Wheel size/nonrun flat/ride
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Racer
Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Jefferson City Missouri
Wheel size/nonrun flat/ride
I just want to offer an observation from my changing tire and wheel sizes. Some months ago I changed from 17/18 to 18/19 and went from run flats to non run flats. I like the look! I was hoping to get a little better ride from the non run flats even though I went to larger wheels. BUT that did not happen. By going to the larger wheel and to non run flats I actually got a noticeably stiffer ride. I thought that at the worst I would break even on ride quality BUT it is stiffer. I am going back to the 17/18's at the first opportunity.
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Racer
Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Jefferson City Missouri
I went from stock wheels and tires on my 2002 convert to aftermarket 18/19 wheels and BFG tires. What happened was that by lessening the sidewall height there is less there to flex. We know that the run flats have very little flex and going with non run flats on the same size wheels improves the ride. (MORE FLEX) What I did was go with the non run flats however by reducing the height of the tire sidewall I lost even more than I would have gained in flexibility.
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From: San Diego CA
I went from stock wheels and tires on my 2002 convert to aftermarket 18/19 wheels and BFG tires. What happened was that by lessening the sidewall height there is less there to flex. We know that the run flats have very little flex and going with non run flats on the same size wheels improves the ride. (MORE FLEX) What I did was go with the non run flats however by reducing the height of the tire sidewall I lost even more than I would have gained in flexibility.
My personal experience, I went from stock rims with runflats, cheap aftermarket chinese rims with non-runflats, to aftermarket CCW lighter rims with non-runflats. My suspension feels and handles quite a bit better, and very noticable with the CCW and non-runflats compared to the first two sets of rims and tires. I think heavier rims definitely impact the ability of the suspension to rebound and cushion impacts and bumps.
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Some do experience a rougher ride when going to a shorter sidewall. Less there to absorb the bumps.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Jefferson City Missouri
paviesvet... You may have a point that the rebounding is different with the heavier rims.
My point was that in my case the difference in size made a huge difference in ride, in fact enough to overcome the going to non run flats. With that said your issue of heavier rims may have made some of that difference.
My point was that in my case the difference in size made a huge difference in ride, in fact enough to overcome the going to non run flats. With that said your issue of heavier rims may have made some of that difference.
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Joined: Nov 2004
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From: Central Ma
paviesvet... You may have a point that the rebounding is different with the heavier rims.
My point was that in my case the difference in size made a huge difference in ride, in fact enough to overcome the going to non run flats. With that said your issue of heavier rims may have made some of that difference.
My point was that in my case the difference in size made a huge difference in ride, in fact enough to overcome the going to non run flats. With that said your issue of heavier rims may have made some of that difference.
So what wheels did you have/do you have?
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Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Jefferson City Missouri
As stated in #4 above I had the stock (came from the factory on the car) wheels.
I later bought some Ruff wheels (made by status) in 18/19 and put them on the car. The increase in wheel size plus the increase in tire size added on each corner a little less than 10 lbs per wheel. As I see it this is another down side of going up a wheel size. Even if the stock and aftermarket wheels weighed the same in the same size... going up a size of course adds more weight for each tire and each wheel than remaining with the stock size would have added.
I later bought some Ruff wheels (made by status) in 18/19 and put them on the car. The increase in wheel size plus the increase in tire size added on each corner a little less than 10 lbs per wheel. As I see it this is another down side of going up a wheel size. Even if the stock and aftermarket wheels weighed the same in the same size... going up a size of course adds more weight for each tire and each wheel than remaining with the stock size would have added.
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Racer
Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Jefferson City Missouri
I have 30 lbs. in each tire at present. I will try dropping it to 25. Will my sensors alert at 25? I don't know what number they alert at, in fact it would be interesting to know that.
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Racer
Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Jefferson City Missouri
I will post the sizes in the morning. My car is in my workshop not near the house and I don't want to tell you the wrong sizes.
That is interesting about your experience with the BFG's being hard. When tapped with a wrench or hammer these seem to be as hard as the non run flats. Going to 18/19/s and getting a rougher ride than the originals shocked me. I can't complain any about the noise as these are quieter than the original RF's were. I do see a lot of the BFG's around which leads me to believe some people like them. I admit that they do look good. My assumption is that the shorter sidewall just gives a stiffer ride making me consider going back to 17/18's. If all you guys with the 18/19's have this rough a ride I can't believe you put up with it. I won't just for the look.
That is interesting about your experience with the BFG's being hard. When tapped with a wrench or hammer these seem to be as hard as the non run flats. Going to 18/19/s and getting a rougher ride than the originals shocked me. I can't complain any about the noise as these are quieter than the original RF's were. I do see a lot of the BFG's around which leads me to believe some people like them. I admit that they do look good. My assumption is that the shorter sidewall just gives a stiffer ride making me consider going back to 17/18's. If all you guys with the 18/19's have this rough a ride I can't believe you put up with it. I won't just for the look.
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Joined: Feb 2011
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From: On a mountain New York
30 psi is low enough. As stated earlier you will get the tpms warning if you go lower. I run 265/35/18 and 305/30/19 at 32psi. I have pirelli pzero's, decent riding tire. Also have a set of hankook ventus. These are very good also. Bfg's do run stiffer than most tires. I have worked in service for stealerships for many years and have seen many tires. You will never get a "soft" ride with a 19 though. It is a compromise between performance/style and comfort. You just have to pick what is best for you.
