Big wheels on new cars, fashion of function?

[scottmandue]

Quote from a current thread:

Originally Posted by Christien

Well, here's the one they unveiled this morning. Still looks awkward to me.

I know there is a certain amount of engineering advantage to large wheels and short sidewalls.

However there has also been a fashion statement of the 'bling' wheels that has mushroomed over a decade or more (insert pic of Chevy with 48" wheels).

What does PPOT think of new cars coming out with big wheels and skinny side walls, fashion of functions?

[Scuba Steve]

Taken as thin as the tires on that car are, I think it's become form over function. I've seen enough wheels with some pretty ugly damage from potholes and super low sidewalls don't help prevent that any.

[VincentVega]

Most cars are pretty big now too, so larger wheels are needed or the proportions would be off. I agree the wheels above are too big no matter the size of the car.

[RANDY P]

fashion.

Anyone who has driven on 20" or larger knows, it sucks for comfort, sucks for performance (you can feel the extra weight of the large wheels) not to mention really susceptible to blow outs and road hazards.

rjp

[widebody911]

[GH85Carrera]

It is fashion and I can't wait for it to go away.

In 15 or 20 years everyone will be laughing about the giant wheels of this era. I keep telling myself that, I hate the giant wheels look.

[masraum]

It's 98% about fashion. My boxster has 19" wheels. I'd love to swap to 17" or 18", but the price of new wheels is prohibitive. They do look great. I think with 18", I would have handling that was just add good and better rIde quality (Although it's not bad) and cheaper tires.

[diverdan]

Unsprung weight is out of control. Even more so than the fat pigs that are being produced today. The pinnacle of wheels for me were those on my Lancia Beta. they weighed less than 10 lbs. each and tire changing was so easy and not much room was taken up carrying them. Those betas were one of the most enjoyable cars ever. Then some of our Porsche wheels in even 16 inch sizes were super light with the lightest lug nuts ever. The tires wore better and protected well from pot holes. The last thing I want is something that looks like a donk.

Dan

[HardDrive]

My 997 has 19". I don't think they look strange. The ride is loud, and you need to keep your tire pressure at spec. 5 lbs low, and it feels like you have a flat.

As long as form is following function, I don't think its that bad. But cramming 20" wheels on a car whose wheel wells were engineered for 18" is always going to look odd.

[scottmandue]

Yeah, I know 18-20 wheels are heavier and of course the narrow sidewalls lead to rim damage.

On the other hand, back when I had my 1994 T-Bird the stock ride was a bit too bouncy for me so when time to re-tire I upgraded from 15" to 16" wheels and it rode much better (think I went from 50 series to 40) same with my Miata, wanted to go all racer rick on it and upgraded the stock 14" to 15" (also from 50 to 40) most of the online Miata community recommended not going over 15" (except the style boys).
However I would think Porsche would resist the trend, historically they have been more form follows function.

[oldE]

Plus one on the "Can't wait for this stupid trend to die".
We're kind of lucky up here in the land of frost. The condition of some of the highways is such that if anyone actually wants to drive on tires with an ultra-low sidewall, they are going to pay the price. Quite litterally!

One of my BILs used to have a Kia Soul2U and blew out both tires and damaged the rims on the right side from hitting a pothole. I confess: I laughed.

I'm a bad man.
Les

[911SauCy]

Soo that's a rebadge f-type?

The wheels are out of control when they're almost as high as the door handle...no?

[porwolf]

Big wheels and thin tires on Los Angeles streets are totally insane and pure idiotic fashion, especially on big SUV's. I know of a Mercedes girl that needed that latest wheel fashion and had her tires explode every time she hit a pot hole, which happened about once a month. I have also seen totally mangled fashion alloy wheels from customers at a tire shop. They said happens all the time when these wheels encounter pot holes!

[bleucamaro]

In OEM application, its fashion but is there to keep a car with appealing proportions. New cars are huge, and I believe part of it is because of safety standards Bumper and headlight heights, and higher window sills give higher belt lines. If you put anything smaller than an 18” wheel, it would look funny and out of proportion.

In the aftermarket, the DONK craze is driven by the same geniuses that created spinners.

I recall reading an article a long time ago that said 17” wheel is the best balance between strength and weight because as you go larger, you lose hoop strength and to compensate you need to add material. Plus to maintain the same overall diameter tire, the sidewall needs to shrink to accommodate a larger wheel, reducing its shock absorbsion qualities.

[wdfifteen]

Initially wheels became larger to allow for bigger brakes. They became a fashion statement like hood scoops and shaker hoods did in the '70s and have been taken to ridiculous extremes. They are a huge market for wheel and tire manufacturers, so there is an incentive to keep the trend going.

edit: The brakes on that double naught DB in the OP look like the pretty much fill up the wheel, so maybe it isn't all fashion on that one.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by diverdan

The pinnacle of wheels for me were those on my Lancia Beta. they weighed less than 10 lbs.
Dan

There was a miata in the early 90s that came with a 15"x6" mesh style wheel that weighed 8.5#. Those are usually in high demand since they look good, are a decent size and are very lightweight.

Originally Posted by scottmandue

On the other hand, back when I had my 1994 T-Bird the stock ride was a bit too bouncy for me so when time to re-tire I upgraded from 15" to 16" wheels and it rode much better (think I went from 50 series to 40) same with my Miata, wanted to go all racer rick on it and upgraded the stock 14" to 15" (also from 50 to 40) most of the online Miata community recommended not going over 15" (except the style boys).
However I would think Porsche would resist the trend, historically they have been more form follows function.

Yep, my first miata came with 14". The tire choices for those style wheels were pretty limited. I also upgraded to 15" wheels. My second miata came with 17" wheels. I also upgraded that one to 15" wheels.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Fashion. Having owned multiple 987/997 with both 18" and 19" wheels, I greatly prefer the ride and handling of the 18" wheels. Maybe for track use the stiffer sidewall is beneficial, but it needs to be combined with ultra expensive forged wheels to keep unsprung weight at similar levels.