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An even more hardcore version of the super-successful Jaguar XF saloon is being readied By Jaguar. The car, likely to be dubbed Jaguar XFR-S (after last year’s XKR-S coupé) will be even more extreme than the 500bhp Jaguar XFR due to be launched at this week’s Detroit motor show.

The Jaguar XFR-S ditches the ‘integrated’ look of the XFR’s styling in favour of more overt wings, air dams, slots and skirts, all derived from extensive aero testing and aimed at giving the XFR-S class-leading hi...Read the full article

Like the idea of the car, but one question....  Why 21" wheels?

I am guessing this is at the request of the marketing department, rather than engineering.

Where does this wheel size madness stop?

TegTypeR:

Why 21" wheels?

I am guessing this is at the request of the marketing department, rather than engineering.

Where does this wheel size madness stop?

 

 

Why are you so against having big alloys on a car, I am sure every thread I have seen you are always moaning about the size of wheels, big alloys provide advantages as well and not just in terms of looks,

advantages

Alloy wheels have greater advantage over the traditional types of wheels made of steel. Some of the key advantages are as follows:

• The key advantage of alloy wheels is their light weight. Being lighter than steel, these wheels deliver better performance and fuel efficiency.

• Alloy wheels help offer better maneuvering of the car.

• Weight plays a vital role in achieving greater car speed. As these are lighter than steel, it increases possibilities of the car to reach higher speed.

• These are better heat conductors and thereby improve heat dissipation from brakes. This further helps to minimize the chances of brake failure.

• These also help improve steering and provide greater braking.

• Alloy wheels are comparatively wider and hence improve the traction between the wheel and the road. Even in case of demanding driving conditions, these wheels help improve stability.

• These are also easy to clean and maintain.

 I know there are some disadvantages like a harder ride etc but I cant be bothered to go through that becuase the majority of people like big alloys for many reasons.

 

moe360:

Why are you so against having big alloys on a car, I am sure every thread I have seen you are always moaning about the size of wheels, big alloys provide advantages as well and not just in terms of looks,

advantages

Alloy wheels have greater advantage over the traditional types of wheels made of steel. Some of the key advantages are as follows:

• The key advantage of alloy wheels is their light weight. Being lighter than steel, these wheels deliver better performance and fuel efficiency.

• Alloy wheels help offer better maneuvering of the car.

• Weight plays a vital role in achieving greater car speed. As these are lighter than steel, it increases possibilities of the car to reach higher speed.

• These are better heat conductors and thereby improve heat dissipation from brakes. This further helps to minimize the chances of brake failure.

• These also help improve steering and provide greater braking.

• Alloy wheels are comparatively wider and hence improve the traction between the wheel and the road. Even in case of demanding driving conditions, these wheels help improve stability.

• These are also easy to clean and maintain.

 I know there are some disadvantages like a harder ride etc but I cant be bothered to go through that becuase the majority of people like big alloys for many reasons.

Interesting - you have ago at the previous poster for complaining about big alloys, then you launch into a defence of why alloys are really good, yet not a peep as to why BIG alloys are good.

Oversized wheels (i.e. wheels that are out of visual proportion to the vehicle), be they alloy or steel, look stupid, ruin the ride and handling, lead to increased road noise, sap more power (greater rolling resistance, more steering effort). They have little or no impact on high-speed stability - this aspect is taken care of by (amongst other things) an aerodynamic body and well designed suspension and steering systems. Your claims that alloys lead to improved braking, improvedsteering and higher top speeds are too preposterous and infantile to respond to.

I suspect you're about 19.4 years old and that you work at Halfords selling alloy wheels

Dan McNeil:

I suspect you're about 19.4 years old and that you work at Halfords selling alloy wheels

 

 I will get to your other comments later but I would like to correct your guess about me, 

iam 21 :) and no I dont work at Halfords Iam a graduate IT support analysts.

I ll have to find some more information to counter your argument.....

moe360:

Dan McNeil:

I suspect you're about 19.4 years old and that you work at Halfords selling alloy wheels

 

 I will get to your other comments later but I would like to correct your guess about me, 

iam 21 :) and no I dont work at Halfords Iam a graduate IT support analysts.

A remarkably close guess then.

Alloy wheels first came in because they offered the advantage of lower unsprung weight compared with steel wheels. I've got no idea how big an advantage that was or whether it's even an advantage that is maintained by modern designs of alloys which seem mainly to be designed for appearance rather than function.

From material to size; whatever else they do, bigger wheels certainly b*gger up ride comfort and this is especially noticable on rough UK roads.

As to why 21 inch wheels are fitted? At a guess, because 22 inch wheels weren't available or if they were, they didn't fit. Why do the manufacturers persist with this idiocy?

They do it because it enhances the look, which in most cases it does, altho if there too big they look horrible

Alloy wheels are not light Ever tryed to pick up a 19 inch wheel it will break ur back!!.

I dont think there is much of a difference with steel and alloy. My car has a full size steel spare that is lighter than the alloys fitted!! Done for looks.!

This test of the existing top XF (4.2 V8 supercharged) has just appeared in the online version of Germany's top-selling news magazine:

http://www.spiegel.de/auto/fahrberichte/0,1518,599638,00.html

As anyone who reads German will confirm, the write-up is highly complimentary (it's quite hard for British cars to get a fair hearing in the German media) except for one main criticsim; the cr*p ride comfort, which is blamed on the big 20 inch wheels and their low profile tyres.

 

moe360:

iam 21 :) and no I dont work at Halfords Iam a graduate IT support analysts.

Suggest you toddle off and "analyst" automobile design and mechanical engineering.

moe360:

I ll have to find some more information to counter your argument.....

Argument can be countered, facts can't. Like I said, go and do some research. And no, that doesn't mean reading car brochures...

moe360:

Why are you so against having big alloys on a car, I am sure every thread I have seen you are always moaning about the size of wheels, big alloys provide advantages as well and not just in terms of looks,

advantages

Alloy wheels have greater advantage over the traditional types of wheels made of steel. Some of the key advantages are as follows:

• The key advantage of alloy wheels is their light weight. Being lighter than steel, these wheels deliver better performance and fuel efficiency.

• Alloy wheels help offer better maneuvering of the car.

• Weight plays a vital role in achieving greater car speed. As these are lighter than steel, it increases possibilities of the car to reach higher speed.

• These are better heat conductors and thereby improve heat dissipation from brakes. This further helps to minimize the chances of brake failure.

• These also help improve steering and provide greater braking.

• Alloy wheels are comparatively wider and hence improve the traction between the wheel and the road. Even in case of demanding driving conditions, these wheels help improve stability.

• These are also easy to clean and maintain.

 I know there are some disadvantages like a harder ride etc but I cant be bothered to go through that becuase the majority of people like big alloys for many reasons.

Larger alloys allow for larger brakes, the rest is all cosmetic. Larger alloys are heavier than smaller alloys, that's common sense unless they are made out of a different material. Cooling, cleaning and weight are dependant on design. Teg never asked about the advantages of using alloys over steel Besides Volkswagen used steel wheels on the Bluemotion Polo because they were lighter.

Bigger alloys = smaller tyre height = less bumps absorbed and a more fidgety ride quality. The 18-inch alloys on my Mercedes really spoiled the car's smooth riding nature, the terrible thing I'd done by ticking the option box only becoming obvious when my brother bought the same car but on standard 17-inch rims. The difference was night and day. You just have to ride in any souped-up BMW with 20-inch wheels and run flat tyres to know just how depressed it must make the suspension engineers feel to have their work undone like that. Have only seen two XFs ever. Can imagine not seeing even one XFR.