Newly installed 15" tires feel 'weird'

[kristan]

Hi everyone, i know very little about all this car stuff so any help is appreciated. I recently purchased some new 15 inch all season tires with rims. I had been using 14 inch summer winter tires.

I was expecting the handling of the car to feel so much better with the new summer tires but it actually feels worse! I remember switching from my old summer tires (14") to the winter tires and the winter tires made my Yaris feel like a tank. These new summer tires made my winter tires feel like racing tires.

Here's what it feels like:
-car really does not want to go more than 100 Kph (62 MPH)
-i feel i'm having to press the gas pedal more to get the same speeds, especially on the highway
-the steering wheel is much harder to turn
-acceleration is worse


I've had a number of of opinions from the tire shop and my local toyota dealer:

Tire shop:
-the tires are good quality, it's not the tires
-the 15" wheels might be too big, too heavy
-nothing wrong with the balancing (checked twice)

Toyota:
-Tires are good quality
-15" tires are fine
-might just have to get used to a different feel
-bring the car in and we'll take a test drive with you

My car is no longer enjoyable to drive and i feel like i might be doing damage. Anyone have any ideas? Is this something that i have just get used to? Is this what is expected when you switch from 14" tires to 15" tires?

Thanks,

K

[LtNoogie]

Do you know how to read the size of tires off of the sidewalls? That might be helpful. Also, what brand and model tire are they?

[schleppy]

The OEM Yaris wheels are pretty light. There is a very good chance the new wheels you bought are A LOT heavier. That would be a major factor in what you're feeling. Also, make sure you put hub-centric rings on the new rims. That will make sure that the new wheels sit flush to the stock hubs.

[SpaceShot]

Double check the pressure on the 15 and the 14. Also take one off the car and try to weigh it if you can.

If your 14 set was at 38psi, and the 15 at 28psi, it might `feel' a bit sluggish in comparison. Add a pound or more for a larger rim and heavier tire, and the effect might start to be significant.

Also look at the tread compound and speed rating of the two brands of tires. You may have unintentionally gone from a stiff, low rolling resistance tire, to something with much more grip.
Might corner better but take more pedal to move along.

Mine came with stock 15 as part of the regional cold weather package, so I don't think you can be doing any real damage unless you happened to get a junk set. I also run the plain steel wheels for both my winter and summer tires, so I would be surprised if the weight of the rim alone is problem.

If you feel comfortable doing it, reset the pressure on the 15 to the average of the 32psi and the max number on the tire sidewall. Drive that way for 3 commutes to see if that helps or not.
I have found our local dealer lowering the pressure on the Yaris and our Scion XB to 28psi or so to smooth out the ride.
The TPSW system doesn't seem to trip until 25psi or so.

It might be just coincidence, and you happen to have an air or fuel filter that needs changing. You may have passed through a mileage mark at about the same time as the wheel change and you are assuming that all of the sluggishness is in the tires.

If filters are clean and there are no other engine symptoms, ask the dealer to test drive one of their other cars with a 15 set on it. That might give you another reference to help determine if you just happened to get a bad set of wheels.

[marcus]

i dont think its the tire or the rims...the installer might have damage something else..

or you may have a almost flat tires or tire did you check all of them.

[Loren]

Wheel/tire weight makes a big difference in the feel of a car. Everything you've said is a symptom of a heavier wheel/tire combination and/or a wider tire.

The 15's are probably at least 3 pounds heavier than the 14's were. On a light and underpowered car like the Yaris, that's a lot.

Solution: Buy a set of 15" wheels the weighs less than 12 pounds. They're out there, and they're cheap. (11-12 pounds is cheap... lighter than that starts to get expensive)

Good luck.

[marcus]

but his quote was "-car really does not want to go more than 100 Kph (62 MPH)"

it may not be the weight..

[Loren]

I made the assumption that "didn't want to" meant that it took more throttle than expected, which a heavier wheel would.

If the car TRULY doesn't want to accelerate over 60 mph, then there's something wrong with it. What we don't know is... is the OP trying to accelerate from 55 mph in 5th gear and complaining that it "doesn't want to"?

I've learned to accept that an awful lot of posters on YW don't have a great deal of driving experience with this kind of car. (or often with any car) Sometime you have to interpolate what they're telling you.

