newlinux Posted December 6, 2016 Share Posted December 6, 2016 Sometime soon I'm going to be getting my 2017 MKZ 3.0T with drivers package. I love the look of the car, except the rims are not really my taste, so I'll be replacing those shortly after getting the car. I'm curious if anyone has put 20" rims on the 2017 and if so, how much did it affect ride quality (I know the tires have an affect on this as well). Any opinions or experiences would be greatly appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drolds1 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 Will your new MKZ have active cruise control? If you're going to do this, make sure that the rolling circumference of the replacement wheel/tire combo matches that of the OE setup as closely as possible. The radar sensor of the ACC is very sensitive to changes in the height of the vehicle and this could affect its operation. Changes in wheel speed can also throw off other sensors, such as ABS, Advancetrac, VSS, etc. R2D2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlinux Posted December 7, 2016 Author Share Posted December 7, 2016 Will your new MKZ have active cruise control? If you're going to do this, make sure that the rolling circumference of the replacement wheel/tire combo matches that of the OE setup as closely as possible. The radar sensor of the ACC is very sensitive to changes in the height of the vehicle and this could affect its operation. Changes in wheel speed can also throw off other sensors, such as ABS, Advancetrac, VSS, etc. Yes, I will certainly do proper plus one sizing and keep the overall circumference the same. I'm more interested in affects on ride quality. Doing this on my current cadillac didn't change ride comfort noticeably. On my infiniti it did, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucelinc Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 The 19s are a 40 series tire so there is not much sidewall with those. If you go to a 20 inch and keep the circumference the same, won't you have to go to an even shorter sidewall? If that is the case, I think you will see degraded ride quality for sure. In my test drives of the MKZ, I found the 19s on a Reserve to be noticeably stiffer than the 18s on a lower level model. The drivers package is a bit stiffer anyway, so I would think a shorter sidewall would make it pretty harsh. However, everyone has a different opinion of what "harsh" feels like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlinux Posted December 7, 2016 Author Share Posted December 7, 2016 The 19s are a 40 series tire so there is not much sidewall with those. If you go to a 20 inch and keep the circumference the same, won't you have to go to an even shorter sidewall? If that is the case, I think you will see degraded ride quality for sure. In my test drives of the MKZ, I found the 19s on a Reserve to be noticeably stiffer than the 18s on a lower level model. The drivers package is a bit stiffer anyway, so I would think a shorter sidewall would make it pretty harsh. However, everyone has a different opinion of what "harsh" feels like. Yes they'll have to go shorter - which is what concerns me. With the caddy I have currently have 20s, and I honestly haven't noticed much difference from the stock 19s I had on the car (I switched out after month of having the stock wheels). But I'd chatted with others on that car who went to 20s and they all said the ride quality wasn't much different so I was pretty confident with that. But with the caddy I believe the 19s were 245/45 tires and I believe my the 20s 245/40 tires. So the equivalent 20s tire for the Lincoln would be thinner than the ones on my Caddy. I've been leaning towards restricting myself to 19s and I think that is what I will aim to do. Thanks for making me look at the numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zephyrloco Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 I did 20's on mine. 20x8 and 235/40/20 Toyo tires. No problems with rubbing at all and the ride is very close to the factory 18's. Check out my post in photo/video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jhilty Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 I put BD11 20x9 & SDrive 245/35 tires on my 2014 3.7 and the overall height of the wheel is just a bit shorter than the OE 18x8 inch with 245/45 that came on it. It rubs a tiny bit only when turning into a steep driveway, put Nitto 235/35 on the front and it has not rubbed as of yet. Use the wheel calculator on discount tire site as a reference. Take note of the offset range 40-46 on mine. Not sure if this helps as I realize your MKZ is newer, I would have gone with a true forged wheel, DUB or Modular Society these are custom builds and may cost a bit more but worth it over the cast wheels in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleestack1 Posted January 6, 2018 Share Posted January 6, 2018 I have 19's on my MKZ and had 19's on an XK and a CTS. I had/have zero desire to ever go larger. I would seriously consider downsizing to 18's if I were to actually replace rims. I'm way more about comfort nowadays. However, if you want the look, you want the look... R2D2 and Loki-MKZ 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlinux Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 I stayed with 19s and am fine with that. Comfort is good. Look is good too with my custom wheels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.