When you purchase a new vehicle, you want to feel at home while riding in it. The first thought to cross your mind is to do everything in your power and customize it to suit your sense of aesthetics. One of the first places that most car owners deploy tweaks is car tires. Personalization is great, but is it a good bet, especially when your tires are involved? One of the quickest and simplest adjustments to a car is to install bigger wheels, but you must also know and understand this: how does tire size impact speed and overall efficiency? In this blog, we muster some insights, and strive to educate you about how increasing the tyre size affects the performance of the car? And should you do it?
The Basics
In want of aesthetic appeal, it is completely comprehensible for you to favor changing your tires size. But there are implications involved. Regardless of the vehicle, you drive, the prospect of acquiring larger tyres must have piqued your interest. So why not? Jeeps and SUVs have them, and they look cool and powerful, don’t you think? But do you know that larger tires may not be good news for your car’s fuel efficiency?
There are several very straightforward considerations – based on fact – which indicate why it is crucial to have the correct sized tires to obtain the optimum fuel economy. Because a car is all about mobility, the principles of physics govern its functioning. In this context, it is referred to as rolling resistance. Also, it is a well-known fact that Moving a car calls for great use of energy, which is delivered by the engine. The higher the resistance in your car, the more fuel it consumes. Altering your tire configuration – especially the size – can disturb the balanced dynamics of the tires, and your car’s performance. Here’s how:
- Tire Size: The benefit of larger tires provide greater surface area and therefore increased contact with the asphalt, causing more rolling resistance exceeding the vehicle manufacturer’s suggested tyre size. This ensures that the engine in your car has to work harder to sustain the cruising speed, increasing fuel consumption.
- Tire Weight: With great size comes greater weightage. This maxim holds in the case of car tires. The wider they are, the bulkier their appearance will be. This will directly influence the amount of fuel your car will consume during a ride. On the other hand, if you stick to car-specific tires, they are tailormade to be lightweight, have lesser rolling resistance, and therefore improve your car’s per mile/kilometer fuel average.
- Wheel Type: If the wheel size changes so will the wheel type. Typically, the heavier wheels are constructed of steel – which is comparatively heavier than other alloys. When you purchase large-sized tires, you are fundamentally hampering yourself from enjoying the mileage advantage that accompanies the standard-size tires attached to your vehicle.
Research on the Impact of Large Tires on Fuel Economy and Vehicle Performance
Popular surveys and studies on the correlation between tire size, fuel efficiency, and vehicular performance have unanimously conceded that larger tires are not a good bet to make, especially if you’re not keen about footing bigger car maintenance bills. Moreover, several online and offline researches have demonstrated that in a supervised situation – when vehicle speed, air conditioning, and other systems are kept steady – your car’s performance may vary approximately 10 percent. However, for the average highway driver, the difference in fuel economy when driving on bigger tires might be as much as 25 percent. Furthermore, when traveling in congested metropolitan traffic, the percentage might skyrocket.
Other Aspects that may get Affected Increasing Tyre Size
- Car braking
- Tire tread
- Tread depth
- Tire pressure
- Steering control and acceleration
- Tire appearance
Battmobile’s Recommendation
While we are all for regular tyre replacement for cars of all makes and models, however, we ask customers to exercise discretion in matters of tire size change. Regardless of what tyre brand you choose – Yokohama, Pirelli, etc – they will do their job best when they match your car’s tire requirements. Increasing tire size for the sake of visual appeal is not a worthy investment. But if you need any kind of tire-related advice or guidance, or want to purchase tires of leading brands – Nitto, Nexen, etc – we are just a call or text away – 800 78278.
