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Case 1) Narrower sidewall
Ans) Handling improves since the sidewall will flex to a lesser extent during turns. The ride comfort will suffer since it can't absorb bumps that well.
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Well, the correct term would be lower sidewall. And yes, the result you have given is correct. Quote:
Case 2) Wider rubber
Ans) Better grip on on the road due to larger contact area, hopefully increases handling. What is the affect on ride comfort and more importantly why?
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Better grip yes, but also increased steering effort. This would be less noticble on cars with power steering. Technically, increasing this one parameter alone would make your ride a bit better and you have a larger surface area to deal with bumps, hence spreading the force. So, at best it may make your ride a bit better, or else no change to it. Handling/braking would improve. Quote:
Case 3) Larger wheel (Not to be confused with larger tyre. It is possible to move to larger wheel and end up with smaller tyre)
Ans) Don't know.
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Firstly, if you upsize your wheel, you have to upsize your tyre. If you mean the tyre width and profile remain the same (which I think you do), then your handling would improve and you should have a more stable car that can ride the bad roads better.
To take an extreme, consider the ride quality of a scooter which has 10" rims to that of a bike which has 17-18" rims. Quote:
Case 4) Larger tyre
Ans) Larger tyre would improve ride comfort since it can handle potholes better than smaller tyre. I am not sure about the affect on handling.
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Again, what do you mean here when you say larger tyre? Larger as in 14" to 15" only or larger as in upsize in every aspect including width and profile?
Width/profile same & increase in diameter: same as case 3.
Width same and profile + dia. increase: more compliant ride but handling may be a bit worse
profile same & width+dia increase: ride should be a bit better.
Frankly, there are too many variables to consider and simply taking one aspect individually is not realistic. Air pressure, suspension of that car, type of road surface, everything plays its part and there is no such thing as the ideal wheel/tyre combination.
Last edited by Rtech : 1st April 2005 at 13:17.
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