SAC1 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 07, 2020 9:44 pm
When new cars are developed their engineers optimise the wheel size for each specific model. This is invariably a smaller diameter than their Sales & Marking people want to see on their press fleet.
Car designers and marketing departments love large wheels and low suspensions. Car technicians prefer slightly smaller wheel sizes and higher suspensions.
Press cars can therefore be quite intriguing. They need something that looks great in the photos, but the last thing they want are reports about compromised handling.
I've been a subscriber to various car magazines for 20-odd years. Cars with large wheels and/or sports suspensions have constantly come in for criticism as they don't suit UK roads. Audi s-lines have come in for a particular bashing. The magazines ended up sounding like broken records on the subject!
Interestingly, with electric cars, car technicians are now going in a different direction. Wheel diameters (including the tyres) are increasing so that they roll better. Also wheel widths are getting narrower to help. This helps battery range. However the large wheels no doubt compromise handling, and the narrow tyres will compromise grip when accelerating, braking and steering.