Junk the stock tires & wheels on your E. Try 235/70/16 Goodyear Fortera tires(largest tire mountable w/o rubbing) and 16" alloy wheels(Mine are TSW's...Awesome!!(don't go with a bigger wheel size. All you get is a bumpy ride & more chance to break a wheel)
This is the biggest, best,& badest combo for the E.You gain an inch in height & an inch in width. It looks as tough as a Hummer, rides like a sports car & you can sleep in it!! ...I love this car....rear deflector and custom interior coming....A"Quit yer whinin' " sticker on the back glass & a few fake bullet holes in the side panels gives this car the respect it deserves. I'm new to this website & don't know how to post a pic. Respond w/email address and I'll send u1. But I warn you. Once you see this ride, you will sell your mother to get the money for these wheels & tires........pablo

You're preaching to the choir brother. Do a search, some of us, myself included, have been riding on 235/70/16 tires for well over 2 years now. The tire is an inch taller but you only gain a half inch more clearance. Look thru the "Under the Hood" section for PLENTY of discussions on switching to larger tires.


http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9145/mine3jp.jpg
Thanks to CAI88 for taking this pic of mine in front of the Honda plant where it was born.:D

thank for the pic of the black E. It looks okay. But of course, I think mine blows it away.

I wonder why this owner
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showpost.php?p=170663&postcount=23
found his new 235/70/16's a bit sloppy.

Does the size of the tire actually make a difference in handling, or is the brand and model of tire, or is there a strong subjective factor to tire opinions? In the tirerack surveys the Firestone Indy 500 rates a bit higher than the Fortera (although they are in slightly different categories.

May it is the new wheels that make the difference in handling :)

paulj

paulj
yes, the tire size makes a BIG difference in handling . The Fortera tire was specifically made for suv's. These tires make my e handle like a porsche and the raised white letters look great! But choose your wheel carefully(stay w/16") There not just to hold the tires on! I looked at a thousand wheels before choosing and because of all that research, I now have the coolest e I have personally ever seen..... pablo

new pic the rest of car is coming...

Hello everybody! I'm happy to be here amongst other E owners. I've been lurking the last few days to catch up a bit before posting.

giftbox, you and me, we gots the same ride. (ie year, model, and color) Weird that we joined this forum at the same time, no? Anyway, you seem pretty sure of yourself about your E being so great. I haven't seen any beefy SOPs yet, so I can't wait to see pics. Also, have you seen Empire's E before he changed his look? Very sweet! (not that its bad, now) Also, I bet that he's got you beat in the interior dept.:cool:

On to the tires. I'm not sure if they look better than the BFG TA/KOs w/ white letters out. I am going to Alaska for the winter, so I will likely pick the best All Season tire, with the best snow performance. Also, have you seen the fatter tire/ Jeep look of going with the smaller 15" rims?

how ya doin'

I've tried to post pics. Tried all formats. Attachments just keep coming up invalid file. My wheels & tires ARE awesome. I've got great pics but this websight won't accept them. Best I can do is send a pic if you leave an email. Maybe just as well. The look I got is not for the sheep......pablo

You have to first upload your image to somewhere. Then put the URL between these little guys [/URL].

I'll try:

[IMG]http://www.ericharshbarger.org/lego/images/3_small_things/element_3.jpg
Sorry so big. I just found it on the web.

You can upload them here, to "Image Shack.us". (http://imageshack.us/) I've never used it before, but it looks easy enough.

I tried uploading as suggested. That websight didn't like my pics either. Such a shame. My E.'s new "shoes" are friggin' beautiful.... :grin:

paulj
yes, the tire size makes a BIG difference in handling . The Fortera tire was specifically made for suv's. These tires make my e handle like a porsche ...


I wonder if my 225/70/16 tires make my e handle half way like a porsche. :) Since I've never driven a Porsche I have no way of comparing the handling.

I wonder if it is the width or the profile of your tires that makes the difference. On the 'tire testimonials' sticky thread there are several posts that rave about improved handling with 236/60/16 tires (performance tires), e.g.
Kumho KH 11 http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showpost.php?p=90245&postcount=11
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showpost.php?p=102449&postcount=49
Falken ZE512 http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showpost.php?p=83555&postcount=4
Then there's the guy who just bought Forteras, but made the 'mistake' of sticking with the stock width and stock rims. He did put the white letters out, though. :)
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showpost.php?p=171039&postcount=1

Wait, I thought there was no substitute? :roll:

giftbox, what format are your pic(s) in? jpeg, gif, tmp, tiff? Maybe you need to convert it (them) to one of the supported formats.

