Is there any reason to get the 19" wheels on an HSE?

[PaulLR3]

I'm considering getting a 2007 HSE and of course it comes with 19" wheels. I've read here that the 19" tire choices are very limited and Tire Rack's website confirmed that. I asked the dealer about getting an HSE with 18" wheels and the dealer is open to swapping wheels with an SE in stock. We'll be taking our LR3 offroad so I would prefer the taller sidewalls of the 18" tires. Plus, I'll have more replacement tire choices. Am I missing any reasons to stay with the 19" wheels?

 

[grommet]

Easy: No.

 

[jjvd21]

Aside from the HSE 19" wheels looking in my opinion way better than the others, no.

 

[duckdive]

Check out the recent post about 19" tire options and go to Nathan Woods's Next
Step Design site and you will see how many more options there are for 18" tires.

 

[davez26]

We'll be taking our LR3 offroad so I would prefer the taller sidewalls of the 18" tires. Plus, I'll have more replacement tire choices. Am I missing any reasons to stay with the 19" wheels?

I deal with this nearly daily. Run away from the 19's for the reasons you have mentioned.

 

[jptruck]

Do 19" tires get better gas mileage than 18"? I've heard this before, but it sounds like an urban myth.

I have 19" tires and the options are very limited. They do look better, but also wish I could have the tire options that the SE folks have.

 

[davez26]

Urban Myth?

Both 18's and 19's have the same overall height, and the width is the same. As far as the car is concerned, the metrics are the same. The only difference between the two could be overall weight, which would be ~5#s at best.

 

[roverman]

Just curious about this, how about reduced sidewall flex and therefore maybe less rolling friction? It'd be minute if anything.

 

[jptruck]

Gotcha. I guess a smaller or larger diameter tire could possibly get better mileage, but not in this case. A buddy of mine just bought an Expedition and he told me the bigger tires give him better mileage. I betcha it's the same for the Expedition as the LR.

 

[schafari]

Actually, just the opposite happens. Bigger tires/wheels get less fuel milage. It is unsprung weight. Not only do big big tires/wheels destroy vehicle dynamics, but mileage goes down as well. Difference between 18 and 19, no likely not so much. However, between 18 and 22, without question.

With the bigger tire, the engine has to sling more outside weight around from every stop. Imagine inertia, and holding on to a spinning bike tire by the axle. The forces acting on it are amazing. Applying the power, actually torque to spin that big ole dub from a stop, or simply applying any acceleration will take more gas. Not to mention more wear on all downstream components. . .such as brakes, bearings, hubs, shock towers, etc.

I have taken my LR3 HSE with 19's offroad many times. However, I am not doing any true rubicon rock crawl stuff. The 19's are fine for typical and consisten off road use. I have tossed around the idea of having a purpose set of 18" wheels and off road tires that I could swap out however.