Low and High profile tire + Wide and Narrow tire - Effects on Performance

00:00 Question to be answered
00:35 Comparison Low and High profile tyre
00:46 High profile tyre advantages and disadvantages
01:17 Low profile tyre advantages and disadvantages
01:48 Effect of the width of tyre (wide and narrow)
02:49 Tyre width and aerodynamics connection
03:30 Wheel contact patch in Heavy vehicle & adjustment
03:55 Wide tyre on not so sports cars
04:20 Outro

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[faizanraza]

it was hard to hear him but he actually taught me something

[celeron]

Low profile tires also allow installing larger brakes, which is important in sports cars as larger brakes heat up less and thus maintain better braking performance when being used a lot without sufficient time for cooling.

[_J.P._]

There is also a big issue not adressed in the video: Unsprung mass

Bigger rim diameter will add unsprung mass which has a negative effect on the power output of your car. You can compensate for that by using lighter wheels. Lighter because even same size rims from different manufacturers DO NOT weight the same. To get the best and most of your low profile setup you HAVE TO consider and compare wheel and rim combination. Even tyres do not weight the same. The less your combo weight will be the better your fuel economy and power output is going to be. If you ever experienced the feeling that your smaller rims allow you to go faster then your bigger ones (winter vs summer setup for example) then this is exactly the situation. Smaller rims and tyres usually weight less.

And then there are multiple other factors to consider. Like tyre stretching. If you want little to no tyre deformation when cornering to give you the most control over your car behavior you can stretch your tyres a bit. The more you stretch them the more precise they will react to any changes deviating from a straight forward movement. You can overstretch your tyres as well leaving your car easy to drift. Cool if that is your aim but not so cool if that is not your main goal (as it may easily send you off the road into some ditch).

Another thing to consider is your suspension. The stiffer yours is the more control it will give you. The softer it is the more forgiving it is. It highly depends on your target. What your aim is. You can have big wheels with soft suspension but also with stiff suspension. You can have the same with small wheels. Each combination will give you some benefits and some drawbacks as well.

It is not hard to understand it completely and then look for legal (and reasonable) alternatives to your current car setup but it is definetly wise to resarch first and try later.

[RajVeerEkSoch]

I was planning to change the 15'' alloy to 17'' alloy tiers but after watching your video I feel comfortable with the existing 15'' alloy tiers. Thank you...

[Jaisean]

“Performance is always more important than aesthetics”
Me: *looking through the corner of my eye after putting sports tire on my 1997 Toyota* 👀

[minentlemakaula]

I've watched tons of 20 minutes videos about this on YouTube and this guy just taught me everything in 4 minutes. I guess the memes are true

[vincentgeorgeranola]

The handling of low profile tires is much harder than stock tires. You can almost feel the concrete road in low profile tires versus the stock tires which offer a smooth & comfortable ride.

[A_Cowboy_called_JackRabbit]

I had a '96 Accord EX F22b1/5spd some years back, and if anybody remembers the factory 15"x5.5" wheels, they were HEAVY. The 195/60-15 tires were barely adequate for the way I drove, especially with the car's 3009lb curb weight, so I replaced them with 17"x7" wheels, 215/45-17 tires, and the difference was night and day. The new setup was about 20% lighter, rode WAY better, and even though they were roughly ¼" taller, which dropped highway revs by about 200 (no advantage to dropped revs on the 145hp 2.2l), I got better mileage, most likely due to the weight savings. To take it up another notch, I installed adjustable ball joints, since the original ones were starting to show wear, and replaced all sway bar bushings with polyurethane. Cornering was much better, as was braking, but to take up some of the space around those tiny brakes, I switched the front calipers & discs to those from the station wagon, along with braided stainless hoses, and slightly more aggressive EBC brake pads. From there, my car had better manners, and braking than was ever intended, making my everyday sedan a LOT more fun to drive.

[masonk]

A big factor in traction is also the treadwear rating on the tire ( higher number = less traction and more life, the lower the number = better traction and less life)

[andreysmirnov]

Great Video! I believe one thing can be added. Narrow tires INCREASE grip on loose surfaces, because they dig in much quicker. When a car is driving on a dirt (or snow) road, there's typically a layer of uncompacted soil (or snow) on top, a car basically floats on that layer, having next to no grip. A narrow tire with large treads will quickly throw away all that soil and grip to a much more dense layer beneath it. What's more, according to the law of conservation of momentum, soil launched rearwards by the car propells that car forward. I recommend checking out some footage from rally racing to see how that works. Rally cars spend most of their life is a slide to get more grip by digging in as fast as possible. And their dirt and snow(especially snow) tires are very narrow, too.

[patrickvalmont]

Despite being a bit difficult to understand, all points valid. Low profile on generic cars is merely aesthetics which I see a lot in my country. As for me I will stay with my stock tyres as I rather keep performance and security in check

[siegfriedschudel]

Absolutely agree / car manufacturers know, which tires are the best 👍

[ElGrandeIngenio]

another thing to consider is total mass or the wheel, as rotating mass is more significant and smaller rims usually result in lower rotating weight on the vehicle as tires are in general lighter than even most alloy wheels, making the vehicle more nimble

[ojwilliams]

I wish I saw this video 2 weeks ago before I fitted new tires but thankfully I think I got the perfect purpose fitment anyway. Great video

[mydreaminorbit]

So that's why some heavy vehicles have a set of tires that are floating. This video was very insightful.

[nonosnow]

This has been one of the most helpful/ informational videos I’ve ever watched on this subject, thank you

[weuder]

Previous owner of my toyota corolla -95 had changed wide low profile(195/50 r15) tires to the car. Didnt realise how terrible they are, before i switched to manufactor recomended tire(175/65 r14). What a difference in handling, noise and drivability on uneven surfaces!

[korswe]

That Model S in your video is my car with 21” wheels. LOL. I’ve had my share of flat tires, so I switched them out for 19” wheels. I’m a happier camper now.

[pokemon]

I changed from wider tires to stock tires and the handling of my car is much better. Civic VIII has stiff suspension so before the change i could feel every single bump in the road. Now its much better and driving the car is pure joy. Good vid.

[eduardosanchez]

I fully understand the theory explained in this video, but reality is that most UHP tire are wider than their touring counterparts. If you switch from standard or touring tires to Ultra High High Performance summer tires with a slightly wider and lower profile size you will definitely feel a big performance difference. It’s mostly a matter of the compound and tread pattern, but in the end you get a big boost in performance.