When you drive on the larger tires, your odometer reads lower than the actual distance travelled, so if it read, say 280 miles you might have really travelled 300. Then when you calculate mileage it comes out too low.
I have 19's on my tC right now. The odometer would still think I have 17's on from the manuafacturer. If my odo reads that I've only travelled 100, would that mean that I had already travelled 120 miles?
So, larger wheels wouldn't really equates to worst gas mileage, right?
__________________ 2006 RS2.0 tC #0540 on May 3, 2006
TRD Supercharged on Aug 25, 2006
SOLD on Jan 5, 2008
When you drive on the larger tires, your odometer reads lower than the actual distance travelled, so if it read, say 280 miles you might have really travelled 300. Then when you calculate mileage it comes out too low.
I have 19's on my tC right now. The odometer would still think I have 17's on from the manuafacturer. If my odo reads that I've only travelled 100, would that mean that I had already travelled 120 miles?
So, larger wheels wouldn't really equates to worst gas mileage, right?
It's not the wheels themselves that make such a statement true, but the overal diameter of the tire. If you upgrade to larger wheels, but also go with a tire that has a lower aspect ratio, it's often possible to maintain the same overall diameter as stock, such that your speedo and odo are both still accurate. As is, the statement would only be true if the overall diameter was increased.
As for gas mileage, the same as implied above is true. If the new wheel/tire combo has the same overall diameter and weight as stock, then your gas mileage should stay the same. However, if your overall diameter increases with the upgrade, then it's more likely you'll get better gas mileage (not worse), because you'll be turning lower RPMs for a given speed.
You MAY get better mpg depending on your driving. It will take more power to turn a larger tire so if you do lots of city driving you will most likely get worse milage. If you do a lot of highway driving then you could get better. The other issue with taller tires is that you normally end up with wider tires also which means more rubber on the road and less mpg.