16 vs 17 inch wheels - ride comfort

xyz123

Hi, Looking at a used skoda octavia currently. Wanted to ask if there is a noticeable difference in ride comfort between 16 and 17 inch alloy wheels. From my limited knowledge it seems bigger the tyre, less ride comfort..
Ta

AdrianC

The overall diameter of wheel and tyre will be the same. So, to accommodate an inch extra rim diameter, there's half an inch less sidewall in each tyre. The sidewall flexes on bumps and potholes.

Shorter sidewalls mean a harsher ride, and greater likelihood of pothole damage to tyre and to rim. You may well find tyres are more expensive, too.

TBF, 17s on something the size of an Octavia aren't exactly thin-coat-of-black-paint by modern standards, but even so...

Chrishazle

I changed my MB C220 estate from 16" to 17" rims last summer - so changed from Continental Contisport 2 to Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric tyres at the same time. The ride quality is not noticable different, wife is happy whether driving or passenger, but I notice that the steering etc feels more precise on the 17's. Can't say how much of that is due to less sidewall or to tyre choice though.

Best bet is to drive the car and see what you think!

almillar

As above, it's the tyre, not the wheel. A bigger wheel should be affected by bumps less than a small wheel (think tractor vs shopping trolly) but if the rolling radius is the same on the same car, you've just got less rubber and air, and more metal. Which do you think is more comfortable.
Look at the numbers on the tyres - something like 245/45/17 - for comfort, you're looking at the last 2 numbers - the 17 is the size of the wheel in inches, and the middle one is the profile of the tyre - how tall the tyre sits away from the wheel - how much black you see around the wheel when looking from the side - expressed as a percentage of the wheel's[STRIKE] size[/STRIKE] WIDTH - 45% of 245 in my example means the tyre should be 110mm from wheel to tread. The lower that number is, the lower profile the tyre is, and, less comfortable. Car manufacturers have gone mad lately fitting lower and lower profile tyres, because people seem to like big wheels, but it's at the expense of comfort, and probably your dampers!

iolanthe07

bigger the tyre, less ride comfort..


Actually, the bigger the tyre the better ride comfort and the bigger the wheel, in relation to the tyre, the worse ride comfort. As a general rule, the more rubber you can put between the wheel rim and the road, the more comfortable the ride, though, as always, there is a compromise between comfort and handling. I never understood the craze for ultra low profile tyres.

forgotmyname

As above its the tyre profile thats the main point. And many drivers cannot even detect a flat tyre never mind the difference between a 55 and a 45 profile.

I had a blowout and the tyre shredded, errr no you had a flat tyre and didnt check it and kept driving until the tyre fell apart due to the heat.

How many people know what their tyre pressures should be? How many check weekly? Or even have a visual check every now and then also?

jimjames

My car has optional 17" (235/45/17 tyres) If I had the choice again I'd go for 16" wheels to get better ride comfort.

Zero_Gravitas

almillar wrote: »

As above, it's the tyre, not the wheel. A bigger wheel should be affected by bumps less than a small wheel (think tractor vs shopping trolly) but if the rolling radius is the same on the same car, you've just got less rubber and air, and more metal. Which do you think is more comfortable.
Look at the numbers on the tyres - something like 245/45/17 - for comfort, you're looking at the last 2 numbers - the 17 is the size of the wheel in inches, and the middle one is the profile of the tyre - how tall the tyre sits away from the wheel - how much black you see around the wheel when looking from the side - expressed as a percentage of the wheel's size. The lower that number is, the lower profile the tyre is, and, less comfortable. Car manufacturers have gone mad lately fitting lower and lower profile tyres, because people seem to like big wheels, but it's at the expense of comfort, and probably your dampers!

Not quite right - the profile figure (45 in your example) is the height of the sidewall of the tyre expressed as a percentage of the width of the tyre (245 in your example). However, generally the practical consequence is the same - the lower the profile the firmer the ride.

Nasqueron

Mine has 18" alloys 215/45/18 and I don't think the ride is any better or worse than my old car which had 15" - it's more comfy than riding my bike over the same roads anyway with 700 (about 27.5") wheel/tyre combo which are 25mm wide and run at around 100psi

gabitzul

The less refined the car in general, the bigger the difference in comfort.

On the Civic I had, the 17" wheels were pretty bad and a good way to improve that was to go back to 16". More comfort, cheaper and less noise. A no brainer really.

almillar

Thanks Zero Gravitas, I've edited my post with your correction.

Mine has 18" alloys 215/45/18 and I don't think the ride is any better or worse than my old car which had 15"

You can hardly compare between 2 different cars with so many different components at work!