TTAC Commentator jrominski writes:
Sajeev, re: New Or Used article a while ago on rust belt engineer relocated to Saltillo with $45k car allowance from first tier supplier employer to drive whatever he wants to drive for work.
Fast forward: 1 year in, he is handing in his employer’s used-up 1 year old V6 cayenne and taking a new GTI with the new engine next weekend. He drives hard, which is OK from destructive testing point of view. He asked for, and receives VW factory 17 wheels, unlike US public. They fit. (Cue old racing adage about brake size and wheel size)
His job prospects include offer to go to Mongolia – new plant there. Who knows what he’d drive there.
Sajeev Answers:
Forget about lusting after diesels, manual transmissions and the station wagons readily available in other countries, I’d kill for realistic wheel options on our US-bound flagship offerings. Mundane cars get it right, but the pavement joint pounding Rolls Royce Phantom’s 21” rolling stock or rubber band tires on a GTI prove that we need more rubber, less rim.
Be it famous racer/tuners like Steve Dinan or any number of grassroots motorsport enthusiasts, we all know the drill: sidewalls are good. They are your friend. It’s important to have enough sidewall for complete tread contact on the road while cornering. If not, the lack of sidewall deflection can lead to the outer edges of tread not making full contact with the road! While “can” is the key word, remember Mr. Dinan cut faster lap times on the base 18” wheels of the new BMW M3 than the street-savvy 19s.
Less technically speaking, proportions exist for a reason: the streets of Paris are just that beautiful because of the ratio of building size to street dimensions. McMansions and other American insults to proportion don’t work everywhere, and the fact that said rust belt engineer gets 17” hoops for his GTI in Mexico means us Yanks need rational wheel choices.
My take? More 16, 17 and 18-inch wheel options, please: depending on an automobile’s performance mission and the sheer amount of braking force (disc and caliper sizes) needed to stop the damn thing.
Think about it and post your thoughts below.
Send your queries to mehta@ttac.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry.
Smaller diameter wheels are good. For most applications 16in is fine and 70 to 65 series sidewalls are what I like. Although those sorts of ratios don’t seem to be realistic anymore unless you’re talking truck tires.
I was very happy to see when doing a fantasy “what if” search that I could get -1 wheel diameter if buying snow tires for certain vehicles at “Tire Rack.” Given how beat up our roads get around here in the winter, the more sidewall the better.
Wow! At first glance I thought I was seeing a still from “How The West Was Won”, but that movie’s wagon train had vehicles that may have “Built by Studebaker” badges on them! This “wagon train”? Well, I’d opt for something with a lot of ground clearance, wide tires, 4WD and heavy-duty heating and cooling – for you and for the car, plus spare parts and fluids. Ubiquitous Land Rovers, Jeeps, Unimogs, half-tracks, APC’s and so forth would service one’s needs quite well.
(EDIT): Dan, you’ve done it again! Beat me by seconds! Congrats!
Diminishing comprehension skills notwithstanding, I realized I missed the point of the story pretty much, but judging by a few of the comments, maybe not so much. For tires? Yes, taller sidewalls the better. Old Firestone “Wide Ovals” or their equivalent would be my best guess, remembering history of the advantage of Russian vs. German tanks – the Russian ones had wider tracks which made for better “flotation” in the mud, thus out-maneuvering the bogged-down German ones with narrower tracks. Maybe my above post isn’t so off-track after all!
Since when did VW stop offering 17″ wheels on the GTI in the USA? My 2007 model (basically the same as the current) came with 17″ wheels standard and 18″ wheels as optional. During the winter, I ran the 17″ wheels with winter tread and during the summer, I ran the 18″ wheels with high performance rubber.
Checked VW’s website before writing this, the 2011 GTI now has standard 18″ wheels. So the OP is right…right?
The 18-inch “Detroit” style wheels are now standard on the GTI with 40 series sidewalls. I drove one a couple weeks ago and the ride is pretty harsh. Automobile magazine complained about the ride with these wheels for their four-seasons car too. If I decided to buy a GTI, I’d definitely do so planning on buying 17-inch aftermarket wheels with snow tires for winter.
