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I've been rolling on 17's for about 40,000 miles now. My car came with 205/65 General AmeriG4S tires on stock 15" rims. I replaced them with the 225/45/17's Kumho Ecsta 712's on 17" x 7.5" rims. I put about 35,000 miles on two sets of Kumho's. Then I switched to 235/45/17 Yokohama AVS ES100's. Much better tire IMO. After about 5,000 miles I took them off because I decided there was just too much weight on the suspension and threw the stock wheels back on with the same old General tires and have driven about 3,000 miles.
Here is what I found.
First of all the car rides much better, considering it is lowered with Eibachs and KYB's. The extra bit of rubber on the sidewall really takes out alot of the harshness and little bumps that were felt with the lo-pro's. It's still a firm ride. The ride is also quieter.
Second, the car has less lateral traction. These old General tires just plain suck, but they have kept their balance. I've never needed to get these tires balanced and they have about 35,000 miles on them. The lo-pro tires needed to be balanced at least every 10,000 miles, sometimes more often. In wet weather the car is scary to drive. I slid through an intersection the other day sideways.... stopped traffic. Luckily nothing bad happened and I regained control without incident. The lo-pros had excellent traction in the wet. The Yoko's are great and the Kumho's are good for their price. In dry weather the crappy Generals are kinda fun. They squeel and chirp around every turn and offer more low speed oversteer as the rear end kicks out.
Lastly, the gas mileage...... I measure my gas mileage at every fill up religiously. Since I mounted the big 17's I have averaged about 20mpg over 40,000 miles. After swapping the stock 15's my gas mileage is 26mpg on every tank for the last 10 fill ups (3,000 miles). That's an improvement of 30%. That's substantial when gas cost $1.65 a gallon. That's almost a savings of $300 a year on gas!!!
I feel that 16" wheels are the best compromise between appearance, performance, and mileage. So my next set of wheels will be 16's. For now, the car is without it's big shoes. I'll have to find something or someone to take the wheels with almost new $700 Yoko's and get some decent all season performance tires in 205/65/15 or 215/60/15.
Big wheels, especially those over 17" or 225 are for appearance only. The increased weight and drag caused by these large wheels greatly impact the drivability and performance of the car. The bigger the rim more $$$, the bigger the tire more $$$. Just something to consider before spending alot of money on rims and tires.
Here is what I found.
First of all the car rides much better, considering it is lowered with Eibachs and KYB's. The extra bit of rubber on the sidewall really takes out alot of the harshness and little bumps that were felt with the lo-pro's. It's still a firm ride. The ride is also quieter.
Second, the car has less lateral traction. These old General tires just plain suck, but they have kept their balance. I've never needed to get these tires balanced and they have about 35,000 miles on them. The lo-pro tires needed to be balanced at least every 10,000 miles, sometimes more often. In wet weather the car is scary to drive. I slid through an intersection the other day sideways.... stopped traffic. Luckily nothing bad happened and I regained control without incident. The lo-pros had excellent traction in the wet. The Yoko's are great and the Kumho's are good for their price. In dry weather the crappy Generals are kinda fun. They squeel and chirp around every turn and offer more low speed oversteer as the rear end kicks out.
Lastly, the gas mileage...... I measure my gas mileage at every fill up religiously. Since I mounted the big 17's I have averaged about 20mpg over 40,000 miles. After swapping the stock 15's my gas mileage is 26mpg on every tank for the last 10 fill ups (3,000 miles). That's an improvement of 30%. That's substantial when gas cost $1.65 a gallon. That's almost a savings of $300 a year on gas!!!
I feel that 16" wheels are the best compromise between appearance, performance, and mileage. So my next set of wheels will be 16's. For now, the car is without it's big shoes. I'll have to find something or someone to take the wheels with almost new $700 Yoko's and get some decent all season performance tires in 205/65/15 or 215/60/15.
Big wheels, especially those over 17" or 225 are for appearance only. The increased weight and drag caused by these large wheels greatly impact the drivability and performance of the car. The bigger the rim more $$$, the bigger the tire more $$$. Just something to consider before spending alot of money on rims and tires.