Junk the stock tires & wheels on your E. Try 235/70/16 Goodyear Fortera tires(largest tire mountable w/o rubbing) and 16" alloy wheels(Mine are TSW's...Awesome!!(don't go with a bigger wheel size. All you get is a bumpy ride & more chance to break a wheel)
This is the biggest, best,& badest combo for the E.You gain an inch in height & an inch in width. It looks as tough as a Hummer, rides like a sports car & you can sleep in it!! ...I love this car....rear deflector and custom interior coming....A"Quit yer whinin' " sticker on the back glass & a few fake bullet holes in the side panels gives this car the respect it deserves. I'm new to this website & don't know how to post a pic. Respond w/email address and I'll send u1. But I warn you. Once you see this ride, you will sell your mother to get the money for these wheels & tires........pablo

People have mounted 225/75s without rubbing. That's larger than the 235/70.

to upload your pics:

you have to make them less than 160kb in size. use photo-something.

jpgs look best.

then click the 'manage attachments' button and they will load.

225/75/16 tires have a larger diameter, but are a bit narrower both in section width (225) and treadwidth. However the relation between section width and treadwidth varies among brands and models.

paulj

Paulj writes:
Then there's the guy who just bought Forteras, but made the 'mistake' of sticking with the stock width and stock rims. He did put the white letters out, though.

I made the decision to go with the "inferior" oem size tires.
After much consideration on tire size, I decided not to raise the center of gravity. IMO, whatever benefit might be gained by a 1/2" clearence gain will be offset by less cornering performance.

"handling" as it is generically referred to as, is a quality dictated by many factors. suspension, weight and center of gravity all play a role, but when talking tires--width and sidewall profile are key. a larger wheel, with a shorter sidewall profile (i.e. +1, +2 setups) will allow for more precise cornering. small wheels and tall sidewalls are not made for handling. you have to decide what you're going to use your car for. an e is decidedly NOT a sports car, but that doesn't mean it can't benefit from a little tuning. someone mentioned larger wheels are more likely to "break". what the heck are you doing that you would risk breaking a wheel? dang.

... someone mentioned larger wheels are more likely to "break". what the heck are you doing that you would risk breaking a wheel? dang.

Haven't done it recently but I have certainly bent alloy wheels (with low profile tires) as a result of hitting potholes. I was surprised how easy it was to do. I don't think there is much of a risk if you use 70 profile tires.

thank for the pic of the black E. It looks okay. But of course, I think mine blows it away.
i've never seen this thread before but i'm surprised no one got on him for making a comment like that....he seems very obsessed with himself, and his E, claiming its so much better than everyone elses, being very close-minded, yet has no pictures to back it up. strange guy...

i've never seen this thread before but i'm surprised no one got on him for making a comment like that....he seems very obsessed with himself, and his E, claiming its so much better than everyone elses, being very close-minded, yet has no pictures to back it up. strange guy...

Yeah I thought that was sort of a crappy little comment too. I mean, we all personalize our E's the way we see fit, but when someone says "yeah, you are right, bigger tires do make a difference", its sort of weird to come back with "yeah, your's is ok but mine is better".

Oh well, maybe he can figure out how to post pictures on the internets and we can see how truly fantastic his E is.

Tact! It's priceless.

[ ] Real person with a really nifty E.
[x] Lurker



I believe it was the bullet hole stickers that swayed my vote...:rolleyes:

I agree. Brags a lot, says his Element is better than everyone elses...

No pitures, go figure.

I think someone is trying to get under our skin.

I believe it was the bullet hole stickers that swayed my vote...:rolleyes:
And here I was just thinkin that if I got myself some of those decals I'd have the "baddest" E on the road - well next to giftbox's anyway.
I don't want to sell my mother to get his wheels and tires tho - guess I'll just have to remain one of the lowly "sheep" without "respect".

I work in venice and have never seen a E that "blows me away". Troll me thinks. :-D

I wonder why this owner
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showpost.php?p=170663&postcount=23
found his new 235/70/16's a bit sloppy.

Does the size of the tire actually make a difference in handling, or is the brand and model of tire, or is there a strong subjective factor to tire opinions? In the tirerack surveys the Firestone Indy 500 rates a bit higher than the Fortera (although they are in slightly different categories.

May it is the new wheels that make the difference in handling :)

paulj

It's that Obecalp Effect again. No, Thanks, my original tires are just fine and actually what I expect.

Oh well, maybe he can figure out how to post pictures on the internets and we can see how truly fantastic his E is.
You are all welcome to post and host as many E pics as you like here:

http://element.textamerica.com/

You can send them via email with any comments you want along with the image (subject = title, body = description) to element.mob@tamw.com