[Durango Dude]

With our pot hole ridden roads, I'd stick with the stock wheels and tyres. They're put on by the OEM for a purpose. I'd rather have my fillings intact instead of them falling off every time I drive.

[fiat_tarun]

As an owner of a car with low profile 17" wheels, I can relate to this topic very well. I absolutely love the 17" rims on my Ecosport S and a big part of the decision to go for this variant was for these wheels.

I've noticed that the nicer alloy designs are always on the bigger wheels. I'm not sure why this is the case (design limitations with the smaller dia ??).

After driving on these tyres for 1.5 years and 25k km, I feel a lot of the negatives are exaggerated. Yes, one has to be careful with low profile tyres and to me it comes down to the type of driver you are. If you are someone who doesn't like to slow down or isn't the extra attentive type then low profile is big NO !

Ride quality also is a factor, but I have honestly not found a noticeable difference between the 16" & 17" riding Ecosport. I am more than ok with the ride quality atleast in the front seats.


If I had a choice even today between the 16" & 17" wheels, I think I'd still choose the 17" just for the looks as I am prepared to slow down for that pothole or take it easy on broken roads. When I turn back to look at the car once I've parked and admire the wheels, it's totally worth it !

[self_driven]

Voted for the first option. Aesthetics have always been important for me.

In this day and age where mass market cars are capped under 4 metres (length), larger wheels make a strong case to compensate for the design limitation. Gone are the days where cars had seamless designs with right proportions. Take the Optra or classic Fiesta for example. The current crop of cars lack such coherence in design.

With bigger wheels, I do not necessarily prefer to be on the extreme with crazy rim width or low profile tyres. There's always a middle ground for things. In most cases, a 1" upsize over stock provides a good balance of form and function. Sadly there is no such option in the poll.

[rahulcmoulee]

Having had 2 sidewall tears with the Ecosport on 17 inchers, it just had to be taller sidewalls and smaller wheels. It not only improves tyre durability but also massively enhances ride comfort.

[R-Six]

While I agree that the lower profile tires certainly improve the desirability quotient of your car, you achieve it at the cost of ride comfort. I’m probably going to be okay with low profile tires on a performance oriented sports car that would be taken out for a spin on a weekend, I will certainly opt for regular wheels with a higher sidewall set up as my daily drive.

According to me, MUVs and SUVs have no business in sporting low profile tires for whatsoever reason. Even from the looks perspective, these big boys needs to have larger / beefier rubber on small wheels to add the rugged look.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

I think we need another choice on the poll - "Case specific".

Absolutely. In the past manufactures like BMW gave some really nice options or maybe I never focussed but off late, most of my rides get a change as either I don’t like the rims or the Tyre brand/ type that OE supplied. As you mentioned, I am comfortable to put an upsize on a BMW but for a proper SUV, a taller or a rugged tyre will be my choice. As an example,


Upsized from 19 to 20 Inches on the 7







Went with A/T Tyres on the SUV keeping same size 18 inch.

[Samba]

For a sedan which will only be used on good roads, I will prefer a low profile tyre for better handling and braking.

But for a crossover or Suv, I will any-day prefer regular wheels for it's better comfort plus reliability. On bad roads, its a pain to drive a car with a low profile tyre. A slight mistake can damage the tyres.

[landcruiser123]

Wherever in the world, you want the old faithful tire with a taller sidewall. Even in California, potholes are a jolt in a BMW, whereas a breeze on a Ford Fusion.

Other than larger brakes, I see no advantage in having bigger rims. Low profile tires are a planned obsolescence strategy.

Originally Posted by nagr22

I see many car reviews here in team-bhp complaining that the rim size is too small on xyz car.
What exactly is the ideal size then?

Those observations are more about aesthetics than functionality. On the lines of "The rim looks too small for the car..." and the could have made the wheel well slightly large to accommodate a larger rim with a bigger tire.

[Thermodynamics]

Voted for thicker profiles for macho looks.

I guess sometimes we won't have choices. For example, runflats usually come with low profiles. Many BMWs do not have a spare wheel, so opting for high profile tubeless tyres would be buying trouble.

[octane1002]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

A thread with perfect timing.

My Abarth came from the factory with 195/55 R16 tyres. Currently running with 205/55 R16 tyres that I'm not very happy with. The ride is not as plush as regular Puntos. Not only do I plan to go back to 195-section tyres, I'm seriously contemplating going back to 15 inchers!

195/60 R15 vs 195/55 R 16. This is what the tyre comparator shows up (9.5% increase in sidewall):
Attachment 1977978

As an added bonus, 15 inchers are way cheaper than 16s and I don't care much about the alloys as well. Give me function over form any day!

