Skinny and tall - why not?

[MakinDoForNow]

My only concern would be the speedo. Otherwise, I wish I went skinnier than 245s and opted for more sidewall.

Check but I believe someone posted that tire size and/or tire circumference could be entered with forscan to correct speedo. I think the car counts the revs of wheel maybe by each time tpms passes sensor (???) or some other way. Which tire is slipping(???).

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[Decayed]

You see this?

 

[Big Kahuna]

You see this?

That was an awesome video! Would love to see if he does MPG data in the next video.

 

[Maverickman74]

No rubbing issues yet? I really do like the size. I am thinking either 235/75s or 255/65s. With 235s I would gain a half inch of sidewall at the sacrifice of 3/4 inch of contact patch. We have alot of sandy beach driving here, but where there isnt sand its all hard craggy rock. Well I got alot of tread left to figure it out.

 

[Sjurgen]

Like I sort of mentioned before. Going wider isn’t the only way to increase the contact patch.

 

[Decayed]

That was an awesome video! Would love to see if he does MPG data in the next video.

Should be better if the skinnies are lighter. But you would really have to test it.

 

[Sjurgen]

If you really want to nerd out and go down the rabbit hole.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Should be better if the skinnies are lighter. But you would really have to test it.

If skinnies are same diameter yes because mass is less. If the mass and width of tire stays the same and diameter of tire is increased it will not have to be spun to the same rpm so it will travel the same distance with less rpm BUT since weight is further from the center it will take more energy to spin it to the lesser required rpm thus less mpg.

 

[Jman79]

Am I crazy? Looking for a taller tire but don’t want to sacrifice MPG with a wide one. I’m thinking of going tall and skinny like my old farm truck tires. Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT come in a 225/75/R17 size! 30.35 tall and 8.7 wide so 1.85 taller and 0.3 skinnier than the stock tire I have now. Tall skinny tires are great in the snow we get here. No idea what they would look like, no one has tried them yet. Would fill the wheel well better, no rubbing, and might not lose much mpg compared to the 9.5 tires many guys end up with. Crazy or not?

Not off at all. In fact for the last 20 years I've been wondering why the industry has leaned so wide for common cars. Seems like they gave up a lot of all weather performance searching for better handling in ideal conditions. My SUV with relatively wide tires handles much poorer over all than my old 88' camery with, by today's standards, what would be considered donuts.

I plan to replace the Maverick stock tires with skinnier models when they are ready for similar points to yours. My truck is never going to handle like a sports car anyway.

Only word of caution I'd have is, do you need to go taller or just skinnier and stay close to stock diameter? Keep your torque ratios and speedo the same. Too tall could mess with your torque on stop start and have mileage impact / longevity impact depending on your driving style. The gain of what, an inch or so ride height may not be worth it?

Anyway, post some picks and your experience what ever you decide. I'd love to know the real world breakdown of benefits or drawbacks to help me when the time comes.

 

[Decayed]

If skinnies are same diameter yes because mass is less. If the mass and width of tire stays the same and diameter of tire is increased it will not have to be spun to the same rpm so it will travel the same distance with less rpm BUT since weight is further from the center it will take more energy to spin it to the lesser required rpm thus less mpg.

That was exactly what I was thinking. the moment arm is longer. Real world testing is really the only way to tell for sure.

 

[Jman79]

If skinnies are same diameter yes because mass is less. If the mass and width of tire stays the same and diameter of tire is increased it will not have to be spun to the same rpm so it will travel the same distance with less rpm BUT since weight is further from the center it will take more energy to spin it to the lesser required rpm thus less mpg.

Absolutely, I mentioned torque effects in my post and this is what I was thinking. Though, I have a hunch, if real world tests were done that at highways speeds the additional circumference and distance traveled per RPM may equate to higher mileage evening it out .

That said, I'm going skinny but not too tall beyond stock. I don't believe that messing with the OEM torque would have benefits that out weight possible risks. I like to stomp my cars occasionally when merging etc. I don't feel like lessoning my low end torque and increasing trans strain by going too tall.

