Effect of changing 17 to 16 wheels on handling and comfort

[hgg]

Effect of changing 17 to 16 wheels on handling and comfort

Hi,
I was interested in changing wheels on my 2008 mazda3s hatch from 17 to 16 to decrease poor road surface rattle to my spine as well as reduce poss of wheel breakage and tires[bubbles] by having the xtra inch of rubber[ I live in city with some poor roads]. Do you think the effect of aprox an xtra inch of rubber[205/50/17 to 205/55/16] on comfort will be significant and do you think this will reduce handling minimally. Thanks.

 

[sunrun176]

First off.. Welcome to the forums!

Hi,
I was interested in changing wheels on my 2008 mazda3s hatch from 17 to 16 to decrease poor road surface rattle to my spine as well as reduce poss of wheel breakage and tires[bubbles] by having the xtra inch of rubber[ I live in city with some poor roads]. Do you think the effect of aprox an xtra inch of rubber[205/50/17 to 205/55/16] on comfort will be significant and do you think this will reduce handling minimally. Thanks.

Technically, it'll only be an extra 1/2" of rubber between the wheel rim and the road. There's a 1" difference is in the diameter, but only half of that is relevant since opposite sides of the tire are not in contact with the road at the same time (nor could they be). So, dividing the 17" and 16" diameters in half, you get 8.5" and 8.0" radii respectively, a difference of 0.5".

While that could theoretically make a difference in terms of reducing tire and/or wheel damage, my own personal experience is that it doesn't affect the ride or handling that much. Sure, bumps are a little less pronounced, but only a little, and that's when switching between my stock 17" "Snowflakes" with the 3-season "high-performance" tires with a 93V load rating (stock is 88V) and the 16" steelies with the winter tires and a 91H load rating. There's a more noticeable effect on handling, and that could be from either the extra 1/2" of distance to the road or it could be from the tires themselves (the winter set doesn't do as well as the 3-season set in handling, braking or acceleration on dry pavement >40F; they're better than the 3-seasons on wet and/or snowy and/or icy surfaces <40F), but it's still fairly insignificant overall.

One thing to make sure of is, since you have TPMS, that you get wheels that can hold TPMS sensors. I didn't with my winter steelies, but that's a chance I'm willing to take for 3 months out of 12. Being that you'll be running on wheels other than the factory set for an extended period, it'd be a good idea to get them with sensors or at least with the ability to install them. (You can get wheels either with or without sensors, but if you get them without, you'll need to take the ones that are in the factory "Snowflakes" out and put them in the new wheels.)

Other concerns revolve around tire/wheel sizing, but there are other posts about that. Just hit the "Search" in the forum's tool bar -- it is your friend. (2thumbs)

 

[hgg]

Thanks for your thoughtful answer, Sunrun.
I recently bought this 3s hatch and it has the original tires on 17 wheels . Im planning on getting some all-season nokian tires[wrg2], and thought Id figure out the tire/rim size issue before investing serious $ on new tires. I think its hard to compare 16 snow with steelies to 17 perf tires with alloy, in your situation. Im thinking/hoping the handling should be ok on my hatch, considering that the 3s SEDAN runs on 16 tires, with what I believe is the same suspension/shocks as the 3S Hatch.

If anyone else has experience with mazda3s on high perf tires with both 16 and 17 wheels, please feel free to drop a line.

hgg

 

[flash75]

According to the tire calculator link below the radius is 12.53" for the 17" tire and 12.43" for the 16" tire. Your speedometer would read 60.4 mph at indicated 60 mph.

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp?action=submit

I have not made that change but I doubt if you will notice lots of difference between the two for normal street driving. Maybe a little softer ride with the 16".

Clifton

 

[Rhon]

Wheel size won't have as much effect on ride unless you change the tire size aspect as well. To get a softer ride you'll need to go to a 60 or 70 series tire instead of a 45 or 50 series. More side wall will give a softer ride as there is more to the tire to absorb road shock. A 45 series x 16 is the same as a 45 series x 17. Just another view...

 

[niky]

To maintain the same overall diameter, you'll have to change the wheel size, anyway.

Not may high performance tires in 55 aspect, but there are touring sport tires in that size that are good. A mere change from 50-55 really won't be as dramatic a difference as say, from 45-50. I've driven Mazda3s on both 16" and 17" sizes and the ride comfort really didn't seem to suffer that much on the 17" ones compared to the 16" ones (in fact, it wasn't uncomfortable at all). Still... tires for 16" rims usually cost less, so there is some benefit to the idea.

 

[usrtdsl]

I went from the stock 205/50R17 to my winter 205/55R16 on steelies for the winter. I think most of what I notice is due to the tire as opposed to the new wheel size and aspect. The ride isn't as rough but it's not a performance tire. The handling is noticibly poorer but when you live in Maine, winter tires are all but mandatory. I would not necessaraly look at changing tire size as much as the actual tire. Look up reviews and see which ones give the best ride. There are many sites out there with customer reviews.

 

[sunrun176]

For me, ride comfort takes a back seat to braking and handling. A more comfortable tire that takes 20' longer to stop you in an emergency isn't worthwhile to me. 20' could be the difference between getting home and getting to the hospital.

(2cents)