[marcus]

it could be auto..maybe he or she is on the wrong gear..


oh my!! i have this feeling the parking brake is slightly on..

[kristan]

Thanks for the comments folks, this is all really helpful. It really does feel like the tires are simply heavier and probably a little grippier. I'll try all of the suggestions air pressure, check weight, test drive another yaris etc. and post back.

Thanks for everyone's time. Gotta love the internet for this sort of thing. Great forum!



Kristan

[silver_echo]

what do you mean "does not want to go more than 100km(62mph)? i went +3(17 inch) on my wheels, and i am still comfy up to 90+ mph... never really noticed any of that lag issue either... i think that those tires may have more rolling resistance than the old tires(that is one of the other factors on tires)

[thebarber]

if you want, i have some 14's w/ good summer rubber for sale...

[clh333]

My 2007 Yaris hatch came with what was then called a "power package", and included 15 inch steel wheels fitted with Bridgestone 185/60/15 tires. I drove them through two winters but last fall, at about 40,000 miles, replaced the tires, but keeping the same wheels, with Firestone Winterforce tires.

The past two winters I had a couple of close calls driving in snow with the Bridgestones; a 180 spin in front of an oncoming truck that left me in a snowbank in ditch on the wrong side of the road comes to mind. The Bridgestones also seemed to lack grip in the wet. I could spin the wheels from a standing start if the pavement was wet. (I have the 5MT)

I already had another set of Winterforce tires on another car and thought they were a worthwhile upgrade over the OEM, especially since the Bridgestone tread was getting short. I was glad to have them this past January and February when we had record snowfalls in northeastern Ohio.

I plan to leave the snow tires on the original rims and buy new wheels and tires for non-winter use. Investigating wheels, the dealer wants over $100 US for the OEM stteel 15" wheel, which I think is excessive. There are so few yaris around that finding them in a local junkyard is difficult, and probably not a good idea anyway.

I would prefer steel rims, however, because all of the alloy wheels I have owned suffer from what I consider to be significant drawbacks: they are more fragile than steel, they tend to develop slow leaks around the rim and they are difficult to replace except in sets of four. If you damage a wheel, which is easy to do in pothole-country, you have to buy four more.

I was interested to read in this thread that inexpensive, under 12 pound wheels are available for the Yaris. Does anyone have a supplier to suggest? Secondly, assuming I replace my summertime tires with 185/60/15s, whose tire would you suggest? I'm not racing, but I do like to go fast, not always in a straight line, and the Yaris, even with those heavy 15-inch wheels, has no problem getting up to 90 MPH.

Thanks for your reply.
CLH333

[HTM Yaris]

The Konig Feather is 12 lbs and the Konig Helium is 11 lbs . Both are right about $100 a wheel .

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...ager.offset=70

The best bang for the buck IMO is the Enkei RPF1 ...9lbs $200 a wheel

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/resul...r=&sort=Weight

[fiia]

You might just have to break them in. When i got my new tires installed they were a little stiff for about a month. Once the protective layer of whatever it is on top of the tread (usually indicated by some colored strip throughout the tire, mine was red) wears handling should improve. I went from the 15" oem to 17" all season g grid potenzas. What kind of rims did you get for the all seasons?

[MUSKOKA800]

Seasonally I switch from 14" Echo steelies with 175/65/14 winter tires to the OEM 15" alloys and 185/60/15 Goodyear LS tires. My sedan feels much quicker with the smaller winter set-up plus the braking is much stronger with the reduced rotating mass.
I just put the alloys back on for summer and it's a sad change. Looks better, performs worse. Time for a hi-po summer upgrade.

[thebarber]

Originally Posted by MUSKOKA800

Seasonally I switch from 14" Echo steelies with 175/65/14 winter tires to the OEM 15" alloys and 185/60/15 Goodyear LS tires. My sedan feels much quicker with the smaller winter set-up plus the braking is much stronger with the reduced rotating mass.
I just put the alloys back on for summer and it's a sad change. Looks better, performs worse. Time for a hi-po summer upgrade.

its all about the tires....stock goodyears arent very sticky...

[fnkngrv]

Originally Posted by thebarber

its all about the tires....stock goodyears arent very sticky...

Stock GR's are trash and feel like they could kill someone at highway speeds in heavy rain...I can't tell you how many times I would hydroplane at even 55 mph!