Topic: Top Picks: The Best and Worst of 2013

[Autos_Editor]

2013 had its shares of highs and lows. We list 'em.

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[northsparrow]

Does a Camry wagon (Venza) really need 18-19" rims?


Hopefully this automotive fashion of over-sized wheels will eventually go the way of the wide-legged jeans
of the 1970s.

Unless your car has huge brake rotors the huge wheels are redundant.

[OliverD]

I don't think this is a fad. Wheels have been getting progressively larger since the late '80s.

[SaskSpecV]

"It’s a bit like saying hello to your cat and having it roar at you like the MGM lion."

Brendan, that might be the best line I've read in an auto article all year.  Maybe it helps that I'm a cat guy...

[mixmanmash]

I don't think this is a fad. Wheels have been getting progressively larger since the late '80s.

Lol, I remember when the Z32 300ZX first came out with it's 16" wheels.  People were like - those are huge and look out how tiny the profile of those tires are (225/50/16 up front & 245/45/16 out back).  That was in 1990.   

Imagine what those same people say when they see me running 245/40/18 and 275/35/18 on the car.

[walk0080]

Does a Camry wagon (Venza) really need 18-19" rims?


Hopefully this automotive fashion of over-sized wheels will eventually go the way of the wide-legged jeans
of the 1970s.

Unless your car has huge brake rotors the huge wheels are redundant.

I think this fad is here to stay a while. When I needed a second set of summer wheels (relegating the OE wheels to winter duty) for my MINI, I stayed with the stock 17" rim size - the minimum required to fit over the front brakes. IMO 16-17" rims look great on the R56 MINI. So glad I chose this size after hitting a huge pothole on the 401 last month at speed. I suspect I would have had two driver's side 18-19" rims bent and two shredded tires otherwise! The car in front of us had sparks flying after the hit. Only "damage" I had was some lost wheel weights on one rim.


Fun article. Love the Jag, especially with the cheaper 6-cyl engine. Fiat really does sound great from the outside - but I would personally not buy one.

Love that Audi RS6. Too bad it's not available here and too bad it costs a fortune.

[Brendan McAleer]

Lol, I remember when the Z32 300ZX first came out with it's 16" wheels.  People were like - those are huge and look out how tiny the profile of those tires are (225/50/16 up front & 245/45/16 out back).  That was in 1990.   

Imagine what those same people say when they see me running 245/40/18 and 275/35/18 on the car.

Everything is, of course, application specific, but stuff like 20"+ on a 911 is a bit silly. The guys at HPA run 18"s on their 500hp+, 200mph+ VWs, so 18/19 should be fine for that kind of power. The problem here is that designers mock-up the car with broad sheetmetal based around big-diameter rims - the Mazda3, for instance, looks good, but the 16" alloys look a little small.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Tire sizes are a style element. After a while, the increasing size ends up affecting packaging too much and engineering will get the designers to start working the other way.

One of the smartest things Issigonis did when he designed the original Mini was put tiny tires on it. That left a lot more space in the interior and engine compartment. The small tires were also very inexpensive to replace, and to the surprise of many, didn't negatively impact handling. It's too bad everybody forgot those lessons.

[SaskSpecV]

Tire sizes are a style element. After a while, the increasing size ends up affecting packaging too much and engineering will get the designers to start working the other way.

This was one of my favourite articles from C&D, comparing 15 - 19" wheel/tire combos on the same VW Golf.  15" wheels were faster, lighter, and significantly more fuel efficient - with only a marginal loss in maximum skidpad grip.  I'm a big sucker for aesthetic wheels, but to me the big rims have jumped the shark.  Bring back more reasonably-sized - but nicely designed! - wheels again.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/effects-of-upsized-wheels-and-tires-tested

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Tire sizes are a style element. After a while, the increasing size ends up affecting packaging too much and engineering will get the designers to start working the other way.