If I am not mistaken 205/55/16 rubber was standard on the Avventura(a crossover) . To think that 205/55/16 seems inadequate (in terms of smooth ride) on a Punto

Makes me wonder why Fiat did not equip Avventura with 215/65 rubber instead of the 205/55 option. Given the amount of gap between the fender and the tyres in stock form, is this up size OK?

[Hayek]

I certainly think larger wheels with relatively low profile tires make sense. They are probably what most high end cars were designed to use, and look far better than the skinny tires on small wheels that we used to see in India.

Of course, every good thing can be carried to far. For example, I am very happy with the 245/50 R18s on my car - but replacing it with a 245/35 R20 would probably be carrying things too far on a relatively heavy crossover.

You pay a price for using very low profile tires - but surely you can drive carefully through potholes and your passengers will thank you for it.

[Kosfactor]

Low profile tires were not invented for looks I believe, although that is how it has come to pass these days. There was this trend that started sometime ago where car makers were trying to make everything feel and drive like a hatchback (small car).

The oldest big vehicle in my memory that people said drives like a car was - Qualis, everyone was impressed with how car-like it was to drive, not to mention the car size wheels and tires as well. There is demand for vehicles of all size to be as close to driving a small car, so manufacturers are doing just that, low profile tires is part of this as well.

Even today I know of several folks who preferred an XUV over Hexa simply because Hexa felt more truck-like and XUV felt 'Tight' , the latest of this incident being an XUV delivered just last week. Tata has tried to make hexa as car-like to drive as possible, so the skinny tires as well.

The 'Skittish' /Tramlining on road behaviour of vehicles as GTO pointed out is part of this Steering, Suspension and Wheel changes for a car-like feel. Overall it is more confidence inspiring on a smooth road but as the road becomes uneven, there is a lot of fighting the driver needs to do with the steering to maintain steady course.

A change from OE fat tires to Low profile tires for the most part will feel good, Yes I would vote for low profile tires if I were to drive on runway-like roads, sadly that isn't the case. As they say bad roads take you to good places, that certainly is the case more often than not!

Noise : What annoys me about low profile tires is NVH, the noise it makes when you get into a less than perfect road is like sitting inside an oil drum and being rolled over. My experience is limited to cars below 20L, I do not know how expensive cars handle this scenario.

[tp_dominator]

Voted for traditional trend of regular wheels and taller profile tyres. Being an Ecosport S variant owner with the 17 inchers, the trade-off vis-a-vis looks is just too much IMHO.

I have already suffered a side wall blowout even after being extra careful since some potholes can't be avoided even if one is 100% attentive. Don't get me wrong here, I just love my car's 17 inch rims to death, but the tyres are my only gripe on this car.

The ride quality also takes a huge hit and one has to be careful on bad roads so as not to damage these tyres. Good thing Ford reverted back to 16 inchers but those rims on the S variant look too bland in my opinion. At the end of the day function counts more than form and though larger alloys with thinner tyres look gorgeous, taller profile tyres are most suited to Indian conditions.

[vivek_lm]

Very relevant thread GTO, thanks for this!

Voted for 'Traditional trend of regular wheels & taller profile tyres'.

This is a very pertinent topic for me (and probably many folks like me who have this nagging lower back pain issue). So much so that it's one of my primary criteria for the next upgrade that's already on the cards.

For my current steed (Brio), I've switched from 175/65 R14 to 185/65 R14 profile and have been satisfied with the improvement in ride quality. However, the ride quality was very basic to begin with, which meant that this could only be a temporary relief and that I had to start looking out for a new car (switch to automatic being the other motivation).

On a related note, I had posted this on the XUV300 official review thread (this or the new Nexon is most likely going to be in my garage a couple of months down the lane):
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4740041 (Mahindra XUV300 : Official Review)
I haven't got any reply to this specific query from any BHPians yet. I had discussed it with the SA too who sounded clueless.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by tp_dominator

I have already suffered a side wall blowout even after being extra careful since some potholes can't be avoided even if one is 100% attentive. Don't get me wrong here, I just love my car's 17 inch rims to death, but the tyres are my only gripe on this car.

This sounds familiar.

I think Ford has given Ecosport wheels that are a bit too thin right from the start. When my cousin took delivery of the Ecosport 'T-O' after waiting for about 6 months and spending what in those days was an ungodly sum for a sub-4M SUV, the ride quality was very choppy as well as cabin a bit boomy as soon as the road gets rough. This was surprising to me as the vehicle otherwise feels rock solid. It holds the road very well on smooth highways though, a move to a bit taller profile tires would fix this I felt.

A question since we are on this - How often do you check cold tire pressure? and how many psi variance do you see?