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Comparing the stock tires on Pro versus FE

12K views 50 replies 17 participants last post by  Mark Magiera 
Ouch, $300 per tire for the Hankook (at least that is the front tires, guessing the 255s are even more).

Not a lot of options on Tirerack in ID.4 19" sizes - guessing if car becomes popular, more companies will come out with tires that suit the car.
I don't think the outlook is great for that because we already have a wide range of 19-20" SUV tires and they aren't significantly less expensive. My 20" Touareg tires, for example, were $1000 from Costco after $250 off during a Christmas sale. They're wider than my ID4 tires, but that gives you an idea of around +/- $50 per tire.
 
If the front brake calipers are not to large to hit the wheel, then 18" would work. The ID4 would get slightly better fuel economy with an 18" wheel with a low profile tire. But the car would have less ground clearance. I do not know if smaller wheel would change the steering geometry.
A low profile tire would have stiffer sidewalls and heavier composition so I'm not sure how much better economy low profile sidewalls specifically would provide.

Generally, the wheel would have the same overall size but you'd have a smaller rim (less weight, less unsprung mass) so would obtain some economy there. That said, standard VW 18" SUV wheels are not likely to be aero so it might be a wash.
 
Let me give you real world example of how tire/wheel size can make a difference in economy: I just sold my 2019 Hyundai Ioniq Limited with 225-45R-17 tires that had an EPA fuel economy rating of 54/55, but the same car with the 195-65R-15 tires had an EPA economy rating of 57/59.
That's trading low profile, wider tires for standard sidewall, thinner tires. One is a high performance tire and the other is an economy tire. The rolling diameters of the tires (the size when you're looking at them from the side), however, are equal (25").

I didn't say going to smaller tires won't improve economy. I pointed out that low-profile tires specifically are not likely to improve economy because of how the sidewall and tire is constructed in comparison to a standard sidewall tire. The fronts for an ID4 would be 255/55R18 and the rears would be 235/60R18 (slightly smaller diameter) or 245/60R18 (slightly larger diameter); closest match would be 285/50R18 but that's a low-profile sidewall (with a significantly wider contact patch) so I wouldn't recommend it for economy purposes.
 
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