I'm looking at the Accord diesel, which comes with 16" wheels (205/55 tyres), but has the option of much better looking 17" wheels (I can't find the tyre size but presumeably they'll be wider and lower profile - maybe 215/45's?).
On some cars it's strongly recommended NOT to go for lower profile tyres as they mees up the ride & can be noisy. I've driven the car with the standard set-up, and thought the ride was firm-ish, with a bit of road-roar from the rear. Have any BackRoomers tried both wheel sizes, or failing that, does anyone here run an Accord with 17" wheels and have any feedback about it?
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NOt driven the Accord with 17" wheels but if the Back Room's experiences are anything to go by, any increase in wheel diameter worsens the ride, especially over potholes, bumps and general road imperfections.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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The only way to find out is to drive one that has the 17" wheels and compare it to the 15" wheels.
95% certain it will be as Espada says tho.
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Vista,
I run an Accord with the 17" Epsilon wheels, I did try the standard set-up and the ride is slightly more compliant with 16" wheels.
The 17" wheel/tyre combination tramlines quite badly over uneven surfaces, I'm not sure if it's the 17" wheels or the wheel/tyre combination. I'm running directional tyres at present and will seek advice from Honda/tyre fitters when I change the fronts.
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I've got the Type-S with 17" Penta wheels shod with directional Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 225/45W17 tyres. So far, I've not had any problems with tramlining, and the ride quality is as good as the Accord 2.0SE I had previously. I alos think it's better than my friend's Focus, which I find to be quite hard. Whether this is down to the different suspension set-up on the S I don't know, but I certainly have no complaints (even my mum thinks it's good, so it must be okay....)
Andy
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There's a comment about tramlining with 17" wheels in What Car's reader reviews. That contributor said the problem went away when he changed the standard tyres.
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A friend of mine has a Focus ans moans all the time about the low profile tyres, especially when pulling away in the wet. He claims his TD M-reg Cavalier does it better.
I also recently attended an IMechE lecture given by the Head of Engineering at RenaultF1. When asked "why don't Formula 1 cars have low profile tyres?" his answer was on the lines of "because the cars handle better with high profile tyres". He also went on to speculate TiC that F1 would only move to low profile tyres to slow the cars down more and make them look better so more people would want to watch them!
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I had an Accord Exec cdti with 17inch wheels for an extended test in the Summer and it definately did tramline quite noticeably.
Great car, just too big for me !
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I run an Accord with 16" wheels - I roadtested both 16" and 17" shod versions and settled on the 16" since most of my driving is long-distance and comfort/smoothness was more important than the improved handling but stiffer, harsher ride of the 17". Colleague of mine had to go one better than me and got an Accord with the 17" wheels. Both of us have travelled as passengers and drivers in the others car and agree that on a long journey the 16" is definitely more comfortable.
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My son has just sold his BMW 330Ci Sport with 18" wheels and sports suspension because he was totally fed up with the tramlining.
He has replaced it with an E39 530i Sport which although also fitted with 18" wheels and sports suspension, handles superbly with no hint of tramlining, so it would seem from this that not every car is adversely affected by the influence of low profile rubber.
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If I remember correctly, Car Magazine had a long term test Accord Tourer which they fitted with the 17" wheels half way thorough the test - their report was that though it looked much better, it upset the ride and handling significantly.
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Sorry, but for the totally ignorant among us, what is tramlining?
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Tramlining is where the wheels try to follow any imperfections in the road and not where you try and point them. Usually in ruts left by lorries or seams in the tarmac. You can feel it as slight tugging left or right on the steering wheel, usually as you try to come out of ruts or across seams. Sometimes it is felt as extra effort needed on the wheel to get out of the ruts with a sudeen release as you leave them. On badly tramlining cars its a pitched battle and tug of war with the steering wheel.
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Tramlining is where the wheels try to follow any imperfections in the road and not where you try and point them.
As you might have guessed the name came from the past when the major risks in town to narrow tyred slow cars was ye old tram lines. It continued to be a risk for some years until the roads were resurfaced as I was only too aware riding a push bike.
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Ahh, right. Thanks very much.
Now, for my next daft question, what kind of wheels / tyres are inclined to tramline? I can see that narrow tyres might be inclined to do it, but the impression that I'm getting on this thread is that larger diameter wheels would also be more at risk. Have I got this right? And if so, why is it?
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Since we lost the tramlines, is now the wide low profile tyres on fairly stiff suspensions that do it. There is considerably less flexibility in low prifile tyres, and being wide have larger footprint. Hence the road can exercise more control over the wheels through the tyre.
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