What is the purpose of low profile tyres?

Question

what difference does do they make? in my expirience they give a much more bumpy ride

Answer 1

Two things:

Low-profile tires allow you to run a larger diameter rim in the same size wheel-well.

Performance wise, because of the smaller side-walls the tires dont flex as much which allows them to corner better. The trade off being the bumpy ride that you mentioned

Answer 2

Improves roadholding by reducing sway/body roll. If you look at a full height tyre you will see it is around 6-7" high and when cornering the sidewall distorts. The sidewalls of the low profile tyre being much shorter distort to a far lesser extent. You need to strike a balance between comfort and roadholding. A very low profile tyre can make for an uncomfortable and noisy ride.

Answer 3

It's true, they don't have as good a cushion effect as the old balloon tyre, but the objective is to give better cohesion to the road surface (less wobble) and a more responsive steer and braking effect,...of course in the process we suffer comfort, but safety is the flavour of the day!

Answer 4

I needed low profile tyres so that they wouldnt rub on the insides of my arches..

Practibility and Apperance

Answer 5

You'll normally find that low profile tyres are wider.  They use the same amount of rubber, but you get more tyre contact on the road, giving better grip.  This leads to better braking and cornering, but the extra friction will affect fuel consumption.  The bumpiness you mentioned will be due to 2 things: Less shock absorption by the tyres, and stiffer suspension in order to avoid damage to the wheel arches.

Answer 6

honestly i have to say i just though low profys were for just looks lol

Answer 7

Looks and/or Performance

Many low profile tires improve high speed cornering because they have less crush....That lets the car corner harder. If a tire haves more crush, it makes the car feel soft, less communicative, and less predictable.