2022 Kia Seltos LX
Will need to replace tires soon…
Considering downsizing from 17s to 16s and maximizing the side wall height of the tire to dampen road noise and vibrations etc. Beef up the comfort and pot hole resistance.
Any idea if this would usually void a manufacturer warranty? If so, how about leaving wheels alone and just getting whatever larger side wall height I can on 17s?
Open the drivers door, and there you will find a placard with the vehicles tire information.
On there it will list the tire sizes the manufacturer recommends.
Mounting different size tires/wheels will void the warranty.
After the warranty is up, you can do what you want.
Tester
Your tires are not low profile. The stock tires are 215/55-17s. A 55% aspect ratio is reasonable. If you go down to 16” rims the standard tire size is 215/60-16. The small increase in aspect ratio from 55% to 60% may not have the big improvement you seek.
I’d stick with 17" and stock tire size, find tires that are tested to be smooth riding. 55 is a common tire profile these days, mine are 50. Tirerack will have lots of info for your Seltos.
As long as the overall diameter is similar, you shouldn’t have a problem. Especially if you go with a smaller wheel. People do this with snow tires all the time. There are online calculators to figure out the variance between different sizes tires.
Sidewall height has a bigger effect on suspension/steering than overall diameter.
Tester
Why not see if a 15” wheel will clear brakes? Nevermind. It’s a good sized suv.
Smallest wheel size for this at tire rack is 16”.
No, there are only a few cases where changing tires voids a vehicle warranty, and this isn’t one of them.
Besides, the difference between make/models of tires is larger than the difference a small tire size makes. That also means that careful tire selection has to be your first priority - and you can get much of what you want just be careful research.
But if you are enamored with changing tire size, I vote for going up a size utilizing the existing 17" wheel. Go to a 215/60R17. That allows you to use less inflation pressure (5 psi) and that means a better ride, and better resistance to impact failures.
It will NOT void the warranty. It may however make it more difficult to put a claim in on suspension/steering problems that may arise while under warranty. But the burden is on them to prove the change caused the problem.
Tester
Even if the tire/wheel size has no effect on the warranty terms, any size change may still have an adverse effect on the car’s handling characteristics. The sizes on the sticker have been tested by the manufacturer for stability. Other sizes, no telling how the car will handle in normal driving, or in an emergency maneuver. . Common sense says to use only the sizes printed on the car’s sticker, warranty or no warranty.
Seems like a fair sized rig. Ya, stick with bigger wheels. 16”+ at least.
Yes, I agree. I don’t want to increase the already stated “higher rollover risk” on this car. What do you recommend on a 16" wheel to decrease rollover risk? Otherwise, I’m not concerned with performance handling or anything else other than safety-related issues such as detriment to ABS. Even some hit to MPG is acceptable as it’s already high.
No idea what the options are for that vehicle. I own am older truck, which isn’t nearly as stable in cornering as my more modern sedan. My solution to the truck’s rollover risk is to just drive slower, especially when going around corners.
Tire Rack recommends 215/60 x 16 as one of the stock sizes. Modern CUVs have much less rollover risk with electronic stability control.
I applaud your interest in wanting to minus-size your wheel & tire package from 17" to 16. I am all for consumers standing up against this ‘supersizing’, over the last 15 or so years, of tires and wheels on cars and other passenger vehicles.
I don’t know anything about affect on warranty, but here is something that most people don’t know about narrower vs wider wheels and tires:
A narrower tire has stronger “self-aligning” tendency than a wider one - that is, it wants to go straight. It is less influenced by road imperfections, less susceptible to tramlining that might affect a wider tire/wheel combo.
If finances and time were both in my favor, I would switch out my 50R17 tire and wheels for 60R16 on my car, for just that reason: a strong on-center road feel, plus more weight to the steering in turns.
I don’t drive sideways, so why would I need superwide low profile tires on wheels that would better suit a truck - or a small Boeing?? Ohhhh, for looks! Well, I couldn’t give a rat’s patoot about looks, especially where my livelihood meets the pavement.
And by the way, my threshold for “low profile” tire begins at 60-series. That’s as “low as I’ll go” in a tire aspect ratio context!
Make no mistake about it - ANY modification, even SEAT COVERS - no kidding - may void your warranty simply because stealers hate warranty work since manufacturers pay them a fraction of what they would extort from you. In other words, “it’s not recommended by manufacturer” is the ultimate death sentence to your warranty. It doesn’t mean ANY claim would be automatically rejected but every effort would be made to do so.
At one point, a honda stealer attempted to deny warranty on a fuel injector @28months/34,000mi. Despite the fact that BASIC warranty was 36/36 on the grounds that “injectors are not covered”. Even though they actually are covered for 60,000 mi under federal emissions warranty. Moreover, they knew I was a mechanical investigator with intimate knowledge of all their games, they still attempted to screw me. Because why not? I did not argue, just asked to write that down and sign. All of a sudden, all injectors, not just one, became defective and covered.
Just curious, how would seat covers void the warranty?
Even I - with 15+ years of mechanical investigations behind my belt - was surprised but when I was looking for seat covers for my new Rav4, the company that makes them had them listed as “2020” while my car was 2021. I asked Toyota if seats for both model years were the same, and the response was “Toyota does not offer seat covers and, therefore, installing them may invalidate warranty.” Your question should be addressed to Toyota USA. I think it wouldn’t be an issue in Japan due to obvious reason(s).