Wheel size

The Real Bev wrote: "I'm going to buy a 2014 or 2015 Corolla in the near future. Why should I choose 15" or 16" wheels?

You should choose 16" wheels because they are more fashionable and there are more tires available in the 16" size. If you intend on keeping the car for a long time, you'll find in another decade or so the selection on 15" tires will start to become limited (much like the selection for 14" ones is today).

Some arguments can be made about handling in both directions but I suspect that won't bother you much on a Corolla. It won't be a huge difference (although some of the tuner kids will tell you that it will be).

--scott

Scott Dorsey wrote: "You should choose 16" wheels because they are more fashionable and there are "

"More fashionable"??? I would have expected a better reason from you, of all posters.

That's very important if you expect to get new tires in the future. I had a car that took TRX tires... they were great... but unfashionable and never did get popular. I wound up having to replace the rims with 14" SAE types after a few years when I was getting quotes of $380 each for TRX tires.

--scott

When you reply to a message, don't do it AFTER a signature (which is signaled by a line containing only dash-dash-space-return) which is deleted (along with your message) by proper newsreaders. It makes replying to YOUR reply difficult.

You said: 15" wheels typically accommodate narrower, higher profile tires that concentrate more weight under them - good idea if you live with snowy, icy winters.

"Profile" means distance between wheel rim and tire tread surface, right? I normally just buy the cheapest version of whatever was on the car when I bought it. I'm unlikely to need to drive in snow or ice unless I want to go skiing when they require chains (this is SoCal, they require chains whenever there's ANY snow on the mountain roads), and I don't think the Z-chain people make sizes to fit either Corolla 15" or

16" options. 16" are wider, and hold lower profile tires, which improve handling somewhat in dry conditions. Though whether you will feel that in a Corolla with over-boosted power steering is arguable.

After driving my friend's S2000 with the expensive racing tires, I was amazed at the difference in traction and how much more FUN that made driving. Likewise with a friend's Lexus, also with higher traction-rated tires. This leads me to think that perhaps I would be happier choosing a higher 'traction' rating than my lifetime of choosing 'tread wear'. I probably won't be driving more than 4K miles/year, mostly freeway and possibly mountain, so tread wear isn't as big an issue as it once was.

Anything bigger than that, and ride will start to roughen, and those 20+inch wagon wheels out today would look ridiculous on a Corolla. Not that they would even fit in the wheel wells!

They look incredibly stupid no matter what they're on. No need for air, just make them out of solid rubber. Is there a significant difference in comfort between the 15" and 16" wheels? I've driven two older Miatas, both of which were really uncomfortable driving over something as easy as railroad tracks. No idea if their tire sizes made any difference, or if it was just the suspension. The S2000 was perfectly comfortable.

I drive cars until they have to be towed to the junkyard, although I plan on driving my 1988 Caddy (otherwise known as the POS which I still have only because it was my mom's car and has a lot of sentimental value) to its final resting place. Less than 90K miles on it, and there's a lot of little shit going wrong as well as big shit -- AC, shocks, calipers, and the throttle which seems to have a mind of its own, for instance. Based on this car I would never buy another GM product -- or even accept one as a gift if I couldn't immediately sell it.

If I chose to replace the 15" with 16" (from a wrecking yard, of course) at a later date, would this be possible or are there differences in the bodies?

Anything will be an improvement over the POS. The cheap cars I've rented have been a revelation in many ways!

+1

Same troubles with VR rated 13" tires. No sales volume = no production.

But what is driving the taller & wider rims trend?

Does a combination of taller & wider rims with lower profile rubber(to maintain diameter) really improve performance and handling?

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in news:04e3b90f-2830-4a5c-8c45- snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

yep anything with a lower profile will increase dry handleing as the tire will not deflect as much allowing more suspension tuning of handleing verses tires affecting the handleing. (hope that made sence.) KB

- show quoted text - "yep anything with a lower profile will increase dry handleing as the tire will not deflect as much allowing more suspension tuning of handleing verses tires affecting the handleing. (hope that made sence.) KB "

I do know that wider/lower-profile tires need more caster angle to go straight. They also react more rapidly to steering input. Beyond that, I'm not fully knowledgeable about the effects of aspect ratio on handling.

