Not sure i understand that point of view. If you put 30" wheels on would you say its LR's fault that you cant go around corners?

Every vehicle manufacturer homologates its vehicles to work and not kill you in a "as tested" condition if you as a customer change your car away from that "as tested" condition then LR cant say if your car is fit for purpose surely.

Its the same with anything you buy, most electrical goods have a warning that you invalidate the guarantee if you remove the cover and tinker with it.

Seem like valid points.

So i'd be very interested if someone with 22" wheels trys to get their money back from their dealer. This should be easy enough if they've been sold them without making it plain that they could cause problems and are not LR approved. - Surely the threat of telling Land Rover would be enough!

Dealers that are willing to degrade the reputation of the vehicles they sell so they can make a quick buck on accesories - SURELY NOT!

Anyone with 22" fancy having a go? Trust me, i'm an Engineer!

get a *@kin grip i've had 22's on my RRS for ages now, its even been in to the stealer and not a peep. it never goes offroad so i cannot see what 'forces' could be inflicted on normal road driving that would be greater than offroad rock crawling  Chawton White TDV6 HSE with Alpaca and Rodium, Automatic Climate Control,
Privacy Glass, 22 inch, Hawke Alloy Wheels, Brembo Front Brakes, Premium ICE Pack, Clear repeaters, Chrome Driving Light Surrounds, Tasmods, Chrome handles, HST Grille, Chrome Side Vents, JE ECU Upgrade

and........as much as some LR dealers have a pop at them, I know for a fact that Stratstones sell their cars with 22'' on them.......and although I have had some work done on my suspension - it has never directly been linked to the wheels being too big - and pretty much the same type of work others have had done to theirs......

gazza500 wrote:

. it never goes offroad so i cannot see what 'forces' could be inflicted on normal road driving that would be greater than offroad rock crawling

Exactly. I have 19" rims (would go smaller if I could) but do quite a bit of off-roading and drive on some very rough 'roads' too. 22" or 24" wheels in Europe would never experience the same forces.

Also, there are no problems that are unique to 22" wheels or larger. Just the same 'characteristics' as everyone else. If anything, the 22" wheel + tyre probably weighs less than a 19" + MTR combo.

It's meant to a be a proper 4x4 ffs.

Love the car, but LR do take the mick sometimes.

Charlie, told you it wouldn't go down well!  Trust me, i'm an Engineer!

Leo wrote:

It's meant to a be a proper 4x4 ffs.

Love the car, but LR do take the mick sometimes.

+1

Good onya Gazza & Leo. I have 22's on my Sport and I (so far) have had no problems. The ride is no worse than the 20's that are provided by Landrover.

The mechanical problems encountered by nearly all Sport owners seem to be very similiar and afflict all owners regardless of the size of rims and tyres one has installed. I have not seen or heard of any problems that are linked solely to having 22in rims on these cars. To me personally, I think it is just a try to get out of jail card by Landrover.

On my previous car, a Nissan X-Trail, I upsized my wheels from 16in to 20in. The ride was horrendous compared to the super smooth ride I now experience with 22in rims on my Sport. Anyhow the point is that my X-Trail had no problems for 4 years and coped with a bone rattling ride during this time and had no problems at all and is still see it going now 8 years later.

So I do not understand how people can say that a car like the Sport cannot cope with a slight increase in rim and tyre size considering it has (or should have) far far stronger mechanical components than my previous X-Trail and is designed and marketed to be serious off road machine, which one assumes would put far more stress on components than a set of larger wheels.

I think the point was - it leads to premature wear of suspension components, this may not happen whilst the car is in warranty - the parts are designed to live for 10 years 150k miles so we cant really say yet can we.

22" tyres have a stiffer side wall, they have to and so for a given input the load into the suspension must be more.

The real reason i posted this was after a reading a post from S4LAD who said that his rear tyres blew out when the suspension dropped on the motorway, not sure if he had 22" wheels on yet but -, i know of another occasion this happened in the states and it was due to 22" wheels hitting the body, so thought i'd post.

I can understand your concern and if you are thinking this way then maybe for your peace of mind you should not to go for this option. If yes buy from a reputable person, maybe thats where people are going wrong in that they are buying poor quality wheels. The Sport looks fantastic on larger wheels.

I am no tyre expert but 20in Landrover rims come with 275/40 tyres and I have 285/35 on my 22in rims. The 20's have a slightly higher profile than the 22's but (no expert remember) this is nullified by the fact that the 22's have a wider tyre to absorb impacts.

My main point is that their are thousands of Sports that have had larger wheels fitted (even 24's) and i have yet to see specific problems that are related to the fitment of these larger wheels. And i don't know how Landrover can generally claim to void warranties when there is no obvious link or a specific problem associated with the fitment 22in wheels. I honestly don't know how they can prove culpability when Sports that ride on smaller wheels have exactly the same mechanical problems.

I still stand by my statement that it is just a way to try and wriggle out of honouring warranty issues.