2010 was the last year they offered 17s. I had to special order my Mk6 GTI to get them…
Hmm… I knew 2010 had offered 17″ as standard. I didn’t notice the change for 2011. To the OP: I bought my 17″ OEM GTI wheels that I used for winter for under $400. I wouldn’t let wheel size prevent my purchase if aftermarket or OEM wheels that are smaller can be found cheap and easy. He could have probably made some money selling off the 18″ rollers to a non-GTI owner and buying some of the older 17″ wheels. Heck, I’ve thought of buying some of the OEM tires from my fellow 4Runner owners because most of them on the forums go to an offroad specific tire almost immediately.
Yeah, it’s kinda stupid. The Detroits look great and everything, but… the ride is butter smooth on the 2010’s stock 17s. Apart from the machined surfaces, the Denvers look pretty much the same.
Couple hundred bucks less? Rides/handles better? No brainer.
Maybe whenever I track it, I’ll drop some duckets on the 18s, but just seems like a dumb idea to offer the 18s for stock.
So, just to be clear, after all the advice from the initial post to ‘Stay Low Key’ and ‘Roll Beneath The Radar’ while residing in Mexico, this “friend”, who is apparently incapable of typing his own queries to an auto blog, went with a friggin’ Porsche? So why, exactly, would anyone bother to advise again? I assume, if I’m correct in deciphering this rather cryptic post, that when or if he shuttles to Mongolia he’ll eschew a sturdy 4wd diesel and cruise a Maybach. As an aside, is it possible to hang a 60″ plasma on the wall of a yurt?
Ha, I’d love to be able to get some 245/50-13 tires for my ’91 Miata. Beefy rubber barrels. But alas, such things don’t exist.
I must confess that I had a hard time getting the point in this one as well (and I still have a nagging suspicion that I must be missing something, but who cares…)
I know the current fashion is to prefer the look of bigger wheels (strange ‘racing’ and ‘hot rod’ aspirations that have reached the point where it has become a little silly and strangely ridiculous), but I still prefer a little less wheel and a little more tire. Not only is it a more forgiving ride, but when metal gets too out of proportion to rubber it looks too forced: High visual impact, but little style.
Hear, hear! I couldn’t agree more. Well said! That’s what I meant in an ealier post by mentioning the old “wide oval” rubber from years past. Wider track, but taller sidewall. Those made 14″ steel standard wheels look good! I know. Had ’em on my first car – a $75.00 1952 Chevy. Don’t ask when that was!
+1 from me, there is simply no need for larger than 17″ wheels even on fairly sporting cars. Big enough to clear the brakes, and no bigger! I’m actually pretty annoyed that BMW is bundling 17″ wheels with the free “value pkg” that includes leather and a few other goodies on the 3-series, I actually like the look of the regular 16″ wheels better. We’ll see how that works out in the negotiations….
The most ridiculous example of this trend HAS to be the Toyota Venza.
I take it you haven’t seen the 2011 Ford Edge Sport yet… 22″ wheels standard. Better keep a AAA membership handy if they go flat, apparently the wheel + tire weighs in at 100 lbs.
I take it you haven’t seen the 2011 Ford Edge Sport yet… 22″ wheels standard. Better keep a AAA membership handy if they go flat, apparently the wheel + tire weighs in at 100 lbs.
And it also does wonders for gas mileage. The Conestoga wheel phenom would stop, at least from OEMs, if the mileage were weighted based on wheel size mix.
Well, to better be safe than sorry he can use 16″ to 17″ wheels on any road, no more than that…
and as for what can he get at Mongolia…
http://www.basinternational.nu/bilder/hast.jpg
Saludos from 40 miles from Saltillo!
I have a GTI that came with 17″ stock rims… I will admit it, I upgraded to 18″ rims mostly because they look better. The price difference on the tires was negligable… $15 more per tire.