This was one of my favourite articles from C&D, comparing 15 - 19" wheel/tire combos on the same VW Golf.  15" wheels were faster, lighter, and significantly more fuel efficient - with only a marginal loss in maximum skidpad grip.  I'm a big sucker for aesthetic wheels, but to me the big rims have jumped the shark.  Bring back more reasonably-sized - but nicely designed! - wheels again.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/effects-of-upsized-wheels-and-tires-tested

Way back when Oldsmobile was active in SCCA, someone from one of the magazines asked their development engineer why they went with a higher aspect ratio tire than what was installed on the street car. He said they were quicker around the track and explained why.

[mixmanmash]

Lol, I remember when the Z32 300ZX first came out with it's 16" wheels.  People were like - those are huge and look out how tiny the profile of those tires are (225/50/16 up front & 245/45/16 out back).  That was in 1990.   

Imagine what those same people say when they see me running 245/40/18 and 275/35/18 on the car.

Everything is, of course, application specific, but stuff like 20"+ on a 911 is a bit silly. The guys at HPA run 18"s on their 500hp+, 200mph+ VWs, so 18/19 should be fine for that kind of power. The problem here is that designers mock-up the car with broad sheetmetal based around big-diameter rims - the Mazda3, for instance, looks good, but the 16" alloys look a little small.

True.

Tire sizes are a style element. After a while, the increasing size ends up affecting packaging too much and engineering will get the designers to start working the other way.

This was one of my favourite articles from C&D, comparing 15 - 19" wheel/tire combos on the same VW Golf.  15" wheels were faster, lighter, and significantly more fuel efficient - with only a marginal loss in maximum skidpad grip.  I'm a big sucker for aesthetic wheels, but to me the big rims have jumped the shark.  Bring back more reasonably-sized - but nicely designed! - wheels again.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/effects-of-upsized-wheels-and-tires-tested

Someone on the MX6 forums had done the math.  I think it worked out to something like for every 1" in diameter increase for the wheel, the wheel itself had to be 1lb lighter overall to keep the same rotating inertia.

I can firsthand tell you the difference that weight of a wheel can make on not just rotating inertia but also on unsprung weight.  On my 300ZX, the car felt pretty good with the stock 16s.  I got the itch and picked up a used set of Fittipaldi wheels.  My friends dubbed these the curb crushers.  They were heavy as hell.  The car felt slower and cornering went to hell because of the unsprung weight.  I then sold those wheels and bought a set of Volk TE37s.  These wheels were over 10lbs lighter than the Fittipaldis.  The 18x8.5 is 17lbs and the 18.9.5 is 18lbs.  What a huge difference running those wheels.  Immediately the acceleration, braking and handling felt light years better.  Running the car on the same roadcourse and I managed to be 4 seconds faster.  Of course, since then, I have bought a second set of wheels that are 17" and run dedicated R-Compounds rubber for track events.  The handling/braking/acceleration is even better.

The way to think about a bigger wheel is this.  Imagine having a 1 lb ball tied to a string that is 15" long and try spinning it.  Try it again with a 20" string.

[OliverD]

The term "dubs" as used in the article makes no sense; dubs means 20" wheels.

[Brendan McAleer]

Someone on the MX6 forums had done the math.  I think it worked out to something like for every 1" in diameter increase for the wheel, the wheel itself had to be 1lb lighter overall to keep the same rotating inertia.

I can firsthand tell you the difference that weight of a wheel can make on not just rotating inertia but also on unsprung weight.  On my 300ZX, the car felt pretty good with the stock 16s.  I got the itch and picked up a used set of Fittipaldi wheels.  My friends dubbed these the curb crushers.  They were heavy as hell.  The car felt slower and cornering went to hell because of the unsprung weight.  I then sold those wheels and bought a set of Volk TE37s.  These wheels were over 10lbs lighter than the Fittipaldis.  The 18x8.5 is 17lbs and the 18.9.5 is 18lbs.  What a huge difference running those wheels.  Immediately the acceleration, braking and handling felt light years better.  Running the car on the same roadcourse and I managed to be 4 seconds faster.  Of course, since then, I have bought a second set of wheels that are 17" and run dedicated R-Compounds rubber for track events.  The handling/braking/acceleration is even better.

