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Ride quality with 19 inch wheels


nelso182

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I'm looking at buying a Fusion Titanium in the next few months and am wondering about the 19" wheels. I recently drove a Hybrid with 18" wheels, and the ride seemed to be very well balanced between handling and comfort (both noise and bumpiness) Has anyone driven both 18" and 19" versions? How much additional noise and bumpiness am I looking at if I go 19"?

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Keep in mind that the entire wheel/tire/suspension factory packages are tuned together which is why you can still get a good ride quality even with 22s. Now if you're adding 19s or 20s or 22s to a vehicle that came with 17s or if you're going to aftermarket wheels and tires then you might get different results.

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I have the 19" Y spokes and can confirm that the ride is great and very comfortable. Also, I live in a cold area with less that perfect quality roads and pavement. If ride quality is your only concern between 18 and 19" I would say that you need not worry.

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I've had both the 18" and 19" tires on different MKZs (2013 models). IMO it is a more bumpier and more noisy ride driving on the 19" tires. I noticed this immediately after switching although now that it's been a while, I don't notice it. Unless you need the quietest and smoothest ride, you'll probably not be bothered by the difference. You should probably take the one with 18s on a 20 minute drive then hop in the one with 19s and drive it down the same roads. Although boring, you would probably want to turn the radio down for part of the drive. I know these (Fusion verses MKZ) are very different although similar vehicles. I think the Lincoln has some type of noise cancelling built into it. I don't know if the Fusion does.

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It'll be a little more harsh when going over speed bumps or hitting pothole. It's a great trade-off for how well they handle. My wife says, It's like a womens stiletto. They look hot as hell but at times not the most comfortable things. Sometimes looking good outweighs comfort.

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I don't think this is really an issue. If it were 19s that you were putting on a Fiesta, okay maybe there would be some sacrifice there. But the Fusion was designed with the 19s in mind. Ride quality is infinitely better than my old Acura TL, and that had 17s.

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I was wondering the same thing. I currently have a 2012 Focus Titanium with the 18" sports tires and I don't like the feel of it at all.

 

We test drove a Fusion with 18" and I loved how the handling felt. We ended up ordering a 2014 Fusion Titanium with the stock 18" tires as I assumed they would be better in snowy conditions. Personally I don't like the rims at all on the 18" but decided to go for better handling.

 

I was also told that the 19" would affect the MPG.

 

Would anyone NOT recommend buying 19" tires and replacing the current stock ones later?

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Keep in mind that the entire wheel/tire/suspension factory packages are tuned together which is why you can still get a good ride quality even with 22s. Now if you're adding 19s or 20s or 22s to a vehicle that came with 17s or if you're going to aftermarket wheels and tires then you might get different results.

Yep - Ford spends a ton of money engineering the entire package...............it goes awry when Johnny McAmateur starts messing with the package.

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  • 5 weeks later...

I know Mazda has documented in their catalogs that they test wheels to make sure they give the best ride. I would assume that all manufacturers would do that since a lousy ride will show up on quality surveys, which a lot of people take into consideration when buying cars.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've had my fusion with 19" wheels now for a week. The ride quality seems ok to me. Although I've been driving a GMC Envoy for 10 years, so maybe i'm just used to bumps. I would say that there is some noise on larger bumps, but I think that has to do with the lower profile tire than anything. Maybe it would be better with a higher profile tire?

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