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I see some cars have wider tyres on the rear ie 195 or 205 then say 185 on the front. How does this affect handling. Is there any reason i can not put bigger rims on the back say 15 inch and 14 inch on the front. with 195 on the rear and 185 on the front. Which part makes the steering heavier the size of the rim or the width of the tyre ?

Hi there,
It is the width that makes handling heavier. There is more width of rubber in contact with the road. Better road holding with more width tho.
I have 12" steels on the front which being a lighter wheel aids lighter steering. So wide tyres with alloys would be ideal combination!

All the best.

Pete

even if you put alloys on with wide tyres your steering would still be heavy, even though physically if you took the wheel off and weighed it, it may be lighter than your original steel wheels and tyres the weight of the wheel and tyre combination makes no difference to how heavy your steering is, its the amount of contact the tye has to the floor that makes your steering heavy!

Yes. the lighter the wheel the (marginaly) lighter the steering compared to a heavier wheel. I have 145 x 12's on front and the steering is so much easier than with 13" ers. Those wheels weigh a ton!

Pete

Bigger wheels/tyres making steering harder is just simple physics.

More tyre in contact with the road, the higher the friction, etc.

Kelly