So I bought a car from a relative because I could afford that, they bought a fancy boutique version of this car (Chevy Cruze) that has, by default, 18 inch rims. I live in a shitty midwestern USian city and of course this thing can’t handle potholes and the tires leak if you look at them funny. I’ve been limping along as long as I can but a pothole destroyed another one and replacing these stupid 18 inch tires is expensive. I’ve had to replace them twice in the last year, it’s absurd, and they’re of course way more expensive than a normal person tire.
So I’m looking at replacing the entire wheel set so that I can get a 17 or 16 inch wheel with more reasonable and cheaper tires. Is there any reason to be afraid of a certain size or wary of downsizing at all? I go on some site like Tirerack and it looks like I can get a set for a few hundred. My mechanic said this isn’t a problem, that the chassis is identical to the less boutique options, but I’m not a car person so I would love a second opinion on this before I spend a bunch of money again. Things to look out for, free wheels (lol), any helpful advice is appreciated.
I’m a car guy. I know, car bad etc. But I sorta “get it” or whatever.
But yeah I know. If you’re not in it for the love of the game there is zero benefit to doing anything that isn’t the most economical option. Except getting good tyres, those are really worth not cheaping out on from a safety perspective.
Edit: Don’t become a car guy, yall. It’s a dead end hobby and a money and time sink. If you’re just curious or whatever, stop. Get a better hobby. This is biased advice and I know there will always be people like me who love working on the things and feel empowered swinging spanners and nerding out tweaking things. But yeah, keep em bone stock, get the economy shit, just use the tool for the job and enjoy the rest of your life not worrying about your precious planet destroying machine.