17 versus 16" tires

[CmelChappy]

Am considering swapping my 2010 Fusion 17" wheels and tires for the standard 16." Has anyone done this either way, from 16" to 17" or visa versa. Have seen adds for new foreign cars that offer the standard 16" for the "comfort minded." Want to know how the change in size affects softness of the ride. Should be able to get an even trade as I understand the aluminum 17" wheels are more desireable. I live in a town with the worst streets ever and little hope for improvement.

[DaveM]

Am considering swapping my 2010 Fusion 17" wheels and tires for the standard 16." Has anyone done this either way, from 16" to 17" or visa versa. Have seen adds for new foreign cars that offer the standard 16" for the "comfort minded." Want to know how the change in size affects softness of the ride. Should be able to get an even trade as I understand the aluminum 17" wheels are more desireable. I live in a town with the worst streets ever and little hope for improvement.

The 15" should have a larger sidewall which should give you more give on the potholes also usually require less air too.

[Rodeo]

The 15" should have a larger sidewall which should give you more give on the potholes also usually require less air too.

But the trade off is they will handle "less" then the other tires would have. The higher profile will generally equate to a slight reduction in how well the tires handle. You may not appreciate that if say you are in those potholes only 5% of your time and on the highway 70% of your time and on good streets 25% of your time.

[CmelChappy]

But the trade off is they will handle "less" then the other tires would have. The higher profile will generally equate to a slight reduction in how well the tires handle. You may not appreciate that if say you are in those potholes only 5% of your time and on the highway 70% of your time and on good streets 25% of your time.

About 50% of my driving is city driving and our streets are littered with manhole covers and other imperfections that cause two or three jolts a block which get to me after a few miles. On the highway, the ride is really great including going around corners and I can live with a few stiff jolts. I had hopes that fatter tires would absorb some of the smaller bumps in town.

If I traded for smaller rims, are all late model Focus and Fusion rims interchangeable?

[Oman]

My local dealer said they are no longer allowing or supporting changing the wheels out on the new hybrids. People purchase replacement wheels then complain about the mileage. Depending on the combo they are saying there can be a pretty big drop. The wheel is aerodynamically matched to the body. I had inquired about possibly purchasing Winter rubber. They will put snows on the same wheels but they won't put any other wheel on the car.

 

Jon

 

 

About 50% of my driving is city driving and our streets are littered with manhole covers and other imperfections that cause two or three jolts a block which get to me after a few miles. On the highway, the ride is really great including going around corners and I can live with a few stiff jolts. I had hopes that fatter tires would absorb some of the smaller bumps in town.

If I traded for smaller rims, are all late model Focus and Fusion rims interchangeable?

[Waldo]

My local dealer said they are no longer allowing or supporting changing the wheels out on the new hybrids. People purchase replacement wheels then complain about the mileage. Depending on the combo they are saying there can be a pretty big drop. The wheel is aerodynamically matched to the body. I had inquired about possibly purchasing Winter rubber. They will put snows on the same wheels but they won't put any other wheel on the car.

 

Jon

 

That's a bunch of BS that isn't true. The FFH wheel is not "aerodynamically matched to the body". The rolling resistance difference between tires is at least 100x greater than the effect of wheel aerodynamics on fuel economy anyway.

 

I guarantee that putting 17in winter tires on the stock wheels will reduce fuel economy by a lot more than putting the base factory 16in wheels/tires on the car.

[twiggy144]

That's a bunch of BS that isn't true. The FFH wheel is not "aerodynamically matched to the body". The rolling resistance difference between tires is at least 100x greater than the effect of wheel aerodynamics on fuel economy anyway.

 

I guarantee that putting 17in winter tires on the stock wheels will reduce fuel economy by a lot more than putting the base factory 16in wheels/tires on the car.

 

 

I agree 100%

[Oman]

My guess is that someone wanted "bling" wheels on the car and had them changed out. The dealer has quite a selection. A larger open rim *will* increase drag, and in this car any extra drag will drop your mileage. Rolling resistance is linear and aero-drag is exponential. So before you call "BS" on everything you might want to consider that the possibility exists. I doubt that a good closed rim with a 1" difference and similar weight will change much, but that doesn't mean that you can't cause issues.

 

Jon

 

 

I agree 100%

[Oman]

My guess is that someone wanted "bling" wheels on the car and had them changed out. The dealer has quite a selection. A larger open rim *will* increase drag, and in this car any extra drag will drop your mileage. Rolling resistance is linear and aero-drag is exponential. So before you call "BS" on everything you might want to consider that the possibility exists. I doubt that a good closed rim with a 1" difference and similar weight will change much, but that doesn't mean that you can't cause issues.

 

Jon

 

 

I agree 100%

[rfruth]

The dealership I used has a aftermarket (my term) group (they offer things like alarm systems, window tint, rubber floor mats, custom rims etc.) they have a corner of the showroom, when I took delivery the salesperson took me over there (in the hope that I could be separated from some more money) - anyway they had rims, lots of rims - I was immediately told that non stock rims wouldn't work on a FFH, I told the aftermarket gal to relax, I didn't have any intrest in rims but asked what the big deal was and she said almost what Jon said, people swap out rims, mileage drops and or performance suffers then they complain - most people here know about trade-offs, aerodynamic drag etc. but the general public doesn't know that theres a difference between the rim and tire they just want eye candy.

[junehhan]

The dealership I used has a aftermarket (my term) group (they offer things like alarm systems, window tint, rubber floor mats, custom rims etc.) they have a corner of the showroom, when I took delivery the salesperson took me over there (in the hope that I could be separated from some more money) - anyway they had rims, lots of rims - I was immediately told that non stock rims wouldn't work on a FFH, I told the aftermarket gal to relax, I didn't have any intrest in rims but asked what the big deal was and she said almost what Jon said, people swap out rims, mileage drops and or performance suffers then they complain - most people here know about trade-offs, aerodynamic drag etc. but the general public doesn't know that theres a difference between the rim and tire they just want eye candy.

