16" or 17" Wheels

[Busdriver]

I'm looking for opinions from users of both. Background: I'm moving from NC to OH. The roads are probably going to be worse (although I'm
starting to wonder).. When I found the car, it still had the original 17" Hankook NRF. Since I obviously will need to switch to an all season, I am looking for
the best size for an all season ride, and also handling performance. Right now the car, IMHO, feels top heavy when pushed through corners/curves.
I'm going to try and stay with an EV tire.
I realize I am starting a Lite Beer Commercial.

 

[Puppethead]

I drive 17" summer wheels and 16" winter wheels. I'd guess the 16" wheel is probably going to provide more cushion since the sidewall is wider on 16". I also think the wheels themselves are going to be the most important factor. 17" are likely to be heavier, but it all depends on the specific wheel design. There's also the amount of drag from the openings in the wheels to consider.

 

[Jkoya]

There's also the amount of drag from the openings in the wheels to consider.

I agree and have an example of this. I had a 2018 Tesla Model 3 Performance that came with 20" wheels, which had a spoke design with smaller openings. The factory wheels came with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S summer only tires. I then purchased a set of Titan7 forged wheels. The wheels were 18" in size and weighed basically 10 lbs less per wheel, for a total decrease in weight of almost 40 lbs. However, the design of the Titan7 forged wheels was an open "Y" spoke design and I had Michelin Cross Climate tires installed. I was hoping for a zero or a small decrease in range. What I expereinced was an almost 11% reduction in range. So, the decrease in weight was not enough to overcome the extra drag of the Michelin Cross Climate tires and the open spoke design. Just before selling the car, I put the factory wheels/tires back on and the range went back up.

For the 2023 Mini Cooper SE, I took off the Powerspoke wheels with the Hankooks (stored safely in the garage) and bought a cheapy set of wheels from TireRack in the same size (could not find any used factory wheels for sale near me) . I then had Continental DWS06+ tires installed and I'm currently observing a slight decrease in range (maybe 3%). The decrease was worth it as I like the Continental DWS06+ tires much, much more than the Hankooks that came with the car.

 

[insightman]

I'm looking for opinions from users of both. Background: I'm moving from NC to OH. The roads are probably going to be worse (although I'm
starting to wonder).. When I found the car, it still had the original 17" Hankook NRF. Since I obviously will need to switch to an all season, I am looking for
the best size for an all season ride, and also handling performance. Right now the car, IMHO, feels top heavy when pushed through corners/curves.
I'm going to try and stay with an EV tire.
I realize I am starting a Lite Beer Commercial.

My Iconic-trim 2021 MINI Cooper SE (built in 2020) came with the SE's unique 17" MINI Power Spoke wheels and Hankook summer performance tires. Even before my MINI was delivered (after a 51-week wait), I was worried about surrendering any yellow paint from the Power Spoke wheels to an undeserving curb.

So I found some nice, used 16" MINI Loop Spoke wheels already wearing slightly used Hankook summer performance tires. The Power Spokes now come out of the basement and onto my MINI only one or two days a year for Drive Electric Week events. Sadly, those 17" tires with less than 1,000 miles of wear will be out-of-date all too soon.

After the swap, I was immediately happier with the more comfortable ride provided by the taller sidewalls of the 16" tires. The streets of my city are quite potholed, so improved comfort was important. I may have sacrificed a bit of cornering grip with the smaller/narrower tires, but I never corner fast enough to break them free, so it was a good tradeoff IMO.

I later purchased another set of used Loop Spoke wheels for my winter tires. Inexplicably, my wife does not believe 3 sets of wheels/tires for a single car makes sense!