larger wheels up front? salesman deceitful?

[zippity]

i went out to see what the tire stores around me had on sale, only to find myself at a discount tire store one of the salesmen was trying to sell me 4 wheels when the only tires worn out were the fronts. i said i just wanted to put on 2 15" or 16" light alloys on the front and leave the rears alone.

the tires i have on the car now are 185/60-14 Pirelli P6 Four Seasons

so this is what he told me. it didnt sound logical to me, but maybe im wrong. tell me if you've ever heard this before

- "if you put larger wheels on the front of a front whee drive car it will cause the car to oversteer out of control because of the difference in grip."

- "wider wheels get rid of water better and that makes the rear wheels have to get rid of more water in it's path, making it more prone to hyrdroplane."
(his explanation of why i should get 4 of the same wheels and tires.)

- "wider wheels will screw up your suspension."

- "wider wheels will ruin an alignment."

- and last but not least
"when you buy bigger wheels (15 or 16 as opposed to 14), even if you use lower profile tires there are still millimeters difference in wheel diamater that makes handling unpredictable and can alter what your speedometer reads"

he said he was "obligated to tell me by law."

btw, this is for a 94 paseo, im just posting it in the camy board (since it's the largest) because it applies to any FWD car w/ no LSD.

(Fox) Sport Edidtion D5 15"x6.5" 15.4LBs Low-Pressure Cast, heat-treated, shot-peened



and 195/50HR15 Bridgestone Potenza G009

another tire i was looking at was the 195/50VR15 Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3



thanks for taking the time to read & thanks for the advice in advance.

[CDub LXi]

If you change your wheels... change all 4.

YES if you change the size of your wheel and even with low profile tires there STILL might be a chance of a little speedometer inaccuracy.. but hell, it's not like you get them calibrated every year.. it's probably off a hair already.

YES changing to a bigger wheel/tire will make the car handle differently... usually BETTER

YES changing to a bigger wheel/tire in the front CAN cause you to oversteer IF the front tires are a LOT grippier and the rears are cheap wal-mart specials... refer to my first suggestion and you won't have this problem.

NO changing to a bigger wheel/tire combo will NOT ruin your suspension any faster than with regular wheels/tires unless you go WAY BIGGER (example from 14" to 20")

NO changing to a bigger wheel/tire combo will NOT ruin your alignment, but I recommend you get one done as soon as you put your new wheels on to make sure your previous alignment was done correctly since bigger tires cost more money usually.

Why would you want to change just 2? That' rice if you ask me

[zippity]

Originally Posted by Big Body LX

..
Why would you want to change just 2? That' rice if you ask me

thanks for the good reply

i wanted to change 2 because i live in area which gets alot of snow sometimes. my plan was to get 2 summer tires like the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 and put them up front on lighter larger wheels to improve responsiveness. i care more about how it responds than how it looks.

then to get four fresh blizzaks on OEM 14"x5.5" 4x100 steel wheels. paseos arent notorious for their snow handling capability. narrower tires for winter plowing through snow. wider stickier spring/summer tires. then to replace the rear 2 w/ the same wheels/tires in the rear next year.

my current rear tires are at about 3/4 tread life. i shredded the front ones pretty quickly so i see no real need to replace them so soon.

but now that im considering it im not sure if this wheel will be available next year as styles change.

something else i wondered about, are there any wheels known to be compatible w/ multiple bolt patterns? i'll probably be moving to a tC w/ a supercharger end of next year & would like to move them over when i sell the paseo.

[CDub LXi]

Most wheels are universal lug pattern. They usually have 2 bolt patterns. For instance for a 4 lug wheel you're usually going to get 4x100 as one bolt pattern and 4x114.3 as the other. Same on the 5 lug. My Enkeis have 5x100 and 5x114.3 so they'll work on a number of different make and models of cars.

A 4 lug wheel will NOT have a 5 lug pattern in almost EVERY case. I've never seen one with a 4 lug and a 5 lug pattern on the same wheel but I'm not ruling out it can be done.

If the performance of the Paseo's wheel is a factor and you want to save money.. look into getting wheels off different brand cars. For instance if your Paseo is 4x100 you can get an Acura Integra or Honda Civic wheel. These come with options of 15" and fit a 205/60R15 tire well.... that's all you really need for winter. I think Corollas are 4x100 too but I'm not sure.

[zippity]

yea. i ran across this and was doing some ebay searching but havent come up w/ much as of yet.
http://www.discountedwheelwarehouse...._Reference.cfm

i would love a set of MR-S wheels, but i cant seem to find any for sale.

[CDub LXi]

MRS wheels are a bit of a strech.. that's like finding S2000 wheels. Corolla alloys would probably be easier to find.. and under the 200 dollar mark.

[zippity]

my wheel thread
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t99603.html

[TbombsGen3]

actually, some manufacturers have used larger/wider tires on performance FWD cars to reduce understeer.....I wouldnt say it actually induces oversteer, just reduces the plowing you get in a fwd car.....


the lastest to do it is Pontiac in the full blown Grand Prix..(i know, i know....Pontiac) but it proves the point

[zippity]

Originally Posted by TbombsGen3

actually, some manufacturers have used larger/wider tires on performance FWD cars to reduce understeer.....I wouldnt say it actually induces oversteer, just reduces the plowing you get in a fwd car.....


the lastest to do it is Pontiac in the full blown Grand Prix..(i know, i know....Pontiac) but it proves the point

thats exactly what was running through my mind when this guy was talking.

[CDub LXi]

What cars came with bigger wheels up front and smaller wheels out back? I've never seen one. I've seen it done opposite on RWD cars (18s up front 19s out back but never the opposite.

[white3ch0c0late]

Yeah, I have to agree with Big Body LX. I've never seen a car from factory with bigger front wheels than in the rear. Never was one.

[zippity]

bigger or wider?

[skewe]

i have never heard of people chaning the front to a larger rims up front?

for sports car, usually, the front is a more narrow as opposed to the back.
case and point, Corvette.
some cars run like 235/40/19 up front and 245/40/19 in the back.

the sales person must be smoking something

[touringcamry]

Originally Posted by skewe

i have never heard of people chaning the front to a larger rims up front?

for sports car, usually, the front is a more narrow as opposed to the back.
case and point, Corvette.
some cars run like 235/40/19 up front and 245/40/19 in the back.

the sales person must be smoking something

Corvette is FR vehicle though. Many RWD cars come with staggered setup in the rear so the drive wheels have more grip. SW20s and Lotus Elise are the same way.

[thoughthard]

I think Discount Tire salepeople are programmed to insist on changing all four tires for safety reasons. Even if two tires are mint with low miles, they still will insist on it.

On the hydroplaning, I would see the wider front tire moving a wider path of water, therefore the skinnier rear tire would have a wider area where the water was evacuated...?

I have seen a few wheels with a 4 lug/5 lug combo. Very odd looking. Finding a sample pic takes a looooonnnnngggg time.

I would recommend getting a full set of 15" alloys, or if not, get all matching alloys, regardless of size. That would at least look better.

On my 92 Paseo, I run...

summer - 15x7 Enkei RPF1, 195-50-15 Firestone Indy 500
winter - stock steelies, fronts are Yokohama Guardex 600, rears Kumho ECSTA HP4 716