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SmartDad

Do wider tires help control against wind gusts

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No, I was very careful to make sure everything was put on right.-Iain

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I'm afraid there must me some issue with your car if it becomes wondering on good roads. We had installed hundreds of sets with great satisfaction. Usually people who come back to me who have similar issue have encounter one of the following:-driving on bad uneven road-over/under inflated tires-replace with wrong size tires-suspension or chassis worn or damaged-bald tires-old tires (hard rubber)-tire with loose beltI might have missed several other causes. But I think you get the point.Having proper sized wider wheel/tires on the smart is an improvement on stability on dry road.

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When my speedometer says I am going 100 KM/hr my scangauge says its really only 92 KM/hr.

Your ScanGauge is only as accurate as your correction factor programmed into it. The actual speed at 100 on the speedo is likely 97.

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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

Are you stretching the wider tires onto narrow rims? Using a wider tire on a narrow rim will cause a reduction in stability. This is because the tires will be bulged and you will only be riding on the middle portion of the tire, not the entire face. The sidewalls also loose a lot of stability when they are really pulled in. For best stability, you want the widest rim possible for any specific tire.

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No, and no. He has Wade's old strikelines with Contis on them.

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They're really worn, and there's some vibration so it could be a shot belt. I guess I won't know until I get new tires (which I guess is June since they don't exist until then?).-Iain

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I have the all season Vredestein Quatrac-2 175/55r15(2) & 195/50r/15(2) with 95%+(around 5000km on it ) and i will let it go for $500. Let me know.....Thanks

Good deal on Vredestein here.

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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.

That does that mean? I'm using for my rear, 195/50/15 Conti Premium Contact 2!

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Iain, have you check your suspensions? Might be 'too soft'.Anyway, only felt stability when hitting speed 130-140km/h. Any slower, could feel the wind passing.

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FWIW, last year after driving the horrid Conti's for about a month, I purchased and installed two new rear wheels and four Michelin 185/60-15's on my 451 Passion . This larger diameter made the speedo actually read right with radar and GPS. The odometer now reads slow so for MPG I multiply by 1.056 to get actual miles driven.I didn't go for "sporty" tires, I wanted in this order: ride quality (less hammering like you get from 16's and 17's), less wandering in gusts, the ability to rotate all four, less noise than stock Conti's or "sport" tires with open tread and finally, better tire life. I can tell you that after 4,500 miles they have done all I desired, and there appears to be no wear, no sharp edges or feathering. Does it get blown around, sure it is a small, high car, but no where near as much. Do I still feel bumps, of course but they don't feel like the front end has no springs at all. I have read all about the Elk test and I have had this tire combination in turns hard enough to engage the ESP (or whatever it is called) and so far it feels superior. However, I made my own decisions, it may not work for snow (not something we have in TN or I drive in), it may not work if my mother-in-law was in the passenger seat and the weight was way off, it may not avoid an elk without turning turtle, but we don't have Elk either. I live in a free world (at least for a few more months until the Left enacts more rules) and I change tires and wheels on my cars. I know that if I do something dumb that the car manufacturer will wash his hands and maybe my insurance company will too. But I have been driving cars of all sorts for nearly 50 years, on highway, on tracks and off road, so I feel comfortable this works for my driving style.

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Good info, except your President is a right winger.....he's similar to our Conservatives ;)

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Mike T...say what?Obama is a right winger?What is it that you are smoking tonight?Look, I can care less that you are a socialist and big NDP supporter.Big deal. If you are so naive, so be it. Even though you are very smart,you are clueless what it is like to live in "socialist paradise" i.e. Cuba or what it was like in the former Eastern Europe.Maybe you don't want to know since you are "leftie".You possibly prefer denial.But for you to call Obama right winger only shows your ignorance.Too bad if you will not like my response.BTW,you are moderator here and if I am not mistakenthis forum is about Smart cars and not about politics.Right?I am done and I appreciate that you will allow me to express my opinion since you expressed yours.Thank you.

