Does 19" wheels make sense?

[Konig]

I can totally understand when BMW Jaguar put 19" rims on their cars to create a bipolar sports sedan cum cruiser, but 19" on hyundai equus does not make sense to me at all. I thought its intended to be a luxury cruiser?

And whats the point of staggered wheel setup in here that only complicates efforts to rotate the tires while doesnt really help much in carving the road bends.

 

[TJPark01]

It's more visual than functional. Yes the staggered set up will help with under-steer at high speeds, but seriously who is going to drive like that is this car? I find that RWD cars wear tires much more evenly then FWD, but you're right more often then not rears and fronts aren't going to expire at the same rate, and not being able to rotate them only complicates matters. They figure if you can drop 60 large on a car you're not gonna care about swapping out some tires every few years.

 

[jwaters943]

It makes sense from the perspective that most buyers expect large wheels on a new luxury sedan. Plus, most vehicles have grown in size considerably over the past 2 decades so if they put 16" wheels on an Equus they would look puny. The sidewalls on the Equus' tires don't appear particularly small to me, so I'm sure it rides much better than say, a Lexus IS w/ 19" wheels, which would undoubtedly have smaller tire sidewalls.

 

[STREETS]

The lager side walls should help with the handling/comfort level. Larger wheels look nicer. Funny thing is wheel you see a car/truck with 22" or 24" without changing brake rotors- centrifugal force will eat the standard small rotors up.

Original Genesis Sedan was shown at Shows in 2008 with 20" rims mounted on Cooper tires.

 

[imperial4ever]

It makes sense from the perspective that most buyers expect large wheels on a new luxury sedan. Plus, most vehicles have grown in size considerably over the past 2 decades so if they put 16" wheels on an Equus they would look puny. The sidewalls on the Equus' tires don't appear particularly small to me, so I'm sure it rides much better than say, a Lexus IS w/ 19" wheels, which would undoubtedly have smaller tire sidewalls.

I would agree that for $60K atleast 19" inchs rims should be the norm. Hard to believe a 1988 Chrysler New Yorker had 14" inch rims! It seems like everyone is staggering the wheels/tires these days. My 08 Crossfire has 18" in the front and 19" in the rear. Looks cool but forget about tire rotation and those 255 R-19's in the rear are not cheap to replace.

BTW it looks like the EQuus will have some company in 2011-2012 with the return of the VW Phaeton. Price tag between $50 and $60K. Go figure.

http://www.netcarshow.com/volkswagen/2011-phaeton/

 

[Konig]

I would agree that for $60K atleast 19" inchs rims should be the norm. Hard to believe a 1988 Chrysler New Yorker had 14" inch rims! It seems like everyone is staggering the wheels/tires these days. My 08 Crossfire has 18" in the front and 19" in the rear. Looks cool but forget about tire rotation and those 255 R-19's in the rear are not cheap to replace.

BTW it looks like the EQuus will have some company in 2011-2012 with the return of the VW Phaeton. Price tag between $50 and $60K. Go figure.

http://www.netcarshow.com/volkswagen/2011-phaeton/

...........Since mercedes can cost $100k over how come 21" isnt the norm? I don't get this more expensive car must have bigger wheels idea. Why is America obsessed with BIG?]

I think 18" is the perfect compromise between handling and ride. Anything bigger is just a waste of fuel on a luxury cruiser since handling does not improve much but mileage can take a big hit.

 

[jwaters943]

You're thinking of this issue in black and white.

Depending on the car and the size of it's wheel wells you could have an 18" wheel w/ a 245/55/18 tire on one car and another with a 255/50/19. The sidewalls on these tires would be nearly identical. On top of that, the suspension tuning makes all the difference in the world. IMO 19" wheels are more a guarantee of poor ride quality, than 18" wheels are. While the S Class & 7 Series may come standard w/ 18" wheels, they have 19" and 20" wheels optional and many buyers opt for them. Obviously the Equus won't have quite the customization options of the Germans so they probably thought the 19s were a good compromise between looks and functionality.