When car manufacturers introduced urban crossovers, a new design trend was born along with a new segment: large-diameter rims with low-profile tires began to be installed on models with higher ground clearance and off-road body finishing. Until then, 17- to 18-inch rims seemed really big, and with crossovers, 19- to 21-inch rims came to the market.
The most interesting thing is that the skeptics who drew a fat minus to this trend and called it a "comfort killer" are not necessarily right. This is proven by manufacturers applying clever engineering solutions, for whom comfort is inseparable from their name. For example, Citroën has been integrating innovative suspension solutions into the cars it develops for many years, which allows even everyday models to ensure comfort while preserving eye-pleasing design rims.
Buyers of cars with large rims, often with low-profile tires, praise their choice and assure that such models are really comfortable. It is convenient to get in and out, drive over the edge of the sidewalk, overcome more serious bumps, they say, they are better damped. In addition, many note that such cars simply look better.
Their words are confirmed by experts. According to specialists, car manufacturers who introduce innovations are working consistently so that a tribute to appearance does not turn into a funeral for comfort.
Donating is something
Engineer and chassis specialist Domas Zinkevičius makes no secret of the fact that the choice to install lower-profile tires and larger rims on cars always means that you will have to drive harder.
"A lower profile tire will always create more force to the car's body when going over bumps in the road. What does this mean? More noise, bigger hits and stuff. If we compare a tire with a lower profile to a tire with a higher profile, we will see that the latter is always more comfortable," he explains.
The situation is similar with outgrown rims. Because making a larger rim requires more material, which, of course, means that the rim will be heavier.
It is not difficult to feel that comfort has been sacrificed for beauty. For example, it is taken for granted that SUVs with a higher ground clearance must drive particularly comfortably. However, more than one driver could testify that after a ride with some city SUVs, you don't want to get back into them: the chassis are designed to be extremely rigid, so you not only have to endure shocks to the suspension, vibrations and tremors, but also a lot of noise throughout the trip. Fortunately, a number of manufacturers have solutions to this problem.
"Anyway, when going over bumps, more mass could create less downforce because it could absorb some of the shock itself. But when we have a set, when both the rim is bigger and the tire has a lower profile, all this increases and comfort is lost", says the chassis expert. That, he said, will come while looking at how the road interacts with the wheel and not looking at the suspension.
There is no shortage of solutions
Due to such solutions, the suspension has to withstand more and do more to ensure comfort in the car. D. Zinkevičius emphasizes that manufacturers really work hard so that car buyers don't have to feel that the car's comfortable features had to be sacrificed for a better appearance.
"Various solutions are being developed, a lot of attention is paid to optimizing the entire system in terms of comfort, because the problem is that the force of the wheels is increasing. This means that both the shock absorber, the upper mounts of the shock absorbers and the bodies are optimized to cope with this," the interviewer explains.
According to him, car bodies are constantly stiffening, shock absorbers and their springs are softening, so they are looking for other ways to improve car handling. For example, Mercedes-Benz has been using adaptive chassis in its cars for many years and makes them "smart" by implementing technologies that scan the road surface and adapt the chassis' work.
For many years, manufacturers such as Audi or BMW have installed buttons in places convenient for the driver, allowing to change the behavior of the chassis according to whim and mood: electrically adjustable suspension elements ensure that driving can be extremely stiff, sporty and extremely comfortable in the same car. , allowing you to navigate the road.
In addition, according to D. Zinkevičius, it should also be appreciated that the roads are improving all over the world, so the task that car manufacturers have to overcome becomes a little easier.
"It's true that we all like bigger rims better, and when we like something, we somehow justify that choice in our head. This is how psychology works," smiles the engineer.
From premium to economy
Another reason why manufacturers' decision to create visually more beautiful cars with larger rims and lower tires does not upset their buyers is the rapid development of technology and their consistent decrease in price.
"It is absolutely true that with each new model generation, manufacturers try to put more new technologies into the car. Technologies are going downhill, in other words, they are first presented only in the luxury segment, and in the long run they also appear in cheaper, economy class models", explains D. Zinkevičius.
More and more, we are seeing everyday cars hitting the roads with air or electric suspensions, the stiffness of which can be adjusted with a few buttons just by sitting at the wheel. Here is Citroën, year after year perhaps the most focused on the comfort of cars, at the beginning of the company's existence, it developed a hydropneumatic chassis system that allowed everyone who bought mass-market models to enjoy a very comfortable ride.
Modern Citroen models such as the C4 have hydraulic shock absorbers. Additional valves inside them allow you to change the properties of the shock absorbers depending on how much the suspension is compressed.
The performance of such shock absorbers is best revealed when driving over potholes when the car's chassis is activated, because they control the spring rejection. In other words, when the car jumps and descends to the limiter, Citroën's hydraulic shock absorber system ensures that the shock absorber gradually hardens, thus softening the impact on the chassis.
An analogous chassis system is also installed in the new Citroën C5 Aircross. When driving on a rough road, hydraulic shock absorbers in its suspension absorb larger and smaller shocks so that the car's passengers do not feel them. The car manufacturer, which has been most concerned about comfort since the beginning of the company, emphasizes that this technology makes it possible to drive dynamically and at the same time pleasantly.
"In the end, there are also supports, rubber with oil inside them, which dampens shocks to the suspension, and the like," says D. Zinkevičius about simpler, but no less beneficial solutions that allow drivers to enjoy the view while looking at a car with larger rims and not lose comfort while driving.
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