If you like a comfortable ride, there are a few things you can do to help find one when you head to the car dealership to test drive cars.
Follow us today...
If you are headed to a car dealership to test drive new cars, be aware that many of today's cars will offer a surprisingly harsh ride. Over bumps, they will be uncomfortable and loud. This is the unfortunate result of style and taste decisions being made by automakers to make the vehicles they offer look better in their eye.
Low Profile Tires
The main issue is tires. Tire technology has evolved and almost every tire on almost every new vehicle today is a "low profile tire." The term refers to a tire that has a very short sidewall. The distance between the ground and the rim of the wheel is very small compared to traditional tires. And because it is very short, it needs to be very stiff to prevent the rim from contacting the ground and to offer the support needed to hold up the tire. This is a layman's description of the way it works, but accurate.
If you are shopping for a top trim of whatever model you like, you will find that the manufacturer has "up-sized" the wheels. If the base trim used 16-inch rims, the top trim may have 18-inch or even 20-inch rims. The tires, of course, will also have a larger diameter. Automakers don't want to fiddle with having multiple speedometer and ABS setting in a given model, so they keep the outer diameter of the tire the same on all trims. They do that by making the sidewall of the base trim taller and the top-trim shorter. This allows the automaker to have multiple wheel packages that all cover the same distance in one revolution. Make sense?
The result of this is that the base trim will ride more comfortably. There is more tire sidewall to absorb impacts over potholes and road imperfections. Sadly, automakers advertise the larger diameter wheels as if they are a benefit. In fact, they are the exact opposite for all daily-use passenger cars and crossovers, and taller wheels and tires are a detriment to the use of any truck or SUV off-road.
Another promotional method all automakers use is packaging features into the higher trims. If you want power-adjustable seats, you won't be able to find them in a base model. instead, you will have to step up to a higher trim and thus, you will get the taller wheels and lower profile tires.
These lower-profile tires are not just a problem for comfort. They are also more susceptible to damage. We once destroyed the low-profile sidewall of a rough-and-ready SUV that the manufacturer advertised blasting through virgin snow in a forest. We destroyed the tire in a parking lot pothole that was nothing special. Just a normal spring road imperfection. And were driving at a walking pace.
Related Story: We put BMW run-flat tires to the test and give them a thumbs-down
How To Avoid Low Profile Tires
You can't avoid low profile tires altogether, but you can avoid the worst of them. Our suggestion is to try the trim one step down from the top-trim. In many cases, the rim and tire diameter can be one or two inches smaller. That will give you a better ride. In many cases, there are packages that allow you to add back some features to the second from the top trim to come pretty close to the content of the top special trim. Just be sure doing so does not also add in the useless larger diameter tires.
Related Story: Subaru STI owner furious after dash cam shows mechanics aiming for potholes
Some ultra-high-performance sports cars make sense with very low profile tires. The tiny differences in handling and braking gained by the super-low profile tires are important to those buyers who imagine themselves on a racetrack. For the rest of us living in reality, these low profile tires add almost nothing to the pleasure of driving cars to work, or even on a lonely country road.
Does your car have low profile tires that are ruining your ride? Tell us in the comments below what you have found.
John Goreham is a life-long car nut and recovering engineer. John's focus areas are technology, safety, and green vehicles. In the 1990s, he was part of a team that built a solar-electric vehicle from scratch. His was the role of battery thermal control designer. For 20 years he applied his engineering and sales talents in the high tech world and published numerous articles in technical journals such as Chemical Processing Magazine. In 2008 he retired from that career and dedicated himself to chasing his dream of being an auto writer. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American newspapers and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin.
Images by John Goreham. Re-use with permission only.
Follow us today...
This is so true. I abhor the
This is so true. I abhor the large wheel, low-profile tire design that is infesting most vehicles today. On my current car, once my stock tires wear out, I'll invest in smaller rims and an appropriately matched tire, taking care to keep the overall diameter the same. For a new car, I'd likely just have the dealership install the smallest rims that can be fitted along with appropriate tires and get whatever trim level I want. When I recently bought a new Bolt, I was surprised to find the tire noise quite prominent compared to my S10 pickup, which I still have. I scrutinized this carefully at all speeds to eliminate any bias from general engine noise. The S10 tires, with much wider sidewalls and a different tread design, are unmistakably much quieter, while the Bolt tires are relatively loud, even at low speeds, much of this likely due to the narrow sidewalls.
since posting on here
since posting on here previously about this low profile tyres madness I written off another tyre on our abysmal roads here in the South East of England. I consider them to be a danger as I am now constantly on the lookout for potholes in front of my car when I should be looking further up the road. I have tried to find a new vehicle that has Led headlights but it appears they are only available on SEL models and on those you get the LPT'S, So in my opinion car safety is actually getting worse, not better
If the Ford Bronco Sport is
If the Ford Bronco Sport is available in your area check that out. Also, the Nissan Sentra is a car with normal profile tires on many of its lower trims. Cheers,
I leased a volvo s60 twice
I leased a volvo s60 twice and both times have had to change my low profile tires numerous times due to them going flat. I will think twice before ever getting a car with low profile tires again!
I own two Volvos a 2003 and a
I own two Volvos a 2003 and a 2015. The 2015 has low profile tires which are awful. I have had one blow out, I've had the wheels straightened because they were bent, I've had one wheel replaced because it had a crack in it, I've had numerous visits to the dealer for other tire issues. I have also written to Volvo USA to complain and ask them to rethink their decision on low-profile tires to no avail.