I know Our local dealer WILL NOT sell any RR with 22" wheels Sport or big daddy if they are traded in with 22" wheels they are taken off and replaced with 20" wheels plus all suspension components are replaced and the money to do this is deducted from the trade in price. they will sell fully kitted Overfinch RR's but they have to go back to Overfinch for any warrenty work. They told me that Overfinch have to fit a module to the suspension and a software upgrade before fitting 22" wheels which to me sounds like a bad idea.

The main problem is not the rolling radius but the increased un sprung weight of the wheel causing differing forces on the bearings etc. its like early 05 models cannot run 20" rims.

"Get out of jail"... "not honouring warranty status"...etc..
-
Apologies - may be i'm not getting my point across very well here.

Much be it from me to stick up for LR on this, i think i must.

LR don't know whether 22" wheels are OK on RRS. The vehicle wasnt homologated with 22" wheels and so LR dont approve fitment. They cannot say if, you, personally decide to change your car in any respect away from that which was homologated whether it will be detrimental to the car and so arent prepared to pay for the consequences. - that seems to me to be fair.

If you had a light aeroplane and changed the landing gears for shiny ones that had never been tested on your plane would you take off, i would'nt. If it crashed would you blame the areoplane manufacturer? sounds like some of you would!

You are right though that is ALL about money - Its all about the delarships making money out of fitting non-approved aftermarket wheels with large profit margins!

Ok guys !! you have give me the hebie jebies !! I think Iv'e read to much or I don't like what I have read, coz Iv'e just bought my self a RRS and then bought myself some aftermarket 22s and I'm thinking SH*t what do I do ? do I fit them or sell them? but hey Life 's great when it's dangours. so live life love life, what the heck just stick em on and enjoy it.
what do ya think? Stephen Hughes

This is my last post. I'm just trying to be rational in this arguement. You can decide your own fate on the issue in whether you decide to fit or not.

RonnieG from what i understand 20in rims cannot be fitted to 05 models because the steering rack is not designed for these rims and causes vibrations. This is a fact. The same fact cannot be stated for 22in rims on newer models.

Charlie, i understand where you are coming that LR do not approve fitment etc etc . All i am saying is that there is no direct link to any specific problem linked to larger wheels. If there are could someone please inform me.

I'd lalso like to reply to your statement that:

"If you had a light aeroplane and changed the landing gears for shiny ones that had never been tested on your plane would you take off, i would'nt. If it crashed would you blame the areoplane manufacturer? sounds like some of you would!"

Firstly, 22in wheels have been tested on thousands of Sports. I have had mine for 2 years with no problems. Secondly, did this plane crash because of the wheels, if it did then no you would not have an arguement. But if numerous other planes crashed in exactly the same manner and they had standard wheels then you can say that the shiny landing gear is not to blame but is a design fault of the plane.

Anyway buddy you have got got a great car and enjoy it no matter what you decide.

Cheers

Charlie Crocker wrote:

The real reason i posted this was after a reading a post from S4LAD who said that his rear tyres blew out when the suspension dropped on the motorway, not sure if he had 22" wheels on yet but -, i know of another occasion this happened in the states and it was due to 22" wheels hitting the body, so thought i'd post.

OK but this doesn't mean smaller rims wouldn't have ended in a blowout.

FACTS:

Considering the difference in diameter between 19" OEM 255/50/19 and 22" with the 285/35/22 tyre fitted is only about 20mm. IMO this wont make a difference. The tyre will catch the body and blowout if the suspension drops that low on the motorway at speed whether you have 19" or 22".

In fact people running the 295/30/22 actually have a diameter which is 2mm SMALLER than that of the 19" rim and tyre combo as standard on the sport (make sure you buy Michelin in this size since the others arent high enough load rated).

The reason land rover don't sell/endorse 22" is simple. The car is made to go offroad. You are pretty much guaranteed to buckle almost ANY 22" rim offroad. Just not enough tyre to soften the blow. Also the tyre is very wide which is probably not much help in alot of offroading (im not expert). They cant sell you a car that cant do most of what its meant to do out the box. The 20" although not optimum for offroading are still capable rims in a lot of offroad situations and still allow the car to perform most of its functions and still look good on road. A good comprimise for the casual offroader.

The actual sidewall difference between the 20" and 22" (285/35) is only 1cm!. So when alot of these guys are saying they dont feel a difference. They aint kidding. The extra weight is the only real draw back to 22's for road use imo.

....and obviously any dealers who try and blame issues on them .

ps. Ive only run the 20's on mine but know alot people rocking 22's and cant say any of them are having issues.

As with all these things. Its personal preference. Its very difficult to prove 1cm less tyre would cause any premature wear this early on in a sports life and most dealers dont have issues with them. Although i wonder how many are even telling land rover guys higher up that 22" rims are fitted when they apply for warranty work to be carried out. Not many i bet . This will change once it comes out of the 3 years warranty. Since i think dealers are then coughing up themselves for extended warranty. WINNER - 2008 Best All New Photograph
WINNER - 2009 Best All New Photograph