16" SE wheels vs 17" LE Wheels?

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fuelcell
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16" SE wheels vs 17" LE Wheels?

Postby fuelcell » Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:51 pm

Can people help me out with the pros and cons of the 05' 16 inch SE wheels vs the 17 inch LE wheels?

How much better are they?

Better handling with the lower side wall? Also i know the LE wheels are an inch wider as well so, more grip? Lower rolling resistance with the 17's too?

tks


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volvite
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Postby volvite » Wed Aug 03, 2011 2:42 am

Fuelcell,

Welcome to the forum. I'm not much sure of the difference, however I have an LE with 18s but looking to go to 17s as there are more tire opitions. They are also less expensive going that direction as well.

skinny2
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Postby skinny2 » Wed Aug 03, 2011 5:13 am

They're overall nearly the same size. Same width just 1/2" shorter sidewall. I have 17's on mine (came on the SE for 2008) and have had this size on previous vehicles as well. The shorter sidewall should help a little with handling but I doubt much in the scheme of things. 17's (and 18's) just look better is the only real difference.

fuelcell
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Location: California

Postby fuelcell » Wed Aug 03, 2011 10:48 am

Thanks!

Yeah, 1 inch taller and .5 in wider is probably not enough difference to justify the change.

skinny2
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Postby skinny2 » Wed Aug 03, 2011 12:19 pm

fuelcell wrote:Thanks!

Yeah, 1 inch taller and .5 in wider is probably not enough difference to justify the change.
They're not even that. They're overall identical in width and diameter. The extra inch wheel is made up by 1/2 ince shorter sidewall. If they really were 1" overall bigger...you'd def feel that. The only difference in these sizes is the shorter sidewall should help a little in handling.

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp gives you the exact measurements for tires side-by-side. Comparing a 265/70-16 to a 265/65-17[/i]

SHAWNATGERBROCK
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Postby SHAWNATGERBROCK » Fri Aug 05, 2011 2:52 pm

I switched from the 16" to the LE 17" only to get decent tires ... I wanted a sport tire , nothing in 16" ..running 275-60-vr17 Hankook Ventus ST and LOVE them ... wear has been great , handling is awesome ..... If your looking for a sport type tire 17" or bigger is it ... if you are staying with the mud/snow all terrain style tire , the 16" works fine .... I use my old 16's for Studded snows ...

fuelcell
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Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:30 pm
Location: California

Postby fuelcell » Fri Aug 05, 2011 5:41 pm

@ skinny2 That was some good tire education. I assumed that since the wheel was .5 wider the tire would be too. but its not!

@shawn tks.


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