Pros And Cons Of Wider Tyres

Upsizing Your Vehicle’s Tyres? Here Are The Pros And Cons

Let’s admit it, beefed-up tyres get attention. Undoubtedly, a car with wider tyres instils a macho feel. However, you bought the car for commuting and not just for rolling the eyeballs of the onlookers. Replacing the stock tyres with wider tyres does impact the overall running of the vehicle as automakers test the car with the ideal tyre size to extract optimum performance from it. Any change in its tyres - the lone contact between surface and car - is bound to alter your car’s behaviour in either right or wrong way.

Let’s have a look at the benefit of installing wider tyres.

Pros of wider tyres

• The increased width of the tyre certainly increases the contact patch area of the vehicle with the road which transforms into a better grip on the surface.
• The added width improves handling at high speeds. You can notice the change in handling dynamics of the car on highways. The wider tyres are recommended if you mostly drive your car on highways.
• Appeal. The wider tyres enhance the aesthetic appeal of your car and it appears more planted.
• As a thumb rule, as the width of the tyre increases the sidewall length drops. You must have noticed premium cars having a low sidewall. This is because their tyres are broad. With thinner tyre sidewall, the overall ride quality becomes a bit firm.
• The bad roads you had to tackle with stock tyres would have unsettled your ride but with the upsize to broader tyres, the balancing and handling of the vehicle will be greatly enhanced. Over bad patches, the experience with the wider tyres will be a giant leap from your company-fitted tyres.

Cons of wider tyres

Now, let’s check out the downside of going with broader tyres.

• For tyre upsizing, you need to be very cautious with respect to the size you are upgrading to. Consult tyre experts to ensure your selected upsize suits your car. If you install a wider tyre which is bigger than the earlier one by more than 3 per cent, it would negatively impact the components of the car. The internal parts of the vehicle such as lower arm, shockers and others of the suspension system are likely to wear faster.
• Though the new setup improved your highway drive, the steering tends to get heavy. If your running is mostly in cities and light steering is what you care for, tyre upsizing is not for you. Every time you need to manoeuvre on the busy city roads, you need to put extra effort.
• For someone who rates comfortable ride quality higher than stiffer ones, the upsize would be a problem for him/her as it would make the ride firmer.
• Another alert goes out to mileage conscious users. The added weight and other aspects of the vehicle affected by the wider tyre would result in lower fuel efficiency. The mileage of the car may drop from 8-10 per cent depending on the width and sidewall size of the new tyre.

Car tyre upsizing may look fascinating but, remember it changes the dynamics of your car, which may not behave the same way it used to with stock tyres. We recommend not upgrading to different tyre size unless you are 100 per cent sure. However, you can go for another company tyre of the same size to better ride quality or reduce noise. Lastly,tyre upsizing for entry-level hatchbacks should be avoided as they have a minimum margin for any change.

Looking for new tyres? Find dealers around you