https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/08/can-we-please-just-go-back-to-using-smaller-wheels-and-tires/ Skip to main content * Biz & IT * Tech * Science * Policy * Cars * Gaming & Culture * Store * Forums Subscribe [ ] Close Navigate * Store * Subscribe * Videos * Features * Reviews * RSS Feeds * Mobile Site * About Ars * Staff Directory * Contact Us * Advertise with Ars * Reprints Filter by topic * Biz & IT * Tech * Science * Policy * Cars * Gaming & Culture * Store * Forums Settings Front page layout Grid List Site theme light dark Sign in remember when 18s were huge? -- Can we please just go back to using smaller wheels and tires? And now, a rant about wheels and tires that are too big. Jonathan M. Gitlin - Aug 15, 2023 5:28 pm UTC A flat tire on a Hyundai Ioniq 5 Enlarge / Sigh. Not only are the 225/45/R20 tires easy to puncture, they're not cheap. Smaller wheels would ride better and provide better efficiency. Jonathan Gitlin reader comments 265 with On Friday afternoon, I popped out of the house to run a quick errand. This week's press fleet car is a Hyundai Ioniq 5, a boxy, angular, and efficient electric vehicle. I never quite made it to my intended destination, though; a very slightly misjudged corner--at low speed--saw me clip the curb with the back right wheel, resulting in a dime-sized hole in the sidewall and a frustrating couple of hours. Needless to say, there is no spare tire in an Ioniq 5, nor a can of get-you-home foam, not that it would have helped in this instance. But I can't help thinking all that stress could have been avoided if the car used smaller wheels and higher profile tires. Of all the current automotive trends, the ever-increasing size of wheels and tires may be my least favorite. If you're middle-aged, you've probably been driving for a couple of decades now, during which time smaller wheel sizes have been disappearing even faster than the honey bees. Just try finding good 14-inch tires for an older Miata, for example. Or even 15s. The increasing popularity of crossovers and SUVs is largely to blame, though not entirely. So, too, is the move to battery electric vehicles, which is ironic considering that increasing wheel size very clearly hurts efficiency and range, the two main considerations for many EV buyers. Why are wheels and tires getting bigger? A big reason wheels are getting bigger is due to a car's proportions. Take the Ioniq 5, for example--it's pretty much the same shape as a 1980s Lancia Delta, but overall it's actually 20 percent larger. The Italian hatchback came with 16- or sometimes 17-inch wheels, and to maintain the same proportions, the Hyundai is fitted with either 19- or 20-inch wheels. Advertisement "I don't think any designer, actually, naturally wants to do a tall car unless they're doing a Bronco or Defender," explained Julian Thompson, who was director of design at Jaguar until a couple of years ago, but perhaps best known for his design of the original Lotus Elise in the mid-90s (a design he just revisited for the Nyobolt EV). "I think the dream with electric car designs initially because they put the components, anywhere you wanted. The reality is [the battery] is a big, heavy slab which needs to sit, for the handling of the car, centrally in the car, and you know, in between the wheels, and as low as possible, and it will add height to the car so that's where we are at the moment," Thompson told me. Glaring examples of this trend are the Rolls-Royce Spectre, which rides on 23-inch wheels, or the just-revealed Cadillac Escalade IQ, which will use 24-inch wheels--formerly the preserve of the "donk." Max Missoni, head of design at Polestar, is another designer who thinks the trend is here to stay, at least for a while. "In the premium segment, I doubt [wheels will get smaller] unless it comes to projects like, let's say, our Project Zero," Missoni said, referring to the company's plan to build a truly carbon-neutral car by 2030. "But if you look at other segments, let's say small compact microcars in China, for example, electric ones, they have tiny wheels. I don't know if you've seen the Wuling and these kind of cars--it's like 13-inch or something. So I think it really depends on the segment you're looking at. "But since we have quite big batteries, long ranges, obviously then [more] weight as a result of it. Then you need bigger brakes, then you need bigger discs, and then you end up with slightly big wheels. But the combination of having fairly aerodynamic flat wheels, but then being at that size--that's a typical electrification thing we see now," Missoni told Ars. Page: 1 2 Next - reader comments 265 with Jonathan M. Gitlin Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC. Advertisement Promoted Comments [566219] Fabermetrics You forgot to mention the cosmetic cost of this large greeting surface for any and all friendly curbs and barriers. Hard to find a single large wheeled car in the lot that isnt scarred like a whale in a shipping lane. I assume part of this trend is the SUV driver's belief if they cant see something surely they can drive over it, but to be fair we all make mistakes. August 15, 2023 at 5:44 pm Channel Ars Technica - Previous story Next story - Related Stories Today on Ars * Store * Subscribe * About Us * RSS Feeds * View Mobile Site * Contact Us * Staff * Advertise with us * Reprints Newsletter Signup Join the Ars Orbital Transmission mailing list to get weekly updates delivered to your inbox. Sign me up - CNMN Collection WIRED Media Group (c) 2023 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 1/1 /20) and Ars Technica Addendum (effective 8/21/2018). Ars may earn compensation on sales from links on this site. Read our affiliate link policy. Your California Privacy Rights | [privacyopt] Do Not Sell My Personal Information The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. Ad Choices