Ride quality trade off between 18's, 19's and 20's

[London Lad]

Originally Posted by stef

Before buying mine (with 18" RFT tire), I've tried another one with 20", it was too "hard" for me (for that kind of car), especially on bad pavement.

If you like your ride with 18" but want bigger weels, you'll get the same confort with 19' weels with standard tires.

By conception, Run Flat Tires are harder than standard tires.

[x5mad]

I test drove 19" with adaptive drive, 20" with sport, and standard with 18". I found the 20" with sport way too uncomfortable and hard. The best was 19" with adaptive drive however that car also came with comfort seats so could have made a difference. In the end I went with 18" and standard suspension as $6700 for adaptive drive is a bit steep.

The 20" though just elevated the looks to a whole new level and the yearning meant I changed to 20" with non run flats. I had the Yokohama advans and found the ride to be slightly more comfortable than 18" with run flats. I just recently changed to continental DWS and the ride now is noticeably more comfortable.

[JoshGM]

X5Mad

Are you kinda Father Teressa or something!? Damn! You donate too many cars! and on average you change cars in every 2 years!

Back to business I do agree with you 20"s forget about comfort my car came with Sport Comfort seats, alas.. they do little comfort actually my car can be bumpy but I really feel the strong contact with the road, anyway too bad its the price we pay for the car looking so aggressive I cant call it beauty... my car wouldnt allow me!

[JoshGM]

Originally Posted by London Lad

You seem to be very anti British ?

Personally I wouldn't touch a Landrover sport because its really just a Landrover Discovery with a slightly different body at £10k more. The Discovery is a pile of poo (IMHO) but probably the best car in the world if you are a farmer and want to drive across a muddy ploughed field.

My sports car is an Audi.

British was a typo! As for the RANGE "SPORT" it sucks! though I ve a couple of buddies who drive it. You are so honest, yes its a Land Rover for dairy farmers in UK!

As for AUDI yeah I do agree with you 100% you might be driving a real SPORT... but dont be big headed! I love Germany Engineering the only car that spoilt my trend is LEXUS, I had about 2 VWs before BMWs then I tried the Lexus, believe me the machine is comfortable, it made me really blend it into BMW.

[London Lad]

Yes Lexus are well built machines, 100% with you there.

[ard]

Increasing rim size and reduced sidewall will result in LOWER PERFORMANCE at some point.

The sole reason to go with larger metal is some misguided sense my the buying public of "good looks".

As the sidewall lowers the ability of the tire contact patch to dynamically conform to the road surface is reduced. In most application for 996.997 track wheels they never go beyond 18". In fact the 997s came with 19" and serious trackers will 'downgrade' to 18" for better handling, better lap times.

My sports car is a modified 996TTx50. You choose the right tool for the job. No mater what word you put on a package, an X5 is not a sport anything.

But going to 20, 21 or 22 inch wheels will reduce handing and performance. NOT JUST RIDE QUALITY,

IMHO

A

[London Lad]

Originally Posted by ard

Increasing rim size and reduced sidewall will result in LOWER PERFORMANCE at some point.

The sole reason to go with larger metal is some misguided sense my the buying public of "good looks".

As the sidewall lowers the ability of the tire contact patch to dynamically conform to the road surface is reduced. In most application for 996.997 track wheels they never go beyond 18". In fact the 997s came with 19" and serious trackers will 'downgrade' to 18" for better handling, better lap times.

My sports car is a modified 996TTx50. You choose the right tool for the job. No mater what word you put on a package, an X5 is not a sport anything.

But going to 20, 21 or 22 inch wheels will reduce handing and performance. NOT JUST RIDE QUALITY,

IMHO

A

I agree 100% in relation to a X5.

Lower thus less flexible side walls do have the advantage of more precise steering at the extremes of performance but ,as you say, a lot of disadvantages. I run an Audi R8 V10 and I can tell you that the (19") wheel / tyre combo is able to take it past my abilities as a driver.

[anzer]

some interesting points-of-view and healthy debates etc

I went into dealership yesterday and saw two X5's side by side to get an idea (20" 214's vs 19" 211's) ....

somebody posted the fact that moving to bigger wheel wont reduce the 'gap' between tyre and wheel arch - this is right to a degree - but what was forgotton (by me also) is that sports models are lowered a little (therefore gap is less than standard - at least here in Aus anyway)

I dont have sport model so not lowered - therefore adding 20's may look even more 'gappy'

sport also comes with sport suspension - which means harsher (firmer) ride anyway !! so now I'm really glad I didnt get sport with 20 !! only adaptive drive may have solved that problem - more a mere $6700 extra


anyway - I've decided to go with the 19" 211 Y spoke that comes standard here on the 4.8i. They look better than 35d standard stars, and little trade off in performance - in fact the Bridgestones that come with the 19's are likely better and quieter than the Conti's that come with the 18's.


Perhaps if 2012/13 new model moves away from run flats and includes adaptive drive setup as standard option then I'll move up to 20's in that model ..fingers crossed ...

Thanks everyone for your input .....

[JoshGM]

London Lad & ARD

You both dont seem to answer my question. Its OK I dont mind you guys saying there is no SPORT in X5, well that is your opinion.

My question is X5s so called SPORT (which you deny) that comes with ALL Sport Package including 20" WHEELS from assembly plant, do they have "compromised" performance just because they are fixed with 20" wheels????

Iam not talking about X5s which comes with standard 18" then somebody feels he needs to "upgrade" it to 20", NO!

Would BMW make such an error of making a more extra cost X5 by Sporting it (Sports Package) including lowered suspension on the expense of its performance???!

Can we talk about this!?

[anzer]

There's no doubt that lowered and firmer suspension, 20's rims and sports seats, make handling performance better and more responsive in the twisties at speed than non sport ..... and adding adaptive drive is certainly for the enthusiast who wants to push bulk through the twisties at speed without wobbling all over the place

but lets face it ..its not a SPORTs car .. and that's perhaps what these guys are thinking ... for example ..you'll never shake off a VW GTI in real world driving conditions in any X5 apart from X5M - and even then you'd need to be careful as that's a lot of mass to push around sharp bends etc ....

People like X5 sport option because it does give slight improved cornering performance and better driver oriented feel .. and arguably with 20's and flared arches looks better than standard ...

but most people use their X5's for lugging kids to soccer/school, putting dog in back for weekenders, towing the small trailer/boat or motorcross bikes, taking to the skifields, long motorway/freeway driving, safety/rideheight advantages, and finally badge snobbery ... nobody really buys an X5 to 'drag' or 'track' ... not saying you still cant have fun though and frighten some drivers off the line even I do that at times.

I love my X5 for the utility, looks, safety, road height, 'keep up with most cars' performance, and lets face it badge value - but I'm also saving now for a real sports car e.g. Boxster S or secondhand 997 - now that's a sports car.

X5 Sport offers marginal performance lift when you push things to limit, and adaptive drive takes it up another level again (I've driven all of them) - but I reckon its more marketing than real world performance lift over standard .. especially given the price premium ...but each to their own.

As I said - just my opinion.