The advantage (?) is that one can go to wider tread/lower profile and still end up with the same rolling radius for no speedo error. (usually it's close rather than perfect). This is called "plus one" when going up 1 inch wheel size. (And also some folks feel when installing really pretty wheels the more of the pretty the better.) URL for tire size comparator: http://www.dsm.org/tools/tiresize.htm This will indicate, having entered 184-14 (185/80-14) that 205/70-14 and 205/65-15 all have nearly the same rolling radius. 15-in wheel provides more room for brakes. Probably others have more ideas (besides looks & room for brakes) why larger diameter wheels may be better. This is a pretty good question, because it's going to be really hard to find/retrofit larger brakes. The brake advantage probably only applies if you're designing a new vehicle. |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.