Bigger Rims = More Expensive Tires?

[jarthel]

I've searched the net but came away empty-handed.

anyway, is there a reason why tires for larger rims are more expensive? looking at the side-view photo of a 15in vs 18in, it seems to me that the 15in contains more raw materials thus it should be more expensive and they seems to have the same outer diameter.

I am probably wrong but my reasoning was just a stab in the dark.

thank you very much for the replies

[QWK32]

15" tires are a more common tire thus they are mass produced, and therefore cheaper than the 18" which aren't as common.

[gt-ahhh!]

larger diameter tyres are usually better technology. stiffer sidewalls, more aggressive tread patterns. higher development costs.

bear in mind normal tyres are mass produced and are designed to be economical. i have 17s on mine, but theyre 255 wide, bridgestone, and AA rated for traction + have very high speed ratings. $425 each.

[inthisglass]

tyres for bigger rims are also a lot wider than your average mass produced 16 inch tyre.

performance tyres also use a softer compound rubber which is more grippy

[jarthel]

so it's a combination of supply vs demand and technology used.

thank you for the help

[some_cs_student]

There's also the fact that most of our Japanese cars use wider tyres than most other cars, eg. R33 GTR's are 17 * 9inch from the factory. Not the most common size but not too expensive...

In fact my R31's standard tyres are just 10 or 20mm wider than the usual holden tyres and cost more

[Duncan]

nah I reckon it is 100% marketing. jarthel is spot on, low profile tyres have less raw material. even in the same model of tyre (so same compound, technology etc) bigger rims = more expensive tyre

[VB-]

i got a set of 17's for my car off a stato, they want about $300 a corner to replace em, they are 225 wide, but if i go for a 235, its like $160. but because the 225 only came out on the stato, they bump the price up when people wanna replace em

[kralster]

The good think nowadays is that 17, 18, and even 19 inch rims are becoming a lot more common on new cars.

New sporty holdens, fords, are coming out with larger rims. And lots of euro stuff as well.

So hopefully that will help push the price of the rubber down.

[inthisglass]

due to inflation tyres wont ever become cheaper as such, but the bigger tyres might average out when compared to the cost of smaller tyres as they will be produced on a larger scale.

if that makes sense

[**RB2530**]

It costs $50,000 to $100,000 dollars to fabricate tooling to make a tyre...each size...every tyre sold has a component that goes towards recovering this cost...

there is also a large range of rubber compounds used and these vary in price...and you guessed it, the better performing compounds are more expensive that the average performing...

in reality your best going for a tyre size that an OEM such as Porsche, BMW use as stock...then there will me more options available at better pricing...

There is also an unfortunate group of bling boys going around who think the bigger rim..the better...yes you fit 20' on may cars today and if it is discomfort and crap road holding iyou want, it is the way to go...also great for shortening the life of suspension components as well and maybe even the life of your car body...

Now I am not sure what the consensus on tyre size would be on these forums would be but I am guessing 17" or 18"...If you think this is too small than you are more likely to enjoy forums that I dont...