What Advantage bigger wheels or not?

What Advantage Do 20-Inch Wheels Have Over 18-Inch?

Having selected the standard wheels I'm thinking now should I go for bigger wheels?

The conventional reason for choosing larger wheels is the reduced tyre sidewall depth which makes for a tauter driving experience. With deep sidewalls, the car feels less connected to the road and will lean more when cornering due to the tyre flexing. At the same time, the role the tyre plays in adding ride comfort is reduced so that larger wheels tend to mean a harder ride.

Coming from largely sports cars, I find the 20" wheels are absolutely fine, if anything, the car could do with tightening up further.

One reason not to choose large wheels is that they are more prone to damage from kerbing and pot holes. If you like to grind away the side of a pavement with your wheels, the 20" will get damaged more easily.

One other reason to choose larger wheels is cosmetic - the car on smaller wheels looks a bit weedy -the larger wheels fill the wheel arches better even if the outside diameter of the tyre is the same.

Thanks Mark

It depends on your budget - if the running costs of your vehicle are an issue then do consider tyre replacement. 20" tyres are fairly expensive and the choice is limited - and a permanent all wheel drive set up will wear all 4 out together.

In recent years I've had a lot of cars with large diameter wheels, they are a universal pain - whilst visually attractive and as Mark has alread said, easily damaged by pot-holes and curbs. Also - and a point often missed - because there is a lot of strength in the sidewalls of the large diameter/low profile tyres they can lose almost all of their air pressure and you can't tell visually. So a decent TPMS (tyre pressure monitoring system) becomes pretty essential.

The car I have on order has 19" rims - if 18" rims had been an option I'd have selected them.

I'm the same as Straydox, if 18" were an option I would have chosen them over the 19". My Freelander runs on 17" and they are just right for the car's size.

Happy to swap out my 18in wheels for 19 or 20 wheels

Thats strange how they dont let you choose the smaller wheels on the Prestige as you can select 19in on the Dynamic .

Yes, good point about replacement cost. The 20" tyres are something like £250 - £300 each, which is double the 18" tyres on my Ferrari. We may actually find tyres are the biggest single maintenance expense on this car. I agree TPMS would be useful, just wish they had provided a near-real time display for the money.

After my LR Experience day, I'm seriously thinking about 19" Sparle Style 3's now.

(25-12-2011 10:46am)Evo-king Wrote:  After my LR Experience day, I'm seriously thinking about 19" Sparle Style 3's now.

Hi,I have 45 profile on the car I have now and they are kerb magnets.That is why I am going for the 19" with the 55 profile.I like to keep my cars in tip top condition,it makes me happy but when I kerbed my brand new car on the first day I was sad

(25-12-2011 10:46am)Evo-king Wrote:  After my LR Experience day, I'm seriously thinking about 19" Sparle Style 3's now.

That's what I'd have picked.