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Perhaps you should have noted the winkie before going off like that!

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[sidebar .....]

There are many who have come to "the West" from former Eastern Bloc countries where their families were victimized in many ways. Considering past tribulations, it is difficult for some to condone even innocent, winkie-face jest regarding right/left socialist/capitalist philosophy. I reckon you've inadvertently touched one of our Mr. Supremo's hot-buttons Mike.

My respects to you both. Peace, cousins :beerchug:

"Keep smiling, life is way too short." (I read that somewhere...)

[Now back to our regularly scheduled programming]

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{sidebar continued}It's funny though about how he "knows everything about my politics" from a lame assed joke on an online forum! Too bad that he got it totally wrong. And how, to joe supreme, socialism = revolutionary communism. Sophisticated analysis, that ;)Yep keep on smiling (or winking, as the case may be).

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And the most important factor is when the rubber hits the road in both politics and tires..... ;) Anyone running Pirelli's? Been thinking about them as replacements.Think the side wall probably has a lot to do with feel of the car too - big not to stiff sidewall may not be ideal - lots to the design of tires.Cheers,Cameron

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Pirelli used to make smart sizes but I haven't seen any listed for a while. At least in the wider ones. What is your supplier?

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Tire Rack in the States used to list them - might have to get them out of Europe or something if I go that route.Cheers,Cameron

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Hi,I've been driving a 451 with the same tires on all four corners for a year now.I used the stock narrow front wheels and tires identical to the OEM rears.From changing springs, I've found the bump-steer to be pretty bad so, with the stock springs,toe can change a lot if you carry 2 large people and the toe was set with the car empty.To get the same load capacity with the wider tires, you can lower pressure 2-3 pounds and I set the toe at 0" - straight ahead.I felt (and so did one owner who I let drive it) the stability was a dramatic improvement.Now for the big news.After a year of throwing springs and things at it, I've come up with an anti-kaboom solution.There's welding and fabrication involved so I'd like to get a pair of front 451 struts to use as core/loaners.If you have a pair, let me know at:randyzimmer at verizon netIf you are anywhere near Buffalo, NY and can't stand having the front bottom out and crash, I'm looking for guinea pigs who will report to others how wonderful the new system is.

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So:450 style here.Catch me up, I think I am missing something.Can I put 175/55/15 on the stock front rims (If it matters I have passion alloys)and 195/50/15 on the rear stock rims?Humm.. According to this online calculator, and my poor measuring it is acceptable...Anyone care to comment on how great of an improvement this is? Or does everyone with bigger tires have awesome rims too?

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So:

450 style here.

Catch me up, I think I am missing something.

Can I put 175/55/15 on the stock front rims (If it matters I have passion alloys)

No.

and 195/50/15 on the rear stock rims?

Yes.

Humm.. According to this online calculator, and my poor measuring it is acceptable...

Anyone care to comment on how great of an improvement this is? Or does everyone with bigger tires have awesome rims too?

Ideally, you would have wider rims. For those tires, 5-6" on front and 6-7" on back.

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To answer SmartDad's original question, why not do what most 451 owners in the US are doing? They're putting rear wheels on the front so that all four corners can run the same tire size. From what I could tell at the Outsmarting the Dragon event and from reading others' posts, that gets rid of the wind buffeting and is cheaper.

I own two 450s but used to have a 451. When I put rear wheels on the front, it did seem to make the car much more stable in the gusty drive between Denver and Boulder, CO.

As for the 450s, I put the Strikeline 15" wheels on one to get 175/55 fronts and 195/50 rears and man it makes such a difference. Better handling, no movement from wind gusts, etc.

Someone asked about putting a wider tire on the stock Passion wheels. I use the wheel guide at Evilution to see what the recommended tire sizes are. Wheel Sizes and Offsets And you can usually put one size above that on the wheel. For example if a wheel takes a 195, you can usually put a 205 on it.

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