The way to think about a bigger wheel is this.  Imagine having a 1 lb ball tied to a string that is 15" long and try spinning it.  Try it again with a 20" string.

You had an MX6? Ever see Gavin's autox build? (I had a 1st gen turbo, much-missed).

The TE-37 is a great wheel. I've been looking for a set of Racing Hart CP-035s for my WRX for a while. In 17", they're like 11lbs.

[dirtyjeffer]

saw some reviews of the new Cadillac CTS Vsport...that HAS to be on your best list for 2014...in fact, i'd be shocked if it didn't win 2014 Car of the Year...GM has achieved the impossible, make a car i'd actually want to buy (in terms of something relatively expensive)...never thought i'd consider a Caddy if i were looking for something in that bracket, but that car looks to be THE car to beat in the segment...anyone else seen it??...awesome.

[mixmanmash]

Someone on the MX6 forums had done the math.  I think it worked out to something like for every 1" in diameter increase for the wheel, the wheel itself had to be 1lb lighter overall to keep the same rotating inertia.

I can firsthand tell you the difference that weight of a wheel can make on not just rotating inertia but also on unsprung weight.  On my 300ZX, the car felt pretty good with the stock 16s.  I got the itch and picked up a used set of Fittipaldi wheels.  My friends dubbed these the curb crushers.  They were heavy as hell.  The car felt slower and cornering went to hell because of the unsprung weight.  I then sold those wheels and bought a set of Volk TE37s.  These wheels were over 10lbs lighter than the Fittipaldis.  The 18x8.5 is 17lbs and the 18.9.5 is 18lbs.  What a huge difference running those wheels.  Immediately the acceleration, braking and handling felt light years better.  Running the car on the same roadcourse and I managed to be 4 seconds faster.  Of course, since then, I have bought a second set of wheels that are 17" and run dedicated R-Compounds rubber for track events.  The handling/braking/acceleration is even better.

The way to think about a bigger wheel is this.  Imagine having a 1 lb ball tied to a string that is 15" long and try spinning it.  Try it again with a 20" string.

You had an MX6? Ever see Gavin's autox build? (I had a 1st gen turbo, much-missed).

The TE-37 is a great wheel. I've been looking for a set of Racing Hart CP-035s for my WRX for a while. In 17", they're like 11lbs.

Nope.  My friend has a 2nd gen and had a few other friends with 2nd gen Ford Probes.  Done a bit of work on them over the years.

I really use to love the 1st gen turbos and almost bought one around 2004.  Unfortunately, I never really followed the first gen side of the forum.

Another really light wheel is the Enkei RPF1.  Only issue is the spoke & barrel design on them make it hard to clear larger brake calipers.

[OliverD]

By the way, the use of "dubs" to describe 19" wheels is not accurate. Dubs = 20" wheels, period.

[wing]

Love my dubs lol

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[sacrat]

One of the smartest things Issigonis did when he designed the original Mini was put tiny tires on it. That left a lot more space in the interior and engine compartment. The small tires... to the surprise of many, didn't negatively impact handling.

Except in anything more that 2cm of snow. These 10" wheels were useless in a Canadian winter

[Sir Osis of Liver]

One of the smartest things Issigonis did when he designed the original Mini was put tiny tires on it. That left a lot more space in the interior and engine compartment. The small tires... to the surprise of many, didn't negatively impact handling.

Except in anything more that 2cm of snow. These 10" wheels were useless in a Canadian winter

Ground clearance was an issue with the car, not necessarily the tires, but with 4 friends, you could pick it up and move it. 

The best 2wd car I had in snow was my Tercel with 155/85R13 studded tires on it. Narrow and relatively tall they could cut trough the snow much better that the fatties installed on most small cars now.

[johngenx]

I had a 1976 Civic with 13" 155-section width studded snows and that little thing could kick some serious snow butt.