17" wheels: advantages and disadvantages

Comer1

My Accord has 17" alloys. I've heard many conflicting opinions about the merrits and otherwise of these over say 16" wheels. Some say noisy, others say quiter, some say smoother, others say you feel every bump on the road, some say harder on diesel and wear quicker. I drove from Mitchelstown to Killarney yesterday and I had the sh|t shaken out of me. Could this have been the wheels (at correct pressure BTW) or would any car be the same on that crap road?

Anyway, what's the real verdict on 17" over 16" wheels?

EPM

Comer1 wrote: »

My Accord has 17" alloys. I've heard many conflicting opinions about the merrits and otherwise of these over say 16" wheels. Some say noisy, others say quiter, some say smoother, others say you feel every bump on the road, some say harder on diesel and wear quicker. I drove from Mitchelstown to Killarney yesterday and I had the sh|t shaken out of me. Could this have been the wheels (at correct pressure BTW) or would any car be the same on that crap road?

Anyway, what's the real verdict on 17" over 16" wheels?

I have 17 inch wheels on my car. Having driven one recently with 16's and the same sports suspension the 16's are def give a smoother ride and are slightly quieter. Also larger wheels cause you to use slightly more fuel and your speedo can under-read

Comer1

EPM wrote: »

Also larger wheels cause you to use slightly more fuel and your speedo can under-read

Thanks for reply, that's one I had't thought of. As the 17" are standard on the this model, I wonder would they have bothered to adjust the speedo accordingly?

Is it true that bigger wheels on a smaller car give a very "jumpy" ride?

pf85

What type of alloys do you have? Are they the 17" 5 spoke Pentas?

EPM

Well my Leon is back breaking at times but SEATs with sports suspension are known for a utterly crap ride. Once on the motorway you wouln't notice it really over expansion joints. I don't think on a car like the accord 17's would make a huge difference from the 16's unless coupled with sports suspension.

I've oftern wondered about the speedo thing. I would hope that if the wheels are factory fitted that the speedo would be corrected to allow for this

peasant

errmm ..the rim in itself has very little effect (other than weight maybe) ...it is the tyre profile that makes the difference.

The bigger the rim the lower the tyre profile has to be in order to keep the circumference the same.

The lower the tyre profile, the less comfortable the ride and the quicker you get a puncture.

Comer1

Picture of wheel below. I don't know anything about tyres, it had 225/45 ZR17, whatever that means

EPM

Thats a low enough profile. Have the same on mine. There is little absobtion with lower profiles so you get jolted more

pf85

Comer1 wrote: »

Picture of wheel below. I don't know anything about tyres, it had 225/45 ZR17, whatever that means

Would you be interested in selling them?

My accord has the 16" alloys as it is the sport model with sport suspension. The ride is very smooth and comfortable even on bad roads but id like to upgrade to 17" alloys as I think they look better!

peasant

Comer1 wrote: »

Picture of wheel below. I don't know anything about tyres, it had 225/45 ZR17, whatever that means

see the charter/FAQ sticky and look up the tyre size calculator. Play with that a bit and you'll get an idea

Comer1

pf85 wrote: »

Would you be interested in selling them?

My accord has the 16" alloys as it is the sport model with sport suspension. The ride is very smooth and comfortable even on bad roads but id like to upgrade to 17" alloys as I think they look better!

Sorry, no.

pf85

Comer1 wrote: »

Sorry, no.

Fair enough.. Id recommend when changing the tyres to put on 225/55/17. They should give a better ride.

Henry Ford III

Advantages:- Bigger alloys look cool. Paired with lower profile tyres can give more grip/better handling (depends on suspension quality however).

Disadvantages:- Ride quality can suffer (again depending on suspension quality). Noise from lower profile tyres. Fuel consumption (marginal though). Easier to damage rims and tyres on poor surfaces.