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PLUS SIZING

This guide is to explain plus sizing, when it comes to wheels and tires on your car. This guide should help you decide what size wheels are right for your car...

Plus sizing generally refers to going up a size in wheel. "Plus one" would be going up one inch from the OEM (original equiptment manufacturer) size wheel. So if you have a 15" wheel stock, you would be moving up to a 16" wheel. You can pretty much go to the limit on what your fenders can handle.

Plus one = going up one inch in wheel size

Plus two = going up two inches in wheel size

Plus three = going up three inches in wheel size

etc...

Now we all know, with 30" and bigger wheels out today, the sky is the limit on plus sizing. Although if you don't want to worry about recalibrating your speedometer, having the odometer off, or any other modifications to your car, you would generally want to stick with a similar overall diameter when plus sizing. As you go up in wheel size, you will have a smaller sidewall on your tire, which evens out the bigger wheel. This will allow a 20" wheel/tire to be the same overall diameter (or pretty close) as a 15" stock wheel/tire.

When you go up in wheel size you want to decrease the tire size to keep the same overall diameter. If you increase the rim diameter by one inch, you would increase section width of your tire by 10mm, and decrease the aspect ratio by 10 points... that may sound complicated, but it is not... For example..

A 225/55/16 tire would be a similar overall diameter to a 235/45/17 tire. That would be a 1 inch increase in diameter of rim (16" compared to 17"), 10mm difference in section width (225mm compared with 235mm), and 10 point decrease in aspect ratio (55 compared to 45). The 16" wheel and tire would be about 25.7" diameter, where the 17" wheel would be 25.3"... in this case, the 17" wheel/tire would actually be a little shorter then the 16"... but close enough you would never tell the difference.   

The reason changing tire will throw off your speedometer and odometer is because the larger a wheel is, the less it has to spin to go the same distance as a smaller wheel. For example, a wheel with a diameter of 13" might have to make 5 revolutions to go ten feet... a 22" wheel might have to make 2 revolutions to go ten feet. This is just for comparison, not actual measurements, but that should give you an idea. So as your wheels spin, the odometer increases your mileage on the car. If your car is calibrated for stock 15" wheels, your 22" wheels will make your odometer lower than the actual mileage. The speedometer will also be slower... take my word, I know this from experience of getting a speeding ticket... see reading my guide already saved you $70 : )

PLUS SIZING BENEFITS

Obviously, the most dramatic upgrade to your car is putting a new set of wheels on it. That can take your stock vehicle to a head turner in one step. The general consensus on changing wheels is bigger is better. Filling your wheel wells with shiny chrome is going to be a much better look than 5 inches of black sidewall from your stock tires. Larger wheels and tires will probably make the biggest difference in the look of your car when customizing. If you have a custom paint job, it just wouldn't look as nice with stock wheels, as a new set of 22's. You can take a car straight off a dealer showroom, and nobody would look twice at it... put a set of 20" chrome wheels on it, and watch people stare as you drive by. Wheels will definitely get your car attention.

Changing out your wheels can also give you a better handling due to a shorter sidewall. The sidewall on a low pro tire will flex less than a stock size tire, which will help to have more precise steering. Stiffer sidewalls will give you a faster steering response over stock wheels with large cushiony sidewalls. The large sidewalls on stock tires will sway more than stiff low pro tires, so it slows down the response time of your steering. This is another benefit to larger wheels, and smaller sidewalls.

Also, generally the bigger you go on wheels, the wider they will be. So this can also help in stopping distance due to a larger area of rubber contacting the ground. Imagine sliding an eraser over a piece of paper... an eraser on a pencil is much easier to slide, than one that is 6" wide. Compare this to tires, if you have 6" of tire sitting on the road, it would have a lot less grip than a 10" wide tire.

PLUS SIZING DRAWBACKS

Now, with all the advantages, you are probably ready to click on the "buy it now" button on your favorite wheel auction. Before you do, I want to point out some disadvantages as well... you probably wonder why I would want to detract you from buying wheels if I sell them... I try to help my customers make informed decisions on buying wheels, not trick them into buying the first set they look at. When buying larger wheels, the rotational mass changes. Usually larger wheels weigh more than stock wheels. This can work the brakes harder than stock wheels. So if you want to swap out your 15" stock wheels with a set of big 24" wheels, you may want to consider a brake upgrade as well. If you only make a small change, you may not notice a difference at all.

Another thing to consider would be the ride quality. When you put small profile tires on your wheels, you have less cushion from bumps and potholes on your wheels. Imagine the stock tires being like riding on a balloon, where the low pros are like riding on a rubber band... you can see where it would be a bumpier ride. These are just a couple things to consider when upgrading wheels and tires.

One last thing, would be speedometer change. If you change the diameter drastically it will throw off your speedometer... this can be fixed by recalibrating the speedometer, which can be done by most mechanics (or possibly yourself, if you have the know how). The general rule of thumb is to keep the diameter with 3% of your stock wheel and tire combo for the best results. If you keep within that range, you shouldn't have any problems with your speedometer being off.

Well, this comes to the end of another Wheels 4 You guide. Thanks to the suggestions of an eBay member for the idea for this guide. I hope this guide adds to your knowledge of custom wheels, and also gives you a better idea of what you are buying when you make your wheel purchase. As with all our guides, we take time to research and write the guides as a thank you to our customers. We hope you remember Wheels 4 You for all your wheel needs!

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