18" or 19" Wheels

[BD314]

Looking to buy a new Kodiaq.  I'm tempted by the SE L spec, but worried the 19" wheels give a harsh ride.  The SE spec comes with 18" wheels as standard.  Does anyone have any experience of the 19" wheels ?

[bigboss]

I've found 19" wheels to be comfortable, and they look better too.

[Mr Grump]

Although they are 19" the tyres are 50 profile and although I had the benefit of DCC, the ride was good.

[Gizmo]

+2

 

The ride is perfectly acceptable, in fact it's a lot better than our L&K Yeti that is on 17s! 

[DaveMiller]

The size of the rim (at 17 or 19" or whatever) is not really the important figure.  In fact, the bigger the overall wheel, the smoother the car will go over small sharp bumps - think of a wheelbarrow with a very small wheel encountering a tree root, and then the same with a very large wheel.

 

What matters more is the amount of tyre between the wheel and the ground.  If I recall correctly, the 17" wheels on a Yeti will have had 225/50 tyres, giving (sort of) 112 mm (225mm width times 50% profile) of cushion.  The 19" wheels on a Kodiaq have 235/50, giving an extra 5 mm of cushion.  So the Kodiaq starts with a slight advantage, then greater weight and more sophisticated suspension will do their bit, too.

 

When you compare different size wheels on the same model, though, it's sometimes the case that the car is set up for a specific overall wheel diameter, so smaller wheels have deeper-profile tyres.

[BoxerBoy]

As above, my initial concerns about going up to 19" wheels were unfounded.

 

 The car rides well and the wheels are easy to clean, Triglav that is.

 

Haven't touched a kerb yet thank goodness.

[athon34]

19" rims degrades your comfort but make your car more attractive. U have to choose between ...

 

[Ootohere]

You know that Function over Style makes sense in just about everything in life you buy. 

This especially applies to Wheels / Tyres as it is a SUV and goes well enough on the sizes offered, but a bit more sidewall is always good where parking gets done, 

potholes get encountered because it is a road car and not a track or show car.

 

As to a bigger outer circle of the black bit,  (tyre)when  lower profile on bigger rim vs tyre on the 1" smaller rim 

it is often less of a noticeable difference when measured side by side on different wheel sizes than the numbers on tyres suggest.

Certainly not a Bigger Rim and bigger tyre that is going to just smooth out potholes or such.

Then the tyre width on the road because of tyre profiles might have more importance, aquaplane or aquaplane less.

http://kouki.co.uk/utilities/visual-tyre-size-calculator 

Edited 7 September, 2017 by Headinawayoffski