Lower profile tyres = harsher ride?

[vc commodore]

Long story short.....The sidewall does provide a little absorbtion of the bumps in the road surface...The greater the sidewall profile, the better the bump absorbtion driving along.

Then, changing profiles to a higher profile, with you're current wheel configuration, then causes issues with speedo reading, vs actual road speed.

So the best advise I can give is, put up with what you have, in relation to ride comfort, or downsize wheels so you can have a bigger profile tyre and still stay with the overall height being the same as what is currently fitted.

Run flats...Harsher all round....The tyre itself would weigh double what the normal tyre weighs, when comparing the same sizing....The sidewall has next to no give, which then transfers to a harsher ride...So if you're after a softer ride, cross those off the list

 

[Big Red VF-SII Go-kart]

Does lower profile tyres mean a harsher ride?

Yes. I had wide 17" low profile wheels on my (traded-off) VZ, and the ride with FE2 was patently horrendous on anything but billiard table-smooth freeways and highways. Plus side is that lower profile tyres have a higher rpm rate, so you cover a greater amount of ground over distance -- you think you are going too fast, but at the set limit of 100km/h you are passing everything else!
Minuses are cattle grids, speed humps, potholes (shallow), blasted chickanes etc (these things should be banned entirely)... all conspired for one bloody awful ride, and in that regard I was glad to see the last of the (PDW Stellar) wheels/tyres (PROXES 300). You can go lower still with rubber but the real problem is damage to rims and suspension from hitting gutters through gross compression of the tyre (been there, done that). As tyres wear down, speedos can be 'out' by 4 to 5km/h e.g. my VF has worn tyres and 100km/h is 104km/h set on the speedo; the speed is set by a calibrated overhead speed check gantry on the freeway.

Low profiles may look cool but they really are a PITA around the 'burbs where anything and everything can blindside them (chickanes/gutters being No. 1 Suburban Enemies!) and cause damage all too easily: rim, wheel alignment and tyre damage will be a given. Yes, I do know from experience years back and it was painfully expensive.

 

[BlackVXGTS]

What tyre pressures are you running? You could try dropping them down a few PSI and see if that makes any difference.

 

[Clay1391]

What tyre pressures are you running? You could try dropping them down a few PSI and see if that makes any difference.

Around 32 Psi on all 4, currently on run flats. Might see if I can muster up some falken azenis Fk510 tyres, seem to be pretty well reviewed and won tyre of the year. They are in my price range too.

 

[[paradox]]

Around 32 Psi on all 4, currently on run flats..

32psi on 20s? general rule of thumb = 2x rim = psi

maybe run flats be different, would also suggest why they are a bit harsher

 

[[paradox]]

Please tell me more! How am I going to achieve a more comfortable ride with the tyres? What brand of tyres you got on yours?

mine had nothing to do with tyres, my VE had peddlers coilovers which were harsh as hell.
now back to floaty stock FE3 in the VF, until i can muster up some coin to get some shockworks coilovers.

 

[VS 5.0]

Around 32 Psi on all 4

Golly.....I'm running 38 on mine.

What are your wear patterns like ?

 

[Skylarking]

... Plus side is that lower profile tyres have a higher rpm rate, so you cover a greater amount of ground over distance -- you think you are going too fast, but at the set limit of 100km/h you are passing everything else!... As tyres wear down, speedos can be 'out' by 4 to 5km/h e.g. my VF has worn tyres and 100km/h is 104km/h set on the speedo; the speed is set by a calibrated overhead speed check gantry on the freeway...

If you want a lower profile tyre, you must increase the rim diameter so the end result is a wheel with the same rolling diameter (expressed as revolutions per mile or kilometre) as the original. Not increasing rim diameter appropriately when reducing profile is wrong on many fronts and will result in actually traveling slower than your speedo indicates. For example one 245/35R19 tire has 784 revolutions per mile while installing a lower aspect ration, say 245/30R19 tires on the same rim would have 814 revolutions per mile... so and indicated 100kph would mean you’re actually travelling at 96kph. The error would be much larger (and your actual speed would be much lower than indicated) if you went from a 245/60R17 to a 245/35R17 on the original 17” rim (100kph indicated, 83kph actual)

... You can go lower still with rubber but the real problem is damage to rims and suspension from hitting gutters through gross compression of the tyre (been there, done that)...

Lower profile tyres does not automatically mean rim damage if your using appropriate factory rims which are generally built to a higher standard than many after market or counterfeit rims available. See below for a slow motion of what actually happens with some genuine looking forged wheels

 

[Clay1391]

Golly.....I'm running 38 on mine.

What are your wear patterns like ?

Actually good, I think Max psi on them is only 40 anyway.

 

[Clay1391]

Getting some falken avenis fk510 put on today. Should be a big difference from my current setup of kinforest tubeless