Mostly, people buy car tires for the way they look i.e., aspect ratio. If y ou don't care about how the tires look, just stick with a tire/wheel combo of 60 and above. If you drive in bad weather a lot, stick with a 70 series tire and above. Tires with a 55 profile and lower start to get pretty pricy . If you wanna be gangsta, stick with a tire 50 and below. The lower the be tter! :)

- show quoted text - "Mostly, people buy car tires for the way they look i.e., aspect ratio. If you don't care about how the tires look, just stick with a tire/wheel combo of 60 and above. If you drive in bad weather a lot, stick with a 70 series tire and above. Tires with a 55 profile and lower start to get pretty pricy. If you wanna be gangsta, stick with a tire 50 and below. The lower the better! :) "

As you've probably deduced by now - I couldn't give two s**ts about appearances. I'm not Hyacinth Bucket - that's Bou-QUET!! :). I'm more like her long-suffering husband.

I care more about form, function, and handling. I'm actually proposing to send a design to the wheel and tire mfgs with 17-20" diameter wheels/rims the same width as a 15" rim.

The goal is the handling characteristics of a low-profile tire with the weight concentration of a narrow wheel. The self-centering force of caster works more effectively on a narrower tire/wheel package.

I once saw an ad for aftermarket wheels: "Rent the wheels you DESERVE!" Words can not express the loathing on several levels I feel for that concept :-(

Thus far the most compelling argument is that 30 years from now (Yeah, I expect a Corolla to last that long -- my 88 Caddy POS is nearly that) I won't be able to buy 15" wheels, except in a wrecking yard -- assuming they still have wrecking yards in 30 years.

Accordingly, I think I'll stop worrying about this -- que sera sera!

I'm not going to deduce anything about your personal preferences. That seems to be irrelevant to the discussion.

My guess is that this era is not the proper one for skinny tires. My suggestion is that you go back to the 1930's. :)

I just use whatever wheel/tire that comes with the car. I did have a car with 55 profile tires and it sure did look spiffy. It also cost me considerably more to replace than a 65 series tire. If money is important to you, just get regular tires.

dsi1 wrote: "My guess is that this era is not the proper one for skinny tires. My suggestion is that you go back to the 1930's. :) "

Meh, maybe the '80s? My point is that good suspension design and alignment specs contribute far more to good handling and road feel than huge & wide wheels.

Society is so appearances-driven nowadays it't a wonder ANYTHING works as it is supposed to.

Point taken.

Not to worry. In the future, cars will be autonomous and car culture will b e practically non-existent. We won't have to worry about tire sizes and hor sepower or handling be cause we won't be driving. Cars will be appliances a nd most people won't want to own or take care of a car. They'll be fairly g eneric - like a toaster.

They already are, at least as far as appearance goes. I'm going to get a white Corolla, which will look exactly like every other white car in the parking lot and probably won't have one of those little stub antennas on the roof so I can tie a cluster of orange surveyor's tape to it. I think it would be cool to put some orange racing stripes on a Corolla to make it easier to find, but not for what paint jobs cost now and I doubt that I could apply the plastic strips any better than I can apply screen protectors to phones.

When I was a kid and we went on driving vacations, we tried to guess the make of cars at a distance and then check when they got close enough. It was easy, even across model/years. We've lost a lot.

It is a good idea to put something on the car so you can spot it easier and be able to identify it as your car. Stupid bumper stickers work pretty goo d for that. We rented a car recently and my biggest worry was being able to spot that Chevy Cruze in a parking lot. It didn't have any distinguishing design feature that I could get a handle on.

I used to play that game too when I was a kid. It was easier to get the mod el years back then. When I got older, I'd try to identify cars at night jus t by their tail lights. OTOH, it's probably not a good idea to be pondering tail lights in the distance rather than watching the road.