Question about narrow tires on wide wheels

[JohnyNFS]

Hi every1,

I had been wondering why is everyone putting narrow tires on wide wheels on their bmw?
I can't really make sens of ti so please if someone could enlighten me on this I would appreciate it :D
Thx

[dakarmmm]

Hi every1,

I had been wondering why is everyone putting narrow tires on wide wheels on their bmw?
I can't really make sens of ti so please if someone could enlighten me on this I would appreciate it :D
Thx

It's just a fad. People think it makes their car look cooler.

[3MPowered]

It's usually done as a necessity in order to help the wider wheels clear the wheel arch (but yes, some people do it purely for looks).
You sacrifice on-limit handling, but gain street cred! :redspot

[JohnyNFS]

lol i see...
I was wondering since it doesn't make much sense and it's dangerous to run with low profile tires bent inwards since the rim lips can get damaged easily if you hit a pothole... I had that problem on my lexus gs300 with 19" rims...till i went with wider tires... problem solved no more wheel repairs.
The only other thing i could think of was drifting... but don't tell me everyone is drifting here :D lol
I do a lot of roadracing and usually you want the widest tires possible to fit on a wheel to get more traction :D

[E36Shikara]

Hi every1,

I had been wondering why is everyone putting narrow tires on wide wheels on their bmw?
I can't really make sens of ti so please if someone could enlighten me on this I would appreciate it :D
Thx

It's done for the same reason that they spend boatloads of $$$ on the wheel, but then fit it with Fuzion Zri or General UHPs....

Because they're CHEAP and IGNORANT!!!!

My brother has a 2008 335i Sport coupe.. spared no expense.. now he's buying replacement tires... and he wants the cheapest tire known to man.. some chinese no name brand... $450 installed at TFT..

So sad... :nono:eyecrazy

[JohnyNFS]

wow i feel your pain lol...
the only thing worse is the cheapo honda cars with fake plastic spinners...

[dublife]

It's usually done as a necessity in order to help the wider wheels clear the wheel arch (but yes, some people do it purely for looks).
You sacrifice on-limit handling, but gain street cred! :redspot

this

if you daily the car and don't plan on driving it like a lunatic then stretched tires work fine, usually it is used to provide a certain look, very helpful when using odd wheel fitments and preventing damage to fenders. Been done for years and your car will not turn into a deathtrap like most people on here would lead you to believe. Basically if you don't have to do it then don't, or if you don't know why then don't. I like the look(to a point), some don't.

[3MPowered]

^ Love the sig man!

If you're not one of those guys that enjoys putting endless hours of research into wheels and fitment, then you need not worry about ever "having" to do this. FTR, I am one of those guys :D

[basebal21]

I dont understand why they do it for looks... from a mechanics standpoint you are just asking for bent rims and the fact you are loosing performance in corning, i dont get it either.. it looks hideous to me

+1 on the cheap tires too.. i love how some people brag about their rims but they have the cheapest possible tires.. cheapskates

I guess its all personal preference.. so more power to the ones that wanna do it

[3MPowered]

^ I believe you answered your own question without realizing it. You lose cornering ability when you stretch your tires, why bother shelling out $1000 for a set of performance summer tires when you can't use them to their full potential?

Many of the people you see doing this also have a second set of wheels they don for trackdays/spirited driving. Some people even go one step further and modify their wheel hubs to accept wheel studs (for easier changing of wheels).

It all goes to show that you can have your cake and eat it. You don't always have to choose between go and show.

[PhoenixRX7]

there are a couple of reasons that come to mind:

1. when you buy the wrong offset wheels they tend to rub against the fenders and in order to avoid that people get skinnier tires.

2. people like the aggressive look of having the wheels poke out and add spacers which make the wheels stick out further than normal and, again, it rubs the fenders. A skinnier tire will "fix" the problem.

3. people are IN LOVE with the look of a slammed car and the lower they go the more likely they are to rub against the inside of the wheel well/fenders. SKinnier tires and lots of camber "helps" this situation.

4. Drifters feel like they're better performance because they can "drift" and break the tires loose easily.

I am not a fan of the skinny/stretched tire look and I beleive you can avoid doing this altogether by buying the proper offset wheels in the first place.

I bought a set of style 5s with SLIGHTLY stretched tires and I hate the way they look...as soon as the tires are toast I plan to go wider but, like I said above, when I put 225s on the wheels I will have rubbing issues. I'll need to roll the fenders and make sure I don't go ridiculously low.

There is a similar fad in teh JDM world and it's just as stupid looking...In the BMW community it's done because people like the OEM look of certain wheel styles and compromise but in the JDM world it's just to have the most aggressive (i.e. ill-fitting) look.

And then there are the ricers....oh them ricers.


I dont understand why they do it for looks... from a mechanics standpoint you are just asking for bent rims and the fact you are loosing performance in corning, i dont get it either.. it looks hideous to me

+1 on the cheap tires too.. i love how some people brag about their rims but they have the cheapest possible tires.. cheapskates

I guess its all personal preference.. so more power to the ones that wanna do it
not only that but the tires won't/can't take the abuse of the road because of the stiffer sidewall and less side to side movement, Higher inflation to avoid excessive wear, skittish handling....also by going with non-OEM offsets the load moves OUTWARD so it all goes to the bearings, joints and other suspension components.

[bth14]

like everyone has said, usually its done in order to fit deep dish wheels on a lowered car. However, most tires do actually perform better slightly stretched, it gives the sidewall more support and the tire is more responsive. Pretty common in autocross

[basebal21]

i would of thought wider tires would give more stability, maybe traction becomes an issue idk. maybe why they like stretched tires on auto cross, i'd assume that you'd need a higher tire pressure with streched tires.. where you'd lose some traction too.. but would compensate for the sidewall to give from the force of turning.. finding a happy medium i guess, And i understand about not hitting the fenders pending on how low the car is.. but personal preference is huge.. if thats what you like.. then i say go for it.. i'd only go as low to take up the gap between the tire and fender.. not tuck the tire as some people.. haha im just the guy with the "lifted xi" i'd never be able to tuck tires anyway

[3MPowered]

^ Yeah, wider tires would offer more stability when cornering, but from experience I an tell you that when you realy start to push a car with stratched tires you can almost feel the tires leaning under pressure and it's not a very confidence inspiring feeling. This must be why people that track their cars heavily will fit propper (if not oversized) rubber to their wider wheels.