On Monday, May 8, 2017 at 1:45:24 PM UTC-4, Gordon Shumway wrote:
On Mon, 08 May 2017 13:17:47 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 08 May 2017 11:05:17 -0500, Gordon Shumway
wrote:

On Mon, 8 May 2017 08:12:47 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

Bigger wheel are as much for appearance as anything else. Remember when
they went to 14' for a while back in 1958? Made the car lower. The
larger diameter will give you more miles on he tires as it travels
further each revolution.

As for ride, most tires today have low aspect ratio. Good for cornering,
not so much for soft ride.

Not many convertibles to choose from thee days. Maybe they got better,
but I no longer drive Buicks after the last one fell apart. It was a
2001 LeSabre Limited loaded with espensive problems, as all my GM cars
had. I buy quality cars by Hyundia now including a Korea made Genesis.
Love driving it.

There are several reasons for larger diameter wheels, none of which is styling.

1. Larger diameter wheels allow larger diameter brake rotors that will result in a greater mechanical
advantage. This results in increased stopping power.

How much braking does the average driver require at legal road speeds?

That depends. Imagine you are traveling at 60 mph and you suddenly see an obstacle 150 feet in front of you.
Your reaction time decreases that distance to 125 feet and your car takes 130 feet to stop... do you really
need greater stopping power?


Imagine that your tires don't have infinite adhesion to the pavement
and that any braking system can lock up the brakes. In other words,
it's a lot more complicated than you assume.