Winter tyres

[Driver Matt]

Two questions:
Does anyone run higher profile tyres to:
1, fill out the arches
2, cope with pot holes

I'm looking at some winter tyres for my oem rims.
Tempted by 205 60 16 and 235 55 17.

Your thoughts gentlemen ?

[havoc]

Not on the NSX - don't really plan to use it that much, certainly not when the gritters have been out.

But have got 2nd sets of wheels (with winter tyres) for both the other cars...and have gone for a smaller diameter wheel for the Golf (16" vs 18") to give taller sidewall while still maintaining the rolling radius.

(And I'd suggest taller sidewalls on the stock alloys may cause fouling problems, particularly on full lock and/or when the suspension is under compression)

Is it possible to get a set of '90-94 15"/16" OE wheels without spending a fortune?

[Justin]

Wouldn't this do funny things to the TCS?

[Driver Matt]

We see a lot of cars with larger wheels ( especially on Prime ).
On my 1999 a set of 17 / 18 wheels would fill the arches much better.
How do they cope with arch fouling etc ?

The idea of winter tyres was to enable me to drive the car over the next 5 months. My AD08s are pretty poor ( especially the rears ) in the cold and wet.

Pirelli make some great M&S tyres but not in our sizes.
It struck me that I could have tyres that worked and looked better.

[Nick Graves]

I don't think the AD08s are too bad; but then I have an S2000.

I went for OEM size M&S on the Civic; the homologated size for M&S is smaller, but I'd rather have full-on cold/wet handling than the ability to cut through deep snow & ice; this isn't Sweden.

[markc]

I'm looking at some winter tyres for my oem rims.
Tempted by 205 60 16 and 235 55 17.

Your thoughts gentlemen ?

The suggested sizes take the rolling radius and diameter up by 9% front and 10% rear. This might be a bit too much (rub the front arches) but I think it would just about work.


Wouldn't this do funny things to the TCS?

The TCS is only interested in comparative wheel speeds front to rear. The system can cope with a 5% differance in rolling radius so these new sizes wouldn't upset the TCS.


We see a lot of cars with larger wheels ( especially on Prime ).
On my 1999 a set of 17 / 18 wheels would fill the arches much better.
How do they cope with arch fouling etc ?

The idea of winter tyres was to enable me to drive the car over the next 5 months. My AD08s are pretty poor ( especially the rears ) in the cold and wet.

Pirelli make some great M&S tyres but not in our sizes.
It struck me that I could have tyres that worked and looked better.

I think you're confusing "larger" with "wider". People usually fit wider wheels/tyres to "fill" the arches outward, they usually try and retain or stick failrly close to the standard overall diameter/rolling radius.

I suspect the car would look pretty strange i.e. tall and narrow, as the combo suggested would, in the traditional sense, "fill" the arches even less than standard. At least you'd have some grip in the cold/wet/snowy/icey months ahead though. :)

Cheers

Mark

[Nick Graves]

It's also worth mentioning that if you do increase the rolling radius, it will add unsprung weight, raise the gearing, increase gyroscopic forces and may alter the dynamic brake balance. All not good.

There is also the optical illusion that less sidewall makes the airspace above it look larger; hence why everyone thinks their car needs slammin' afterwards...

[AR]

Is it possible to get a set of '90-94 15"/16" OE wheels without spending a fortune?

I think the OP has a 3.2 in which case the earlier wheels/tyre combo will not fit with OEM spec brakes.