Modern Wheel Size

[DT36]

Was pottering around the garage earlier and then sat out the front to take a phone call. Got looking at the wheels on my car and realised how much they have changed on daily drivers. 

Think some cars started going up to 14" in the 80s. I'm sure my Mk1 Astra GTE had them. Then 15" seemed the norm in the 90s and I had them on my BMW520.

Had mostly work cars on the 2000s which I think had gone to around 17" and our other daily were generally Astra SRIs or GTCs which were also 17".

However, standard seems to be going bigger again now, even as a standard option. 

Out of curiosity I thought I'd do a comparison just to see the difference over the years of a medium size family car. 

Bonkers. 

[colr6]

Same applies to the tyre profile, started off at 80 now think we are down to 40/45 or even less !

[eeb43]

4 minutes ago, colr6 said:

Same applies to the tyre profile, started off at 80 now think we are down to 40/45 or even less !

seen 30s! arsehole things to change

[notenoughtime]

Audi A5 etc run 21s now with 35 profile 

[Vista]

255/35/20 on my daily but some models have 22" I think. 

[Vista]

3 hours ago, dt36 said:

Was pottering around the garage earlier and then sat out the front to take a phone call. Got looking at the wheels on my car and realised how much they have changed on daily drivers. 

Think some cars started going up to 14" in the 80s. I'm sure my Mk1 Astra GTE had them. Then 15" seemed the norm in the 90s and I had them on my BMW520.

Had mostly work cars on the 2000s which I think had gone to around 17" and our other daily were generally Astra SRIs or GTCs which were also 17".

However, standard seems to be going bigger again now, even as a standard option. 

Out of curiosity I thought I'd do a comparison just to see the difference over the years of a medium size family car. 

Bonkers. 

Medium sized family car? Is that parked somewhere else then? 😉

[Rally Pack 2000]

Did the wheel fall off the RS and roll down the driveway?

[katana]

Stands to reason really - bigger, fatter, heavier cars, need bigger dia wheels for aesthetics but those give the bonus of bigger brakes needed for the lard arse vehicles! The weird thing is the pinnacle of motorsport - F1 - has stuck with 13" rims and only next year (2021) will switch to 18" - still way behind the curve but a vast transformation for that sport! 

[Munch]

I thought I'd take a picture of an old 13" wheel with 185/70 tyres on next to a Porsche wheel 19" 295/30. In the flesh the difference is huuuuge! I measured the discs on the Porsche and they are bigger than the escort wheel!

[notenoughtime]

On 10/04/2020 at 08:46, katana said:

Stands to reason really - bigger, fatter, heavier cars, need bigger dia wheels for aesthetics but those give the bonus of bigger brakes needed for the lard arse vehicles! The weird thing is the pinnacle of motorsport - F1 - has stuck with 13" rims and only next year (2021) will switch to 18" - still way behind the curve but a vast transformation for that sport! 

What size tyres are they going to run, will be weird if they are on 30 profile lol 

[katana]

10 hours ago, notenoughtime said:

What size tyres are they going to run, will be weird if they are on 30 profile lol 

Draw your own conclusions? No where near 30 profile maybe 50/60? But still liable to change as things evolve. These don't look as good as the initial renderings - sort of half way house - Renault in tyre testing . . . . . . . .

[Vista]

10 hours ago, katana said:

Draw your own conclusions? No where near 30 profile maybe 50/60? But still liable to change as things evolve. These don't look as good as the initial renderings - sort of half way house - Renault in tyre testing . . . . . . . .

Wicked innit, some real bling rims! 

Next they'll be able to fit those well cool spinning centres that keep rotating when the car stops!