Has anyone upgraded their rims on FFH?

[CaliforniaLove11]

Hey guys, I just placed an order for a metallic white on black fusion hybrid. I wanted to upgrade to the 18 inch rims available as an option on the sport model but unfortunately the dealer told me this wasn't an option :(

 

I was wondering if anyone here has changed the wheels on their FFH? I'm not sure the best way to go about it as I'm probably going to have to purchase a whole new set altogether and just sell the ones it comes with.

 

Any suggestions, tips, pics, w/e would be greatly appreciated!

[bbf2530]

Hey guys, I just placed an order for a metallic white on black fusion hybrid. I wanted to upgrade to the 18 inch rims available as an option on the sport model but unfortunately the dealer told me this wasn't an option :(

 

I was wondering if anyone here has changed the wheels on their FFH? I'm not sure the best way to go about it as I'm probably going to have to purchase a whole new set altogether and just sell the ones it comes with.

 

Any suggestions, tips, pics, w/e would be greatly appreciated!

 

Hi Californialove. :D A few things to keep in mind while contemplating this switch: For fuel economy purposes, the FFH wheel is designed as a lighter weight wheel (wheel weight is very important in both fuel mileage and handling) and a more aerodynamic design package. So, putting another wheel on your FFH will likely result in lower MPG's.

 

Additionally, if you decide to sell them do not expect to get much for them. The only buyers would likely be other FFH owners, and not many of them would be looking for that style wheel unless they had damaged one of their own.

 

If you want to find what will fit your car, I would recommend the online tools at The Tire Rack LINK: The Tire Rack. They have an interactive tool that will actually superimpose different wheel choices on a Fusion (or any car). Very nice tool to see how a wheel may look on your car.

 

Not trying to talk you out of it, just provide a heads up.

 

Whatever you decide to do, good luck. :beerchug:

[skluck]

I have the same thought as you. I do not have my FFH yet, but when I do I plan on asking the dealer the weight difference between the 18" SAPs, 17" SELs and FFH rims. Depending on that difference, and how many limbs they want to charge me, I may have them swap them out. They told me I'd get a credit for the FFH rims.

 

If not, I'll use the standard rims as winter wheels, and get some nicer ones off tirerack.

[cuehara]

Just to add to that, the TPMS system can make arbitrary rim replacement a little more complicated, since the pressure monitoring sensor is in the wheel. If that gets overlooked, you'll probably get a low tire pressure warning on your dash, which is annoying.

[Oman]

I don't think there is a dealer tool for the FFH to change the wheel size programming, which there is for the other models. Ford REALLY doesn't want you changing the wheels. What that means is your speedo will be off, your miles traveled will be off, and your mileage will be off if you change the rim size (and don't use a tire that replicates the original wheel/tire rolling diameter perfectly)

 

The increased drag with a sport wheel is pretty significant at hwy speeds too.

 

 

Jon

 

 

I have the same thought as you. I do not have my FFH yet, but when I do I plan on asking the dealer the weight difference between the 18" SAPs, 17" SELs and FFH rims. Depending on that difference, and how many limbs they want to charge me, I may have them swap them out. They told me I'd get a credit for the FFH rims.

 

If not, I'll use the standard rims as winter wheels, and get some nicer ones off tirerack.

[skluck]

Lower profile tires are used on larger rims, so the difference in the speedometer rating is negligible if not nonexistent. An example of this is the SAP wheels. Ford doesn't reprogram the speedo on cars that get the 18" wheels.

 

IMO any increase in rolling resistance is worth it, the hybrid rims are grotesque. I'm mainly concerned about weight, because that has a noticeable impact on acceleration and overall performance. I've already compared the weight of all the OEM tires and the difference is maybe 1lb per tire.

[BearCat]

LIMO any increase in rolling resistance is worth it, the hybrid rims are grotesque. I'm mainly concerned about weight, because that has a noticeable impact on acceleration and overall performance. I've already compared the weight of all the OEM tires and the difference is maybe 1lb per tire.

 

I cant agree more. I understand the need to make it as MPG friendly as possible but great googly moogly. U G L Y rims..

 

I would be HIGHLY curious to have someone weigh a rim/tire and then at least we can look up the tire weight on a place like tire rack to back calculate the rim weight. I honestly dont expect there to be a huge difference, if at all. Those rims have been available on the milan for a while.

 

Plus while helping my MIL look for a new car I was told that the Milan S/Fusion S have "special" tires (versus the smaller diameter rim) that cause the increase of EPA 3 MPG (31 versus 34). I was thinking it was the 16" versus the 17" or greater.

[rfruth]

The stock rims look fine to me, granted they don't have that wow would you look at that effect but its not worth the time / expense & hassle of changing them out but hey beauty is in the eye of the beholder so YMMV

[smr2112]

Ignoring the rims for a sec, has anybody considered changing the tires?

To something else same size.

 

Guess we'll need a 1 winter season before people start complaining too much,

for mild snow, I am guessing they will just be "ok".

 

How many different brands of "low rolling resistance" tires are there and do

you have to give up decent wet/snow traction to get that feature?

[Oman]

I'm in Minnesota so the snow performance of the tire is of great interest to me. The tread pattern and depth is relatively standard for the mfgr so the question is (I think) how the rubber performs in the cold. The low RR tires are supposed to have a different compound. I would hate to have to use snows again...

 

Full hybrids in general are supposed to be a bit harder to deal with in the snow. I think it has to do with the way they handle slip, but I'm not sure since I have not had a Winter yet to see for myself.

 

Time will tell.

 

And to get back on topic, the rims are supposed to have several design features that reduce drag, I'm not talking about rolling resistance, rather aero-drag. I understand Ford spent a bunch of money and R&D time on the wheels. I'm sure they would have preferred to use a stock wheel if they could. My guess is that they squeezed 5 or so Hwy MPG out of them. There are three factors in regards to MPG that the wheel/tire can influence: Weight, rolling resistance, and areo-drag. The more efficient the vehicle gets the more important slight increases in any of these areas become.

 

Jon

 

 

 

 

Ignoring the rims for a sec, has anybody considered changing the tires?

To something else same size.

 

Guess we'll need a 1 winter season before people start complaining too much,

for mild snow, I am guessing they will just be "ok".

 

How many different brands of "low rolling resistance" tires are there and do

you have to give up decent wet/snow traction to get that feature?

[Whitehotfuse]

Just as a reference, I changed the wheels and tires on my Prius to something that looked MUCH better with Goodyear Triple Treads and I took about a 5mpg hit on the mileage. I guess it just depends on what's most important.