19" wheels with new cars high spec trim. In gods name why ?

dnme

Just window shopping a few manufacturers sites and I notice that with a lot of new cars, particularly crossover type vehicles, they ship 19" wheels with higher spec trims.

Why? AFAIK 19" wheels = rough rides. Apart from that 19" tyres are tricky enough to source and are usually very expensive. And finally they make the car look like it had a few laps around the estate by gauger the boy racer in his track suit. They look awful IMO.

Supergurrier

Size isn't the be all and end all in terms of effecting comfort.

Sidewall thickness is a much bigger factor

mathepac

AFAIK some manufacturers may offer 18s as an option with higher sidewalls. Any manufacturer offering 19s on their cars is likely to offer adjustable suspension settings as well.

dnme

As far as I can tell you don't even get a choice (correct me if I'm wrong here) but if you go for high spec, you have to take the awful outsized wheels. arrggghh

MuppetCheck

Supergurrier wrote: »

Size isn't the be all and end all in terms of effecting comfort.

Sidewall thickness is a much bigger factor

Very true. Have 19s on my car but the tyre has a decent enough profile for the size of the wheel and haven't had any real issues with comfort. Maybe over sharp ruts around town but nothing too much worse than previous cars.

And I think it still looks underwheeled on 19s so might be considering getting a set of oem 20s to sort that out.

biko

dnme wrote: »

As far as I can tell you don't even get a choice (correct me if I'm wrong here) but if you go for high spec, you have to take the awful outsized wheels. arrggghh

No, everything is an option.

colm_mcm

biko wrote: »

No, everything is an option.

Not really. Certain spec levels have certain things. Bit like looking for a gti with windey windows.

A helpful dealer may swap the wheels for basic ones though.

Ilik Urgee

My own has 19's with 50 sidewalls. It makes for a bumpy ride alright. What would lads say the minimum for 19's just to get a decent level of comfort is?

mickdw

Ilik Urgee wrote: »

My own has 19's with 50 sidewalls. It makes for a bumpy ride alright. What would lads say the minimum for 19's just to get a decent level of comfort is?

In my experience, anything under 40 profile becomes unworkable on bad surfaces.

quinnp

My A4 has OE 19'' wheels & 35 sidewalls, also the factory lowered (by 30mm) suspension does firms thing up a fair bit on Irish roads..
Great on motorways though..:)

biko

colm_mcm wrote: »

Not really. Certain spec levels have certain things. Bit like looking for a gti with windey windows.

A helpful dealer may swap the wheels for basic ones though.

Aye true, trim/spec levels do have certain things that can't be changed but wheels can easily be swapped.
Tbh, I may be old school but I like SUVs with proper tyres that can take a beating (or a pot hole).

tossy

There's a difference between OEM 19" wheels on a big car that can pull them off and 19" wheels on a 'felt spec golf,one looks class the other looks ****e.

I seen an RS4 at the weekend with 20" BBS CK's and it most certainly pulled them off.

dnme

tossy wrote: »

There's a difference between OEM 19" wheels on a big car that can pull them off and 19" wheels on a 'felt spec golf,one looks class the other looks ****e.

I seen an RS4 at the weekend with 20" BBS CK's and it most certainly pulled them off.

Are you saying you think this looks good ?
If so, how much are you charging for a 10g line these days

tossy

dnme wrote: »

Are you saying you think this looks good ?
If so, how much are you charging for a 10g line these days

:eek:

Your coat...



The door....

dnme

tossy wrote: »

:eek:

Your coat...



The door....

Your shell suit . . . . .
ke ke ke ke ke

tossy

dnme wrote: »

Your shell suit . . . . .
ke ke ke ke ke

I'd gladly wear a shell suit and drive that,i'd wear a Jimmy Saville wig and all.

mickdw

I dont like that RS4 either. Its over done on the wheels. That car would be hopeless on all but a track Im thinking. Very very low profile tyres, dropped suspension and race car levels of camber does not make for a fun experience on the road.
RS4 should be able to tackle an average back road faster than just about anything else. Id say that one wouldnt get out of 2nd gear on a back road.

dnme

tossy wrote: »

I'd gladly wear a shell suit and drive that,i'd wear a Jimmy Saville wig and all.

Yes, I truly believe you would.

tossy

mickdw wrote: »

I dont like that RS4 either. Its over done on the wheels. That car would be hopeless on all but a track Im thinking. Very very low profile tyres, dropped suspension and race car levels of camber does not make for a fun experience on the road.
RS4 should be able to tackle an average back road faster than just about anything else. Id say that one wouldnt get out of 2nd gear on a back road.

The picture is misleading the camber was spot on,it's on H&R coilovers (height can be set for preference) It's a daily driver he lowered it for the show,wheels are spot on - how often do you see a car on genuine BBS CKs? overdone?

Anyway i apologise for posting a pic of an RS4 in the knitting section of boards ladies lol

tossy

dnme wrote: »

Yes, I truly believe you would.

Just for balance what's the max size of wheel you would go for and what car do you think looks good. If you had 30k in your back pocket in the morning what would you buy?

dnme

tossy wrote: »

Just for balance what's the max size of wheel you would go for and what car do you think looks good. If you had 30k in your back pocket in the morning what would you buy?

I'd be looking to swap wheels back to 17" alloys on most models. I hate low profile tyres but I also dont want to be wasting money trying to source hard too get tyres. I'm old now and gone all conservative and I like what I like. Less is more for me.

tossy

dnme wrote: »

I'd be looking to swap wheels back to 17" alloys on most models. I hate low profile tyres but I also dont want to be wasting money trying to source hard too get tyres. I'm old now and gone all conservative and I like what I like. Less is more for me.

That's fair enough but you won't get 17's on alot of cars because of the brakes,at least you didn't say 15's lol would still love to see a pic of the car you'd rock a shell suit in

dnme

tossy wrote: »

That's fair enough but you won't get 17's on alot of cars because of the brakes,at least you didn't say 15's lol would still love to see a pic of the car you'd rock a shell suit in

This is the care I'm particularly interested in, The 17" / 19" are swappable AFAICT.

http://www.mazda.ie/cars/mazda-cx-5/

mickdw

tossy wrote: »

The picture is misleading the camber was spot on,it's on H&R coilovers (height can be set for preference) It's a daily driver he lowered it for the show,wheels are spot on - how often do you see a car on genuine BBS CKs? overdone?

Anyway i apologise for posting a pic of an RS4 in the knitting section of boards ladies lol

Well the fact that it was just in show mode there changes things alot. Running it higher will of course bring camber back to a more reasonable setup also. Still I don't see the point in attempting to run such low profile tyres. Perhaps he runs the car on an alternative wheel?

Supergurrier

As tossy said brakes on most cars allow nothing smaller than 16's these days