Wide tires the great conspiracy.

[phunky.buddha]

Originally Posted by UFO

Tires "scrub" anytime you turn them, they don't have to be slipping. In fact a sliding tire is actually losing less energy as you are no longer changing the vehicles direction as much. Not that that is a smart way to take corners....

Yeah... because then you spend more energy trying to correct the slide. But sometimes that slide is fun.

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

This is the main reason.

Except for a guy that left his CRX in my buddy's shop... had 27" tall tires on it. He thought they looked awesome, even though the tires had chewed the fenders completely apart. The random chrome plastic bits he had stuck all over the hood gave him enough horsepower to beat a Mustang Cobra too.

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

13" tires certainly cost a lot less than 16" or 17" tires do. Many of the people here are interested in saving money as a top priority. I am too, but I'm not willing to sacrifice good handling for it - which is why I won't buy narrow 80 series tires, no matter what small amount of fuel they supposedly save.

True. I'm tempted to build a CRX with 155/80-13 tires, but I'd much rather put 225/45-15s on it and try to see if I can still break 50mpg.

[tjts1]

I'm surprised nobody around here has tried road bicycle tires yet.

[UFO]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

13" tires certainly cost a lot less than 16" or 17" tires do. Many of the people here are interested in saving money as a top priority. I am too, but I'm not willing to sacrifice good handling for it - which is why I won't buy narrow 80 series tires, no matter what small amount of fuel they supposedly save.

I put narrower tires on my Jeep Liberty - went from 225/75/16 to 215/85/16. Now I can run 55psi and the handling is no different; it sucked before and it still sucks.

And I have no idea if the mileage changed. If it did, the city certainly went down due to the increased tire weight although I can still get 30mpg on the highway.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by UFO

I put narrower tires on my Jeep Liberty - went from 225/75/16 to 215/85/16. Now I can run 55psi and the handling is no different; it sucked before and it still sucks.

Your honesty is admirable. With the last statement, that pretty much sums it up.

BTW, the lousy handling is probably due to the nature of the vehicle itself.