Awesome discussion so far! The point about forescan was awesome. I'd love to find a balance of the right additional circumference, wheel well clearance, stock torque, and a perfect speedo to boot

 

[Big Kahuna]

Absolutely, I mentioned torque effects in my post and this is what I was thinking. Though, I have a hunch, if real world tests were done that at highways speeds the additional circumference and distance traveled per RPM may equate to higher mileage evening it out .

That said, I'm going skinny but not too tall beyond stock. I don't believe that messing with the OEM torque would have benefits that out weight possible risks. I like to stomp my cars occasionally when merging etc. I don't feel like lessoning my low end torque and increasing trans strain by going too tall.

Awesome discussion so far! The point about forescan was awesome. I'd love to find a balance of the right additional circumference, wheel well clearance, stock torque, and a perfect speedo to boot

Yeah I’m not sure how much effect it will have with the taller tire. I read that a 5% increase in diameter will have a 5% decrease in rpm’s, not sure how accurate this is but at 70mph at 2000rpm the difference would be 100 rpm.

I do have 4K towing on mine so my gears are different than stock awd. So larger diameter tires might bring my ratios just a little close to stock. The .75 height gain for me is important as I find I’ve rubbed the lower part of my bumper a couple of times. The other part is simply aesthetic as I think the stock tire size looks too small for the wheel well.

Im trying to keep the tire weight down though for mpg and that’s the biggest issue I see with 225/75 right now I can’t find one under 35lbs.

 

[Jman79]

Absolutely, I mentioned torque effects in my post and this is what I was thinking. Though, I have a hunch, if real world tests were done that at highways speeds the additional circumference and distance traveled per RPM may equate to higher mileage evening it out .

That said, I'm going skinny but not too tall beyond stock. I don't believe that messing with the OEM torque would have benefits that out weight possible risks. I like to stomp my cars occasionally when merging etc. I don't feel like lessoning my low end torque and increasing trans strain by going too tall.

Yeah I’m not sure how much effect it will have with the taller tire. I read that a 5% increase in diameter will have a 5% decrease in rpm’s, not sure how accurate this is but at 70mph at 2000rpm the difference would be 100 rpm.

I do have 4K towing on mine so my gears are different than stock awd. So larger diameter tires might bring my ratios just a little close to stock. The .75 height gain for me is important as I find I’ve rubbed the lower part of my bumper a couple of times. The other part is simply aesthetic as I think the stock tire size looks too small for the wheel well.

Im trying to keep the tire weight down though for mpg and that’s the biggest issue I see with 225/75 right now I can’t find one under 35lbs.

Weight is a factor I've not paid too much attention to in the past as in the grand scheme of things it's far less than weight of a single passenger etc. But not sure how forces come into play when spinning at 1000rpm.

As for the aesthetics, I'm proudly a contrarian. I see all the $$$, time, and effort spent on nothing but looks for vehicles and often bite my tongue. I say go for the function you want and any eye sore can be considered a security feature . Something that is enhancing function while ignoring peer pressure to conform to looks is truly beautiful to me!

 

[MakinDoForNow]

That was exactly what I was thinking. the moment arm is longer. Real world testing is really the only way to tell for sure.

Math major, physics minor 6 semesters calculus plus 14 years mainframe programming helps some also. Real world testing has advantages of just measuring results but some factors such as wind resistance and humidity and +++ don't have to be factored into equations although they can be accounted for by letting X-23 equal the sum of unknowns().

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Yeah I’m not sure how much effect it will have with the taller tire. I read that a 5% increase in diameter will have a 5% decrease in rpm’s, not sure how accurate this is but at 70mph at 2000rpm the difference would be 100 rpm.

I do have 4K towing on mine so my gears are different than stock awd. So larger diameter tires might bring my ratios just a little close to stock. The .75 height gain for me is important as I find I’ve rubbed the lower part of my bumper a couple of times. The other part is simply aesthetic as I think the stock tire size looks too small for the wheel well.

Im trying to keep the tire weight down though for mpg and that’s the biggest issue I see with 225/75 right now I can’t find one under 35lbs.

Divide the rev/mile of the larger diameter tire by the rev/mile of the smaller tire and walla you have the percentage but the rev/mile are not precise but good for approx.

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