 

 

Ok, so who is going to be the first Fusion Hybrid owner to put chrome plated "dubs" with rubber band sized tires on their car? :sos:

[Waldo]

My guess is that someone wanted "bling" wheels on the car and had them changed out. The dealer has quite a selection. A larger open rim *will* increase drag, and in this car any extra drag will drop your mileage. Rolling resistance is linear and aero-drag is exponential. So before you call "BS" on everything you might want to consider that the possibility exists. I doubt that a good closed rim with a 1" difference and similar weight will change much, but that doesn't mean that you can't cause issues.

 

Jon

 

I don't need to consider the possibility because I've seen the aero data on the Fusion Hybrid wheel and I know that it's not significantly different than a normal wheel.

 

In fact the wheel was originally designed to be used on the regular Milan, but when they went with the steel/plastic cover wheel they decided to save the "special" wheel for the Hybrid, purely for marketing reasons.

 

Again, tire rolling resistance has the potential for a much bigger difference in fuel mileage then wheel aerodynamics.

[WAFFH]

I don't need to consider the possibility because I've seen the aero data on the Fusion Hybrid wheel and I know that it's not significantly different than a normal wheel.

 

In fact the wheel was originally designed to be used on the regular Milan, but when they went with the steel/plastic cover wheel they decided to save the "special" wheel for the Hybrid, purely for marketing reasons.

 

Again, tire rolling resistance has the potential for a much bigger difference in fuel mileage then wheel aerodynamics.

 

Would you be so kind to put a link on the "aero data on the FFH wheel"?

[Oman]

I'm an engineer and data is king. I don't have much on the FFH specifically myself, I'm just reporting what the dealer has said.

 

In general however the common formula is 5% aero drag and 15% rolling resistance for an average car in stop-and-go traffic (this is cited a number of times including the NTSB mileage fomulas). Rolling resistance stays the same per unit traveled and increases linearly for the speed. Aero drag however increases exponentially as speed increases linearly. Rolling resistance is nearly 100% tire but aero-drag is all of the car components that come into contact with the air. So it certainly seems logical that the wheels wouldn't make much difference in the big picture, but for some reason the dealers seem to be getting pretty persnickety on this point. Maybe Ford is pushing them to refuse customization on the hybrids to keep their numbers from getting hurt.

 

Jon

 

 

I don't need to consider the possibility because I've seen the aero data on the Fusion Hybrid wheel and I know that it's not significantly different than a normal wheel.

 

In fact the wheel was originally designed to be used on the regular Milan, but when they went with the steel/plastic cover wheel they decided to save the "special" wheel for the Hybrid, purely for marketing reasons.

 

Again, tire rolling resistance has the potential for a much bigger difference in fuel mileage then wheel aerodynamics.

[CmelChappy]

But the trade off is they will handle "less" then the other tires would have. The higher profile will generally equate to a slight reduction in how well the tires handle. You may not appreciate that if say you are in those potholes only 5% of your time and on the highway 70% of your time and on good streets 25% of your time.

Would swapping my FFH 17" aluminum wheels and tires for 16" have an adverse effect on the used value of my car. It would be quite obvious to most buyers and perhaps have a negative impact at selling time. I will be trading yearly and a small improvement in riding quality isn't worth a serious loss in resale value.

[akirby]

I will be trading yearly and a small improvement in riding quality isn't worth a serious loss in resale value.

 

If you're trading yearly then you must not be too concerned with resale value. Seriously - you should be leasing. Or just roll down the window and throw your money out as you drive.

[CmelChappy]

If you're trading yearly then you must not be too concerned with resale value. Seriously - you should be leasing. Or just roll down the window and throw your money out as you drive.

Have the funds to purchase a new car each year out of interest income. I'd rather spend it than let it push me into an increasingly higher tax bracket for Obama to wallow in. I haven't made car payments for years. When I purchased my FFH, I was informed that the interest would be well over three thousand dollars and that is what I call throwing my money out the window as I drive.

[akirby]

Have the funds to purchase a new car each year out of interest income. I'd rather spend it than let it push me into an increasingly higher tax bracket for Obama to wallow in. I haven't made car payments for years. When I purchased my FFH, I was informed that the interest would be well over three thousand dollars and that is what I call throwing my money out the window as I drive.

 

You could do the exact same thing with a one year prepaid lease - except you wouldn't have to put out any money up front. You could use the interest to make the monthly lease payments. But hey - it's your money.

[Rex362]

15's will give you better soft ride .....

 

more cush between rim and ground

 

what a difference it made on my last car bmw

 

went for 17's to 15's .....drove like a Lincoln (Forgetaboutit)

[silver FFH]

In early December I mounted 16" Michelin X-Ice Xi2 snow tires on my wife's FFH. These tires are mounted on steel rims without wheel covers. So they are not very aerodynamic.

 

We have driven about 1500 to 2000 miles on this combination and although our MPG's have dropped it is less than 2 MPG overall. We drive the FFH like a regular car and were getting about 36 MPG overall before the snows went on. Currently we are getting 34 -35 MPG. I should also note that it has been below 20º F for the last 2-3 weeks and we do most of our FFH driving on surface roads, so aerodynamics will not be as much of a factor. If you are one of those annoying hypermilers you may see more of a differential than we do.

 

As far as the ride, I really don't notice that much of a difference in handling or ride softness but the feel of this car is so muted compared to my Mazda3 that I probably just don't feel the difference.