# Those "Low Profile" Tires: Do They Provide a Harsh Ride?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-low-profile-tires-do-they-provide-a-harsh-ride/272374>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 1, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-low-profile-tires-do-they-provide-a-harsh-ride/272374 "2004-11-01T18:33:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-low-profile-tires-do-they-provide-a-harsh-ride/272374/1 "2004-11-01T18:33:27Z")

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I have been noticing an increasing number of luxury cars being equipped with very low profile tires…the sidewalls sometimes are as low as 2"! I know that such tires improve handling, because of more tire contact with the road…however, this must also cause a harsher ride, due to less shock absorbing effect.  
Are these tires a good idea? Do they wear out faster than conventional tires?

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**Author:** ![acoop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@acoop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acoop)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-low-profile-tires-do-they-provide-a-harsh-ride/272374/2 "2004-11-01T18:50:04Z")

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low profile tires, are usually high performance tires, so you may notice a little more noise, but over all ride quality will be judged by the car’s suspension not the tires

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**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-low-profile-tires-do-they-provide-a-harsh-ride/272374/3 "2004-11-01T19:23:57Z")

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The can have some SERIOUS issues if you live in an area with potholes (the Northeast is notorious for them). On most tires, the sidewall absorbs a fair amount of the shock that is produced by such an impact. On the low profile tires, they don’t, and have a tendancy to “bubble”.