Corolla with 16-inch wheels

[vonkhaled]

Hi everyone!

I've had my Corolla (1.8 Hybrid) since june and driven 17000 km (~10000 miles). My car was delivered with 17-inch summer tyres on Falken's 225/45R17 and now when winter is closing in I bought a new set of winter tyres (+ alu wheels) on Pirelli's (205/55R16). I started noticing that the car behaved differently in terms of predominantly brake feel. I can't seem to ever brake smoothly like I used to (I've checked many times if the brake system is touching the inside of the wheels, but nothing seems to be out of order). Also the car feels so heavy and sluggish, acceleration is not as smooth anymore. I did have som vibrations in the steering wheels aswell and got the wheels balanced yesterday at Toyota, no vibrations anymore but brakes still feel weird + heavy and sluggish feeling. 

What should I do? I know some of you have 16-inch, have you noticed any of the above?

 

[BigPoppaSLO]

I was told by my dealer that models that come with 17 or 18 inch as standard have different steering rack as the models with 16 inch wheels. Don`t know if this is true or not but it would be a thing to consider with your problems....

For example i have Sol model which comes as standard with the same wheels as yours and i am not allowed to put 16 inch wheels on it, in homologation documents the only allowed dimensions are 225/45/17 and 225/40/18,

[vonkhaled]

3 hours ago, BigPoppaSLO said:

I was told by my dealer that models that come with 17 or 18 inch as standard have different steering rack as the models with 16 inch wheels. Don`t know if this is true or not but it would be a thing to consider with your problems....

For example i have Sol model which comes as standard with the same wheels as yours and i am not allowed to put 16 inch wheels on it, in homologation documents the only allowed dimensions are 225/45/17 and 225/40/18,

Thansk for the reply! I find it odd that Toyota didn't say anything (if this is the case), when I was there yesterday getting them balanced. 

I have to give them a call to confirm 

[oldcodger]

Hi,

You have changed the wheel size and  also the tyre sizes so likely you will have affected the cars geometry.

Just google "steering geometry and wheel size" for various explanations.

You have possibly also  invalidated your car insurance , unless you have already advised them of such a change ?   - Summer to winter tyres ok as I understand it, but different tyre sizes and different wheels rims from the original, you need to inform them to avoid any future problems.

[vonkhaled]

I was in contact with Toyota and this is the answer I got (translated from swedish):

Quote

 

Yes 205 / 55-16 is the correct winter tyre for the Corolla

The problem you are experiencing may be a product feature of the Pirelli tyre. It is a very soft tire so the car can feel "spongy" to drive when it is mild outside

That tyre works better when the temperature drops below zero ... so not very optimally right down here (south of Sweden)in my opinion... Although it is a Nordic friction tyre

 

 

[TonyHSD]

Hi, that is a typical behaviour of a car when you come from summer to winter tyres and you are changing the size too,  even more noticeable. Your car is fairly new so no need to worry too much about anything and even if steering racks are different between the different engine sizes  steering response will be sharper nothing more, take it easy with the steering. You need to get use to how the car behaves, probably with the time, and yes hybrid cars are much more worse to drive with winter tyres than with summer, they just roll differently a lot more drag that cause that feeling. All you need to do is to keep them at correct air pressure and allow more stopping distance especially in dry and warmer weather. When you drive on wet and cold the winter tyres are becoming more enjoyable and when you have snow and ice than you will be happy again. If that model comes with that size in any other engine sizes specs than you can easily fit them to your trim level, as long as your brake callipers allowed wheel to be fitted.

Which Pirelli winter model did you fit? Out of interest. 
Regards 

[vonkhaled]

2 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Hi, that is a typical behaviour of a car when you come from summer to winter tyres and you are changing the size too,  even more noticeable. Your car is fairly new so no need to worry too much about anything and even if steering racks are different between the different engine sizes  steering response will be sharper nothing more, take it easy with the steering. You need to get use to how the car behaves, probably with the time, and yes hybrid cars are much more worse to drive with winter tyres than with summer, they just roll differently a lot more drag that cause that feeling. All you need to do is to keep them at correct air pressure and allow more stopping distance especially in dry and warmer weather. When you drive on wet and cold the winter tyres are becoming more enjoyable and when you have snow and ice than you will be happy again. If that model comes with that size in any other engine sizes specs than you can easily fit them to your trim level, as long as your brake callipers allowed wheel to be fitted.

Which Pirelli winter model did you fit? Out of interest. 
Regards 

Thanks for the input! I bough these: Pirelli Winter Ice Zero FR 

I do hope that I will get used to them, otherwise I have to change them. 

[TonyHSD]

Lol, these are Nordic winter tyres, not European winter tyres but either of those will make your car behave exactly the same way, it is because of the rolling resistance and tread profile. Even you change to eu winter tyres you are not going to notice much of improvement if any at all. This tyres look very good to me, if it’s me I will definitely keep them. 
Regards 

[bewA]

Don't you have to ensure you have the same wheel rolling circumference when changing alloys and tyres?

e.g. do you have the same size tyre as you'd find on a Corolla that comes with 16" wheels e.g. icon-tech?

[rafletcher]

34 minutes ago, bewA said:

Don't you have to ensure you have the same wheel rolling circumference when changing alloys and tyres?

e.g. do you have the same size tyre as you'd find on a Corolla that comes with 16" wheels e.g. icon-tech?

205/55/16 are the equivalent size to say 225/40/18 (excel) or 225/45/17  Icon Tech..  See here..   https://tiresize.com/comparison/

They're not exact, but close enough.

 

 

[TonyHSD]

He did absolutely brilliant job, this is the exact size, wheels and tyres are great too. He is not use to the car behaviour, there are two major differences here : summer-winter tyres and sizes 225/45 17 - 205/55 16, I only change the tyres on my car keeping same alloys and size but immediately after change the car feels so different and so bad in acceleration and braking that I stop and double check if everything is OK, Winter tyres are good and comfortable in temperatures below 10C where the summer becomes hard as plastic the winter one remains soft and gripping. The difference in fuel consumption is only around 5mpg plus the cold weather another 5mpg but the safety and comfort are most important, efficiency comes second.