Are you thinking about switching out your vehicle’s wheels for something a little bigger? Larger wheels can affect your car’s appearance, mileage and stability. Consider these pros and cons before changing your wheels.
Visual Impact
If you’re looking to make a big visual impact, consider buying big wheels. Make sure to do you research, however, before buying a set of wheels. Bigger wheels are more expensive and if you make the wrong decision, you could be out of a good amount of cash. In addition, if you get wheels that are not made to fit your car, you could damage the vehicle. If you’re not sure how the wheels are going to look on your vehicle, you can look up images of the same make and model of your vehicle sporting some big wheels. When you go buy your wheels, don’t go for your first choice right away or the cheapest choice either. Be smart and save up for a set of wheels that fit your car and driving habits.
Less Miles Per Gallon
Bigger wheels mean heavier wheels, and heavy wheels force your engine to work harder and use up more gas. How much gas you use will be dependent on the strength of your engine. The loss in miles per gallon will be more apparent if your car has a smaller engine. These engines are not made to handle big, heavy wheels. In addition, you could potentially ruin your engine or reduce the car’s longevity. If you’re worries about increased fuel consumption, avoid buying bigger wheels.
Improved Stability
Small wheels can certainly be cheaper than bigger wheels, but they’re not good for stability. Due to their decreased width and tendency to curve in the corners, smaller tires do not make a lot of contact on the road and decrease stability greatly. If you switch to bigger tires, you’ll notice the increased stability quickly. The main reason? A wider tire makes more contact on the road. The stiffness of these big wheels, as the low-profile of them doesn’t flex in the corners as much, also contributes to better stability.
Not sure if those big tires are going to better your Mercedes-Benz? Talk to one of our Mercedes-Benz experts at Silver Star Motors. We can discuss your tire options and make suggestions that fits your vehicle and lifestyle.
