Wheels 101: what affects ride quality most?

[X1blue]

I was wondering if someone can help me understand how wheels affect ride quality:


Steel v light alloy hubs: alloy hubs look better and weigh less. Theoretically less inertia means faster acceleration but when you consider the weight loss per wheel against the weight of the car, I wonder if you can really note a difference between the two? And how does less weight affect ride quality (firmer, softer etc)?


Wheel width: I have read on the web that wider tires make for a bumpier ride. I have also read that smaller tires make for a bumpy ride!! Has anyone seen an authoritative source on how tire width affects ride quality? Assuming that rim height is constant (ie 205/55 R17 = 225/50 R17 = 245/45 R17) how does ride quality vary with width?


Hub size: plus one or two will improve cornering theoretically at the expense of ride quality as moving from 17” to 19” reduces the wall height. Is anyone ware of brands/ models of tire that are ‘soft?’ Goodyear promotes their Efficient Grip XL as tires with a ‘softer’ rim for comfort.

[oldblu65]

Originally Posted by X1blue

I was wondering if someone can help me understand how wheels affect ride quality:


Steel v light alloy hubs: alloy hubs look better and weigh less. Theoretically less inertia means faster acceleration but when you consider the weight loss per wheel against the weight of the car, I wonder if you can really note a difference between the two? And how does less weight affect ride quality (firmer, softer etc)?


Wheel width: I have read on the web that wider tires make for a bumpier ride. I have also read that smaller tires make for a bumpy ride!! Has anyone seen an authoritative source on how tire width affects ride quality? Assuming that rim height is constant (ie 205/55 R17 = 225/50 R17 = 245/45 R17) how does ride quality vary with width?


Hub size: plus one or two will improve cornering theoretically at the expense of ride quality as moving from 17” to 19” reduces the wall height. Is anyone ware of brands/ models of tire that are ‘soft?’ Goodyear promotes their Efficient Grip XL as tires with a ‘softer’ rim for comfort.

Anytime your sidewall length gets shorter , your ride will become more firm ( or harder ) . That is the designed purpose of the shorter sidewall - that is to reduce the tires sidewall flex in the turns therefore giving you more control of your vehicle . Unfortunately the hard ride characteristics come with that improved driving control . It's just " the nature of the beast " ! As the vehicle's owner , you have to decide if the improved driving control is worth the reduced ride comfort .

[shadows]

considering these goof ball show offs- with low rider apeal to nobody but geeks=- no body's

big wheels tiny tires mean absolutely nothing-
couldn't match anything but "fast an furious"
you're in a special class of goof balls that can't fathom real life
carry on- space junkies

[X1blue]

Originally Posted by oldblu65

Anytime your sidewall length gets shorter , your ride will become more firm ( or harder ) . That is the designed purpose of the shorter sidewall - that is to reduce the tires sidewall flex in the turns therefore giving you more control of your vehicle . Unfortunately the hard ride characteristics come with that improved driving control . It's just " the nature of the beast " ! As the vehicle's owner , you have to decide if the improved driving control is worth the reduced ride comfort .

We are actually looking to reduce drive control (which is very good) and improve ride comfort (which is pretty awful). The car would take slighly wider wheels (ie incresaed rim, say from 225/50 to 225/55) but the spedo will be around 4% off and not sure if this can be adjusted.

Or we leave them at the same rim hight and reduce the tire width and switch to tires with softer rims (we do not have runflat so I guess the difference wont be much..)

The best would be to drop from a 17" to a 16" hub gaining rim but this may not be possible.