touching the ground? if so, would that have any affect on traction/braking?
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Old Jul 5th, 2020, 18:08   #14
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Old Jul 5th, 2020, 22:25   #15
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Originally Posted by Bashy View Post
Wont the op's handling change, what with more tyre roll if changing to a higher profile?

Ive always preferred the 225/45/17.

Most of the Lagunas i have had come with that size apart from the last, a 1.9 Privilege 2004 model, that came with 205/60/16, most certainly not as planted in the cornering, quite wallowy. That felt so different to the Lagunas with the 225/45/17, also had an 08 2.0 Dynamique (saloon) on 215/55/16, again, could feel the difference in handling compared to the other remaining 3 estates, 2 dynamiques and one Initiale, all 1.9's. I was born in 72 and a bit of speed freak when the dogs aint in the car, having those 2 cars on the smaller wheels/tyres most certainly changed my driving style, as much to say, it slowed me down, then i decided to try the Volvo again

One question, would a smaller wheel/tyre size have less rubber touching the ground? if so, would that have any affect on traction/braking?
The handling will probably be better with the lower profile tyres, so there may be a slight change in the handling by putting bigger tyres on. Its not a sports car though, so it probably won't make much of a difference around normal roads. Higher profile tyres offer more comfort because there's more of a sidewall between the tyre & the road. However, a higher profile tyre is heavier & the rolling resistance may increase as a result, meaning more fuel is used (In theory, but not always the case).

Decent brand tyres like Michelin for example have developed higher profile tyres with minimal rolling resistance. For example, a 17" Michelin Primacy 4 tyre has a 'B' rating for fuel consumption. Lets use a 19" tyre like the original poster has on his/her vehicle currently as another example... A Michelin Pilot Sport 4 19" tyre has an 'E' rating for fuel consumption. So the lower profile tyre is actually worse on fuel (Hence why I said "in theory above"). So it shows, its important to research! I can't stand low profile tyres & would never have them on a vehicle again, but that's just me & I know many do like them.

Smaller wheels with tyres to match have less rubber touching the ground - The grip & braking is better, but they aren't as comfortable as a higher profile tyres.
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Last edited by Kev0607; Jul 5th, 2020 at 22:35.
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Old Jul 6th, 2020, 03:28   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kev0607 View Post
The handling will probably be better with the lower profile tyres, so there may be a slight change in the handling by putting bigger tyres on. Its not a sports car though, so it probably won't make much of a difference around normal roads. Higher profile tyres offer more comfort because there's more of a sidewall between the tyre & the road. However, a higher profile tyre is heavier & the rolling resistance may increase as a result, meaning more fuel is used (In theory, but not always the case).

Decent brand tyres like Michelin for example have developed higher profile tyres with minimal rolling resistance. For example, a 17" Michelin Primacy 4 tyre has a 'B' rating for fuel consumption. Lets use a 19" tyre like the original poster has on his/her vehicle currently as another example... A Michelin Pilot Sport 4 19" tyre has an 'E' rating for fuel consumption. So the lower profile tyre is actually worse on fuel (Hence why I said "in theory above"). So it shows, its important to research! I can't stand low profile tyres & would never have them on a vehicle again, but that's just me & I know many do like them.

Smaller wheels with tyres to match have less rubber touching the ground - The grip & braking is better, but they aren't as comfortable as a higher profile tyres.
So to sum up, higher the profile =
More comfort
Less grip/braking efficiency
Handling is reduced

To be honest and from experience, i would take the 45 profiles over the 55 any day the only part i dont like is the train tracking, you know, when you get in those grooves the lorries make, i find thats worse...
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Old Jul 6th, 2020, 15:48   #17
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There's one very important thing being missed around, and was mentioned here: the handling (in curve especially) of the higher sidewall.

1st of all, if it's XC60, then it's not important! It's not a sports car, you don't drive it like a ricer, so the difference between 45 and 55 in profile, given all other tire dimensions are the same, will only be in comfort.

As for other cars, much depends on how you drive it, but it's absolutely NT going to happen that "the car is all over the place" if you go for more comfort. You may or may not feel it as "not so precise" but it's really no big deal at all and it doesn't require any adjustment to driving style - EXCEPT if you're always racing it around the corners.

Why I am so (over) confident in what I'm saying? When I was a bit younger I was a hobby-offroader. I owned several offroad vehicles, among them a Jeep Wrangler (1993) and a Jeep Grand Cherokee (1995). Both of them I got stock and upgraded suspension by myself. The biggest upgrade was on Wrangler, where I went from puny stock tires of 215/75/15 (that's some 27" dia) to end up on 38" meats - on the 15" rims always. SO the sidewall difference was HUGE to say the least. And no matter what upgrades I did to suspension, that size of firewall will be felt in cornering on the street. Well - it wasn't. It was so little difference that I'd say it was unnoticeable. But only because I was aware that was an offroader and not a racing car, so I drove it accordingly. That is to say that I didn't change my driving from smaller to bigger tires at all, I drove it always the same.

As for the Grand Cherokee, the upgrade was smaller, but it was more of a on-road than offroad vehicle, so the upgrade was only to 33" tires. Suspension upgrade here was minimal: longer arms, longer shocks, longer brake lines, and that's it. Just the necessary parts. Rolling in the corners because of sidewalls, again, wasn't a concern because I never felt any difference, and I drove it same as before, same as ever. Just the COG (Center of gravity) was higher so you had to watch out, but here we're talking of no COG changes since we're keeping the tire diameter the same while playing with rim/sidewall size.
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Old Jul 6th, 2020, 16:35   #18
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It's not so much about "higher tyre walls". That helps too, but the main difference is the weight of the wheel.

Without getting the physics book out ("unsprung weight"), basically a lighter wheel will give a more compliant ride, all else being equal.

So you can try and find a lighter wheel of the same size, or a smaller wheel which will hopefully be lighter to start with.

In the real world where we are not driving on glassy smooth race tracks, more compliance can give better performance too by not bouncing the car into the nearest hedge on rock hard suspension.

So you might actually find that real world performance improves too...
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