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Do wider tires help control against wind gusts

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I am starting to think about new rims and tires for the summer season and I would like some advice from some of you smart owners who have installed wider rims and tires on their 451 ( or 450 ). In winter, I use 145 wide tires in front and 175's in back mounted on steel rims. With this setup, I seem to be blown around on the highway when there is strong gusts of wind. In summer, I have the 451 stock 155's in front with 175 in back. Wind gusts rarely seem to affect the car, but I still need to hold the steering wheel tight. So, for those of you with 175's in front and 195's in back, does the car seem to have MORE control, even in strong wind? Given the new wider wheels and tires are at least $1600 ... I curious to hear from others who have tried this. Thanks for your help. Steve

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Yes. The single biggest improvement that can be made IMO, other than double cup holders. I use 175/195s for summer and winter tires on my 450, and it is a world of difference. You can feel the cross winds buffet the car, but the wheels stay straight with minimal effort.

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It reduces the wind sensitivity about 50% in my experience (on a 450). I don't like driving on the skinny winter tires too much for that reason.

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Great info, thanks! I will be checking with my smart dealer to see if I can order 451 Pulse wheels. If not, I will probably order some rims from Fast Eddy. I leased my 451 for three years. After the first summer, I realized the tires that came with the car would probably be finished by the end of the lease and the dealer would require I buy new tires for the car. If I have to buy $800 worth of new tires, I just as soon get wide tires now and benefit personally from improved handling for the next two years. I will keep the original tires and rims in the shed and they will go back on the car at lease end. Thanks again.And, yes, I do have Bridgestone skinny's. I look forward to better handling.

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I am running 175/205 16's. Makes a world of difference. I am also running a much more performance orientated tire, so the sidewalls are much stiffer than the OEM tires. Next on the list is to lower the car and add front wheel spacers.

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Yes. The single biggest improvement that can be made IMO, other than double cup holders. I use 175/195s for summer and winter tires on my 450, and it is a world of difference. You can feel the cross winds buffet the car, but the wheels stay straight with minimal effort.

what brand 175/195 winters?

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185 Front, 205 Rear here. Big difference, we love it, but when these are due for replacement we'll get back to 175 & 195.

The 205's don't rub in the rear @ all? When I got my rims it said recommended was 205's but looking @ the fenders with the stock 175's I figured it couldn't fit without rubbing. Is your car lowered?

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The wider the tires, more grip, more fuel and slow pick up. But it's more stable against wind and cornering. Also your speed will be different from the OEM. Mostly slower the what the speedometer show.

Edited by JKA6373

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If you use 175/55/15 front and 195/50/15 rear the speedometer doesn't change (0.4%) hardly at all. That is to say it's still reads about 4kph too fast...I wouldn't go back to the stock sizing no matter what!

Edited by lebikerboy

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The speed depend on the tires size/width if it match, it goes faster. if it don't, slower. 175/55/15 and 195/50/15 that's pulse. Passion should be 145/55/15 and 175/50/15. 195 and 205 more stable.

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If you use 175/55/15 front and 195/50/15 rear the speedometer doesn't change (0.4%) hardly at all. That is to say it's still reads about 4kph too fast...I wouldn't go back to the stock sizing no matter what!

I've wondered about this. Does the speedometer take its information from just the rear tires like an old-style cable speedo? I've been looking at a 4-set of (10%) used 195/55/15s.Bil :sun:

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Interesting calculations.... Looks like, if I change my rear 175/55/15 tires for 195/55/15s, it will "correct" the normally-over-reporting speedo (displays ~3% too fast) to read closer to actual speed (will display ~0.8% too slow). Nice!

Thanks, cousins!

B :sun:

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The 205's don't rub in the rear @ all? When I got my rims it said recommended was 205's but looking @ the fenders with the stock 175's I figured it couldn't fit without rubbing. Is your car lowered?

No, no rubbing, & no suspension mods. We got the wheels (Coreline rims + Bridgestone tires) from an ex-smartie; they didn't rub on his car either. Our dia is enough larger that we get a -3% speedometer error (we are going faster/farther than indicated). Looking fwd to putting those puppies on, any day now!

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Short correction: the speedometer is supposedly driven by the average of all 4 wheels' speeds, using the ESP......

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I hate to say it, and I'll be in a minority for sure, but I actually feel the car is more susceptible to gusts with the wider tires. I'm using the 175/195 combo you speak of. It was actually one of the first things I noticed because it was so pronounced. I totally expected wind buffeting to go away and it just got worse. I have no idea why... I mean there's not much tread left on the tires but that has nothing to do with buffeting...-Iain

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Is your toe setting in the front end correct? A little toe out could cause excessive wanderiness.

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Tire pressure seems to make quite a difference too. I notice that, at 2bar, it wanders (and "tramlines" along the wheel ruts) a little more than, say, 2.7bar.Bil :sun:

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Hmm, I think that's all fine... the steering wheel is straight, it holds true if I let go of the wheel, and my front tires don't have any unusual wear.-Iain

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That's really odd. I noticed a pronounced increase in stability in crosswinds when i put on my wider tires.

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Well and increase in stability with wider tires seems to make sense and seems to be what most of the smart club members are reporting so I ordered a set of wider rims which should be available in the next few weeks. UNFORTUNATELY, I also found out from Gauvin that the Conti premium contact 2 tires in the 195 sizes will only be produced in June and only available after that. Given some recent posts, I might look into a slightly taller tire profile if there is no rubbing AND it helps correct the speedometer error. When my speedometer says I am going 100 KM/hr my scangauge says its really only 92 KM/hr.

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Duck, you mentioned that you got the wider tires second hand. Is there any chance you put the left side wheel/tires on the right side (inversed the rotation)? I seem to recall hearing that once a radial tire is used in one direction, switching sides (rotation direction) can cause some instability issues...

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