Is there a theory on the trend of having larger wheels and tires on a vehicle?

[MMT]

Hubby and I were talking last night and he came up with a question that I had no clue. I'm the geek of the pair and used to work in the auto industry which is probably why he asked me to begin with.

There seems to be a trend towards larger wheels and tires on some vehicles. Used to be 15" was big. Now you are seeing some vehicles with as large as 21". Our new Element has 16", sister in law has a CR-V with 17" and a friends new Dodge pick up has 21"! We drove Jimmy's and Blazers for years that took 15" wheels and tires and for a long time that was considered big.

Or is it a gimmick to push the consumer towards more expensive tires? A design decision or is there something "scientific" behind it?

 

[Arul]

The tire size is by design based on the stability,ground clearance,mileage,torque etc.,
once u change the size many of these parameters can change.
May be next higher size can be safer to avoid the complications,even yr mileage calculation will go wrong if u do not change the tachometer.

 

[HowardL]

It's just a styling decision. In general there is no benefit to larger wheels either for handling or ride comfort. Usually larger wheels use lower profile tires which improves handling but reduces ride comfort.

 

[Shahamat]

Its a requirement for racing cars. Cars are designed to optimum level of maximum comfort & requirement of customers.

 

[907Dude]

Bigger wheels and tires are personal favors. It's just something people like ( trucks look better with big tires).

 

[rick29148]

It started with the need for bigger disc brakes to reduce the stopping distance of the car, especially on road course racers. Then the 'want-a-be' racers put bigger wheels to make it look like they had bigger brakes, then it just completely blew-up !! It was a necessity of road racing, now it's just cool.... You see cars with 14" disc brakes from a 180 mph race car on the street...