Ideal tire/wheel combination for comfort/noise with some handling chops?

[BoostRabbitGT]

...still working on this one.

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[BoostRabbitGT]

No and No, for comfort / noise you want the smallest wheel size and thus tyre with the biggest sidewall you can get, and get a 'touring' tyre not a UHP one. A narrower tyre would reduce noise as well and less likely to get tramlined.
Tyres make up a lot of the compliance in the suspension and as for handling etc F1 stuck with 13" rims for as long as they could. The modern size is just not as good.

(I'm new to modding in general, please be patient with me if you can!)
I understand why you'd go with a smaller rim and I agree there, but I'm not sure I understand the logic behind less rubber on the tire aside from "less product = less noise, more comfort". Does this mean then that you can't have quiet comfortable tires without sacrificing handling prowess universally across the board? Thanks for your reply regardless!

 

[erocker]

I went with 19x10 wheels and 285/35's all around. Don't even get any tramlining, I'm very satisfied with the choice.

 

[Gregs24]

No and No, for comfort / noise you want the smallest wheel size and thus tyre with the biggest sidewall you can get, and get a 'touring' tyre not a UHP one. A narrower tyre would reduce noise as well and less likely to get tramlined.
Tyres make up a lot of the compliance in the suspension and as for handling etc F1 stuck with 13" rims for as long as they could. The modern size is just not as good.

F1 used 13" wheels to limit brake performance as much as possible. It was part of the frequent performance limiting features in F1 to limit car speed and make them driveable by humans! The current larger wheels were introduced together with a complete change in the way the cars generate downforce so cannot be viewed in isolation. The 13" wheels are not better, they were worse!

Tyres are an undamped spring and the deeper the sidewall the more spring there is, hence the reason high performance tyres are low profile. Ideally you want all the suspension movement carried out by the suspension not the tyre, which is OK on a track, but on the road it is too rough to be feasible.

 

[Gregs24]

F1 tyres still have massive sidewalls compared to modern road cars at 130mm and still bigger than my old subaru's 205/60R15's.

F1 cars used to have 170mm sidewalls and run tyre pressures in the teens psi.

Actually the sidewalls are 30 profile (ish) so much lower profile than your Subaru. Yes the sidewalls are a bit taller, but the tyres are 405/32R18, so profile wise they are very low. Your Subaru had 123mm sidewalls on tyres half the width.

They still run very low pressures (low 20's psi) and would run lower if Pirelli would let them!

 

[BoostRabbitGT]

Thanks everyone. With all this information, I'm thinking of running a square setup with a 265 or 275/40R18. I could do 265 or 275/40R19 as well, recognizing that the larger wheel sacrifices comfort for a "nicer" tire/wheel profile. Problem is neither Tire Rack's or Discount Tire's website really lets me configure a tire/wheel package that way. I guess my next question is, what would be your recommendation for a comfort-oriented R18 or R19 square setup?

Question #2 would be which brand(s) of wheels would be recommended for price and quality for someone on a budget?

 

[Radiant]

Does this mean then that you can't have quiet comfortable tires without sacrificing handling prowess

It's a "pick two" situation: comfort, handling, cost. If you option MagneRide dampers, you gain better handling and comfort. No tradeoff other than to your wallet. Same for performance tires like Michelin Pilot Sport 4S: they're quiet, comfortable, and have incredible traction.

 

[Radiant]

And my brief test drive with the Performance Pack, it seemed noisier underneath the car than without it (loose dirt and gravel were more audible than desired).

Yup, for sure. Without magnetic dampers, the performance package is so much more rigid that it affects ride comfort. The "stock" GT and the Dark Horse represent the two most comfortable setups in my opinion.

 

[snakeyes]

Question: 2024 GT Premium PP pack, Mag Ride...

will this tire and wheel setup work -

Front 20x10 offset +35, Nitto NT555G2 285/30/20

Rear 20x11 offset +50, Nitto NT 555R2 305/30/20

 

[BoostRabbitGT]

The "stock" GT and the Dark Horse represent the two most comfortable setups in my opinion.

As of today, I think I've finished test driving all the GTs I need to. Everything else I'd be looking at would be purely aesthetic. I think the main takeaways from my test drives are as follows:

1. The tires on the S650 are likely better quality than my EcoBoost's Pirelli all-season tires (the ones that came with the Black Accent Package). This goes for the 18" x 8.5 and 19" x 8.5 wheels. I honestly couldn't tell the difference with ride quality, comfort, or quietness between the two. (I will pass on the 20s as I felt they were kind of unwieldy on bumpy roads, but more so I didn't like how the rims looked.)

2. If it wasn't the tires, then I think the S650's standard suspension must have been better damped. It soaked up harsh bumps noticeably better and didn't feel as stiff as my EcoBoost, but it was still firm enough to not feel floaty at all.

3. The 10A shifts significantly smoother, both in Normal and Sport+. On a related note, throttle response is so much smoother and straightforward for me with the 5.0 compared to the 2.3. I would dare say the GT is easier to drive consistently than the EcoBoost, at least with an auto transmission. Definitely daily-driver worthy in my humble opinion.

4. Brakes seem a little more difficult to execute a chauffeur-style stop (I think that's what it's called when the car stops so smoothly it's virtually imperceptible). But that could just be something that improves over time and familiarity.

 

[BoostRabbitGT]

...265 or 275/40R18. I could do 265 or 275/40R19 as well...

Okay, I think I just realized that 265 or 275 is referring to the tire width, and 40 is referring to the tire diameter. I had them mixed up the entire time. Yikes...

On a related note, when I try to configure tire/wheel setups on Discount Tire/Tire Rack's websites, there are significantly less options available for the non-PP 19" wheels (I get more than plenty for the 18" wheels). Why is that, and should I be looking elsewhere for tire or wheel combination setups?

 

[BoostRabbitGT]

The 40 is sidewall height as % of width. So a 275/40 has a deeper sidewall (thus bigger OD) than a 265/40.

Thank you for the explanation.

So to sum up, for a more comfortable/quiet ride, should I be looking for a tire with less width and more sidewall height on a square setup? (Still debating whether to go 18" or 19" on the wheels. And I'm sorry for being so slow to understand this whole tire/wheel setup thing.)

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