Random Irritations

[Neilds]

Are those people who are suffering damage to wheels and tyres running low profile tyres? I know a lot of the pictures locally are of low profiles which obviously can’t absorb the shock as well as normal tyres

 

[PJ87]

Are those people who are suffering damage to wheels and tyres running low profile tyres? I know a lot of the pictures locally are of low profiles which obviously can’t absorb the shock as well as normal tyres

Having gone back to thicker tyres on a slightly smaller alloy I'm much more a fan of the ride quality aswell

 

[harpo_72]

Banks not being regulated properly.. they are taking the mickey when they offer two rates and the lower one comes with a massive fee making it the same as the higher rate.
They should be told 0.5% above base on loans and interest on all accounts within 1% of base ..

 

[harpo_72]

Are those people who are suffering damage to wheels and tyres running low profile tyres? I know a lot of the pictures locally are of low profiles which obviously can’t absorb the shock as well as normal tyres

It is a factor but as is having to run high pressure due to loading .. ideally you should be running around at 2.3-2.6bar at 2 up condition. Higher pressure takes away side wall compliance.
You also have class A or 1 tyres which are not as robust due to the reduction in material and depth of tread packs.

 

[backwoodsman]

Genuine question from an ignoramus. What's the point of low profile tires? What benefit, if any, do they bring?

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Genuine question from an ignoramus. What's the point of low profile tires? What benefit, if any, do they bring?

Look better/sportier, less wallow in a corner. Will also have a wider contact point with the road.

 

[PJ87]

Genuine question from an ignoramus. What's the point of low profile tires? What benefit, if any, do they bring?

Mainly a looks thing

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Mainly a looks thing

Not really true is it

Low profile tyres help when it comes

Breaking
Better handling
Corner
Gives the driver a better feel
Steering

 

[harpo_72]

Not really true is it

Low profile tyres help when it comes

Breaking
Better handling
Corner
Gives the driver a better feel
Steering

To an extent, you can go too far and lose those qualities … you also have to have the dampers and springs to be tuned to them or you get skipping and bouncing.
The main reason is aesthetics as mentioned previously as designers like big wheels.
Wheels can be upsold easily as options.. the tooling for 17k wheels is roughly £50k then the R&D can be as low as £30k then you get a wheel from £80-120 and sell at least 3 times that .. so it’s a big cash cow

 

[ColchesterFC]

Needed some new kitchen ware so went to the cook shop this morning and found some ceramic ones that I liked. They had an offer on an 8 piece set (3 x sauce pans, small frying pan, large frying pan, casserole pan, stock pot and steamer insert) for £200. Got them home and the first three that I opened were chipped around the rim so now I've got to take them back next weekend when I'm back over that way. On the plus side at least I've noticed now and can get a refund rather than after a couple of weeks of using them. Think I'll go for the stainless steel set instead that I was also looking at.

 

[harpo_72]

Look better/sportier, less wallow in a corner. Will also have a wider contact point with the road.

Not necessarily tyres are funny what’s written on the side may not be the actual design width .. so 255 could range from 244 to 263 mm over a number of rim sizes, but you can manipulate that by changing rim width.
Problem with low profile tyres are they are heavy so you have lots of unsprung mass which dynamics teams say is a bad thing ..

 

[PJ87]

To an extent, you can go too far and lose those qualities … you also have to have the dampers and springs to be tuned to them or you get skipping and bouncing.
The main reason is aesthetics as mentioned previously as designers like big wheels.
Wheels can be upsold easily as options.. the tooling for 17k wheels is roughly £50k then the R&D can be as low as £30k then you get a wheel from £80-120 and sell at least 3 times that .. so it’s a big cash cow

I remember buying a BMW back in the day. 320d

Previous owner had put 19 inch ac schnitzers on it

Handled awful in the corners

Managed to track down a set of 17 inch alloys off an X3 second hand and put them on with spacers. Sold the schnitzers and covered the cost

Really improved the handling and ride comfort for sure

The Corsa had 17 inch alloys .. really felt bumps . The loan Corsa they gave me had 16 inch. Felt so much nicer because of the thicker tyres

