Last month, we reported General Motors vice president of global design Michael Simcoe predicting a future hell where cars would have 24- and 26-inch wheels. Audi’s design head, however, draws the line at 23-inch wheels.
[referenced url=” thumb=” title=” excerpt=”]
The new Audi RS Q8 comes with 23-inch wheels, but this will be the biggest the wheel offered, apparently. Speaking to Motor Authority, Marc Lichte said, “Package-wise, I would say this is definitely close to the limit.”
He went on to say wheels bigger than 23 inches “make no sense” because car footprints won’t get larger. As Motor Authority points out, “Audi’s push toward electrification will either keep vehicles the same size or make them smaller as the packaging of all-electric vehicles allows for larger interiors.”
Big wheels might (arguably) look cool, but they also come with some very annoying issues, such as worse ride quality. I don’t understand people who check the box for the biggest wheel. If you’re driving a sports car, you want the least amount of mass possible. If you’re driving an SUV, you want comfort. Big wheels provide neither.
It’s unclear to me why 23 inches is where Audi decided to stop. Twenty-three is already too big. What’s so great about 23 inches that’s so bad about 24 inches? Seems arbitrary. Anyway, screw all of this and give me my big sidewalls back.