18" wheels instead of 19" factory?

[jmbarker]

Hey all, first post to this forum. I recently purchased a 2016 MKZ that has factory 19" wheels. The manual said that different sized wheels may cause some of the electronic systems to malfunction (self-levelling headlights, electronic damper adjustment, stability control, AWD, etc). Is this accurate, and if so, to what extent? Would it be possible to use factory 18" wheels (or similar sized) for winter tires? I couldn't seem to find much information on this aside from the manual.

[bbf2530]

2 hours ago, jmbarker said:

Hey all, first post to this forum. I recently purchased a 2016 MKZ that has factory 19" wheels. The manual said that different sized wheels may cause some of the electronic systems to malfunction (self-levelling headlights, electronic damper adjustment, stability control, AWD, etc). Is this accurate, and if so, to what extent? Would it be possible to use factory 18" wheels (or similar sized) for winter tires? I couldn't seem to find much information on this aside from the manual.

 

Hi jmbarker. Welcome to the Lincoln MKZ Forum.

 

Yes, you can use a properly fitting 18" wheel. And you would install a tire that would keep the same approximate overall diameter as your factory 19" wheel/tire combination.

 

So as an example: Your 2016 MKZ has 19" wheels with 245/40-19 wheels/tires. If you wanted to change to an 18" wheel and keep the same width tire as your factory 19" wheels (245), you would install a 245/45-18 tire on an 18" wheel.

 

However, for winter tires, it is usually advisable to go a bit narrower than the factory width tire, since a narrower tire will give you better snow traction.

 

Any competent tire shop/seller can help you with choosing the proper tire size to keep the correct overall diameter. Or just come back and ask here.

 

Let us know how you make out and good luck.

Edited June 9, 2020 by bbf2530

[jmbarker]

Thank you very much! I figured that was the case but wanted to make sure. My plan was to get 225/45/18s since it's much more of a common size than the 19s and it's a lot easier to find both rims and high quality tires. I'll talk to a shop tomorrow to make sure but I believe that's all the information I need.

[bbf2530]

1 hour ago, jmbarker said:

Thank you very much! I figured that was the case but wanted to make sure. My plan was to get 225/45/18s since it's much more of a common size than the 19s and it's a lot easier to find both rims and high quality tires. I'll talk to a shop tomorrow to make sure but I believe that's all the information I need.

 

Hi jmbarker. No. To obtain the closest fit to the factory 245/40-19 wheel/tire diameter, the correct tire size for an 18" wheel would be a 225/50-18.

 

A 225/50-18 tire will only be 0.5% bigger than the factory 245/40/19. Almost a perfect fit. It will also give you a better ride.

But a 225/45-18 tire will be 2.8% too small. It will throw off your speedometer and odometer.

 

You can use this tire size calculator to verify those numbers: https://www.tacomaworld.com/tirecalc

 

Hope this information helps and good luck.

Edited June 9, 2020 by bbf2530

[17MKZ3.0TT]

On 6/8/2020 at 11:15 PM, bbf2530 said:

 

Hi jmbarker. No. To obtain the closest fit to the factory 245/40-19 wheel/tire diameter, the correct tire size for an 18" wheel would be a 225/50-18.

 

A 225/50-18 tire will only be 0.5% bigger than the factory 245/40/19. Almost a perfect fit. It will also give you a better ride.

But a 225/45-18 tire will be 2.8% too small. It will throw off your speedometer and odometer.

 

You can use this tire size calculator to verify those numbers: https://www.tacomaworld.com/tirecalc

 

Hope this information helps and good luck.

Agreed, I went from the 19" to 18" for my four snow tires & aftermarket wheels & lugnuts, Blizzaks in 225/50R18 were the Tire Rack suggestion, and no problems. I put my portable Garmin GPS on the windshield for a while to compare to the car's speedo & virtually identical.