Niro has 17 inch alloys which really feel nice with the thickness of tyre

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I remember buying a BMW back in the day. 320d

Previous owner had put 19 inch ac schnitzers on it

Handled awful in the corners

Managed to track down a set of 17 inch alloys off an X3 second hand and put them on with spacers. Sold the schnitzers and covered the cost

Really improved the handling and ride comfort for sure

The Corsa had 17 inch alloys .. really felt bumps . The loan Corsa they gave me had 16 inch. Felt so much nicer because of the thicker tyres

Niro has 17 inch alloys which really feel nice with the thickness of tyre

Larger tyres are a plague on modern cars. Noisier, worse ride, more expensive to replace. Sadly, mfrs seem obsessed by them because they love the visuals of them. The other benefits are marginal on average cars and should be left to the sporty brigade only.

 

[PJ87]

Larger tyres are a plague on modern cars. Noisier, worse ride, more expensive to replace. Sadly, mfrs seem obsessed by them because they love the visuals of them. The other benefits are marginal on average cars and should be left to the sporty brigade only.

Agreed. If you type the benefits into Google, apart from looks, all of them are for performance for things that you shouldn't be doing in day to day driving .. IE cornering at high speed.. driving at speed. Their racing tyres for crying out loud lol

I'm glad the EVs favour the smaller alloy for efficiency

Tesla did a good one.. clip on alloys.. so yes there was a plain alloy underneath but a clip on top which if you scuff you can cheaply replace rather than pay that cost to refurb

Brilliant

Kia did same with old niro

The Alhambra was 8 years old when I sold it last week . Not a single alloy mark because the tyres were nice a big and protected the alloy

 

[harpo_72]

I remember buying a BMW back in the day. 320d

Previous owner had put 19 inch ac schnitzers on it

Handled awful in the corners

Managed to track down a set of 17 inch alloys off an X3 second hand and put them on with spacers. Sold the schnitzers and covered the cost

Really improved the handling and ride comfort for sure

The Corsa had 17 inch alloys .. really felt bumps . The loan Corsa they gave me had 16 inch. Felt so much nicer because of the thicker tyres

Niro has 17 inch alloys which really feel nice with the thickness of tyre

The real problem is weight, which drives the brake disc size forcing wheels bigger. The Niro on 17” and being full electric suggests they took a pragmatic view to a German magazine test which makes everyone put huge brakes in. The legal test is the high speed fade test which is more important but this German Magazine has been quite vociferous about its 20 stop test.. reality is no one would do it your passengers would be vomiting every where after 5 stops.
More side wall is more comfortable but also allows more load with out increasing tyre width … new tax opportunity is tyre particles. ( lots of stories about fish having micro plastics in their systems… but no one is looking too deeply at road surfaces, heavy vehicles or why cars are being used).. bigger type widths and heavier cars will generate more particles

 

[harpo_72]

Larger tyres are a plague on modern cars. Noisier, worse ride, more expensive to replace. Sadly, mfrs seem obsessed by them because they love the visuals of them. The other benefits are marginal on average cars and should be left to the sporty brigade only.

My experience is it’s the design departments .. the liquorice strip of tyre and big wheels is the target.
The problem is the OEMs have let designers dictate everything… so every component is compromised because it’s about the look and not about the function.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

To quote Douglas Adams - Hitchhikers Guide To the Universe

Looks like a fish, moves like a fish, steers like a cow

 

[Imurg]

To quote Douglas Adams - Hitchhikers Guide To the Universe

Looks like a fish, moves like a fish, steers like a cow

The 3rd part of that describes your golf trolley........

 

[PhilTheFragger]

The 3rd part of that describes your golf trolley........

Possibly a cow with both its left legs 3 inches shorter than its right legs

 

[Lord Tyrion]

We have a problem drain that the washing machine flows into. It was overflowing this afternoon so I went to lift the drain cover, got the rod out to clear it. I thought I had lifted the cover high enough and put my fingers under it. I hadn't and briefly trapped my middle finger / nail. Bother I said, it hurt. It's throbbing now