The aesthetic appeal of enlarged wheels and tires is a recognized fact, but what about the more practical benefits? Most often, larger diameter wheels are heavier, but the extra weight negatively affects the performance of the car.
To test the effect of installing large drives, and tires, so-called Plus-Sizing, journalists, publications Car and Driver tested five combinations of tires / disc diameter from 15 to 19 inches on the VW Golf, 2010.
The whole concept of Plus-Sizing is as follows: an increase in disc diameter, the height of the sidewall Bus shall be reduced to maintain a general diameter of the tire - it is necessary in order to remain faithful to the testimony devices, as well as to bus simply fit into the arch. But the wheels with a larger diameter is often offered, and with increasing width.
In the test we used almost identical to the all-season tires Goodyear Eagle GT UHP grade in five sizes at the level of pressure recommended by the manufacturer. "Almost identical" means that the bus with a bore diameter 15, 16 and 17 inches have a lower speed rating (V, maximum speed 240 km / h) than the 18 - and 19-inch ( W, up to 270 km / h).
This is the smallest difference that can be achieved when comparing these tires. To test the 15-inch tires used inflow discharges steel wheels, and for testing other tires were taken from the secondary market wheels - cast aluminum ASA GT1, available for Golfa in sizes 16-19 inches. It is obvious that increasing the diameter will increase the weight and drive.
From the results one can see that by increasing the diameter and weight of the tire / drive primarily affect the acceleration and fuel efficiency. This is not surprising, but experts said the 10-percent increase in fuel consumption and a 4-percent increase in time to 100 km / h by replacing 15-inch discs on the 19-inch, that should make the buyer think about whether to put the big Wheels.
On the other hand increasing the diameter discs requires tires lower and rigid sidewalls, which increases the grip on a circular track, "skidpede. However, as shown by the test, this trend has its limits. On 19-inch wheels were set very wide tires in the test (235/35R 19), and the width of the disks themselves also had the highest (8.5 inches), but this combination provides less grip than the narrower tires size 225/40R 18 on the disk width 8 inches.
When asked about this the representatives of Goodyear, they speculated that the increased width may increase the grip of external bus that will strengthen the body roll and, therefore, can reduce the load on the internal bus, which is enough to reduce the lateral acceleration to 0.01 g.
Here 18-inch tires demonstrated in skidpede significantly better result than the tire size 225/45R 17 - 0.89 g vs. 0.85 g. Experts Car and Driver believe that this difference is due to a tenacious compound (reducing wear) tire diameter of 18 inches with a speed index W. Goodyearvypuskaet tire size 225/45R 17 with the same speed rating, but for this test were provided only with an index of tire V.
Subjectively better in terms of traction, braking, comfort, and sensitivity to the steering tires have a diameter of 17 and 18 inches. In the transition from 17 - to 18-inch tires significantly affected the quality of stroke, but markedly increased traction. Perhaps bus size 225/45R 17 with W speed rating could reduce this difference, but the results of this test, it is impossible to say exactly.
Even with a lower index rate of 17-inch by technical characteristics can be compared with the 18-inch, and given that extra inch to pay extra 112 dollars, the journalists said they would recommend to pay this amount to those who live in the region with smooth roads, and who value appearance of their car.
Heavy 19-inch set is less than total smooths uneven road surfaces, while the smallest bus/ wheels (15 and 16 inches) were more prone to understeer, but it provided a more controlled and smooth running. And although during the tests on the noise level much of a difference have been identified, experts noted that the most comfortable in terms of noise were just small-diameter tires.
Spectacular of all, no doubt, look disc diameter of 19 inches. But the 17 - and 18-inch wheels have a better balance between grip, dynamics, price and quality of progress, so perhaps that is why VW installs on your "hot» Golf GTI wheels exactly those dimensions.
If you are in the first place it is important to ramp-up time, it is better to leave the smaller and lighter tires / wheels. And remember, unless you prefer to look good rather than feel good, then follow the advice of Car and Driver and refrain from excessively low-profile tires and bulky hard drives.
| Disk Size (inches) | 8.5x19 | 8x18 | 8x17 | 7.5x16 | 6x15 |
| tire size | 235/35R19 91W M + S | 225/40R18 92W M + S | 225/45R17 91V M + S | 205/55R16 91V M + S | 195/65R15 91V M + S |
| The cost of the | $ 199 | 166 $ | $ 145 | $ 130 | - |
| Price Tyres | $ 160 | $ 125 | 118 $ | $ 97 | $ 69 |
| Test Results | |||||
| Acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h | 7.9 sec. | 7.9 sec. | 7.8 sec. | 7.7 sec. | 7.6 sec. |
| Acceleration from 0 to 160 km / h | 4.23 sec. | 3.23 sec. | 7.22 sec. | 6.22 sec. | 3.22 sec. |
| Passing 1 / 4 mile | 16.1/138 | 16.1/138 | 16.0/140 | 16.0/140 | 15.9/142 |
| Sedation with 100 km / h | 38 | 38 | 39 | 40.5 | 40 |
| lateral acceleration on a circular track (diameter 90 m) | 0.88 g | 0.89 g | 0.85 g | 0.85 g | 0.83 g |
| The noise level at a speed of 110 km / h | 71 dBA | 70 dBA | 70 dBA | 70 dBA | 70 dBA |
| Fuel | 04.13 | 09.12 | 12.04 | 03.12 | 01.12 |
| error in the speedometer at 110 km / h | -3 | -1 | -1 | not | -1 |
| Weight tires / wheels | 24.05 | 23.1 | 21.8 | 20.1 | 18.1 |