However, you dont notice any difference in the ride. With stock rims and tires, it rode harshly. It still rides harshly, but actually feels a bit better, probably because the Hankooks I bought are just better riding tires than the stock ones were. The GTI has a pretty firm suspension, if you dont like firm suspensions you probably shouldnt be buying the GTI. They make a very nice Golf TDI that looks exactly like the GTI, still has a sport suspension but its softer than mine, and it gets almost double the gas mileage.
I see your point for keeping smaller diameter rims on “normal” passenger cars, but for “sporty” cars, who cares?? The BMW 3-series looks like an old man’s Buick with the base 16″ rims. Even the 17s dont look proportional. The 18s are the sh-t, totally change the look of the car. Chargers with base 18s look like rental junk. With the upgraded 20s… that looks right. Camaros have the same problem. Now Camrys?? Keep the base rims, they look dorky no matter which rim is on it. As they make cars bigger and bigger, then need bigger rims to keep the right proportions.
All you guys who are more concerned with how comfy it rides over potholes should stick with Buicks and enjoy the comfort…
Embracing diversity and multi-culturalism… shouldn’t maximizing the coveted “street creds” be at the forefront?
An inquisitive Disgruntled Old Coot huddled in his shanty surrounded by howling wind-blown snow close to blizzard-like velocities in what the local weather-guessers proclaim is the most severe winter storm since grandpappy sat out that record-setting affair way back in 1912.
Locals advised to hunker down at home, stay off the roads and pray that the electrical grid remains intact.
Luckily, in an area known more for ice storms that cover everything with accumulating quantities of ice thus weighing down tree branches, power lines, tops of heads of stationary people, etc. that devastates power grids the current storm, so far, is mainly ample snow driven by wind.
Sub-zero ambient temperatures expected this night.
Coot Critter quite grateful to not be residing within the back of the pick-up, huddled within the down sleeping bag beneath the thin-skinned camper shell.
Envisioning that eventuality I believe that a van should be acquired eventually and semi-converted to an abode that would likely be more shanty-like than a pick-up.
Oh. Tires?
Is the past-tense of tires “tired”? Or is that merely a one-word declarative question? Other?
Oh heck.
I choose “C”.
The answer is almost always “C” unless it is “D”.
If the answer is “F” that is too many choices and could be a terrorist plot.
There is a mouse living somewhere in the shanty walls.
I saw him/her/it.
Jumped from the exterior ground upwards, several inches, to where the aluminum siding that tornadoes love to rip from shanties and send swirling away at high-velocities and impact humans, cows and other critters; violently lacerating the impacted objects with often death-resulting effects.
With its grasping little front paws and little mousy fingernails mouse clutched the exposed (eeeeek!) bit of wood below the siding and hauled itself up.
I have not heard or seen the critter so I assume it has settled into the area warmed by the shanty interior heat source but still isolated from my realm/domain/regime.
Ample glue traps to corral roaming spiders, bugs, etc. have been mouse-free for two years (brown recluse spiders homeland hereabouts so traps kinda a requirement).
Hope mouse appreciates the heat but I will have to take measures to repel the critter when the spring thaw arrives.
Oh… tires.
Yeah. Bridgestone. The ones that are supposed to provide better-than-average wet pavement traction.
With less than 6,000 miles driven yearly the tread it appears the tires may outlive me.
Two sandbags in the bed, at the far rear, with two 2x4s placed port-starboard to ensure they remain at the rear, the 150 pounds assist traction when the roads are slick preventing the absolute necessity for snow tires and the associated costs of acquiring/swapping over/etc. said tires.
That and being a sensical-for-conditions driver keeps my “dirty side down” and “shiny side up.”
Yep.
Tires.
Old fogeys recall “old days” when flats were so much more common than today.
And the advent of radial tires and the debates appearing in car magazines, etc. back then.
Anybody ever refer to Smokey Yunick or Tom McCahill anymore?
Sniff.
I’m old.