Hyundai Motor Company and its line of vehicles

2004 sonata gl – change rims?

After much deliberation, I recently purchased a 2004 Sonata GL (w/the
V6).  For my budget, the difference between the interiors of the GLS &
the GL was just not worth the extra cost.

But now I’m thinking about the wheels.

The GL comes w/ 15" steel wheels & plastic wheelcovers.  I’m thinking,
when the time comes to put new tires on this car, what would stop me
from putting the 16" stock Hyundai alloy rims on it?  Would I have to
get the speedo recalibrated?  Any other technical considerations I
should think about?  The engine is the stock 2.7L V6

Any advice, opinions or amusing anecdotes would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Comments (2)




2 Responses to “2004 sonata gl – change rims?”

  1. admin says:

    There are a couple considerations when changing wheel sizes and I will
    try to list a few.

      The rolling radius will be different (causing a speedo error although
    likely not significant) unless you change your tire profile.  I think
    you have a 205/65 so may want to go to a 205/60 x 16 to maintain a
    similar circumference.

    Bolt configuration and offset may also be different but I think in your
    instance they are the same.

    Also if you are changing wheel and tire size you need to make sure that
    there is clearance in your wheel well and wheel hubs to the wheel.  Also
    most likely not a problem with your intentions.

    My question would be why go with an OEM wheel when there are lots of
    wheels available, often at significant savings, that you may find more
    appealing.  My suggestion would be to go to http://WWW.TIRERACK.COM plug in
    your vehicle information and see what is available.  If you are
    considering a tire/wheel package they usually can’t be beat.

    - Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

    woj_prod…@excite.com wrote:
    > After much deliberation, I recently purchased a 2004 Sonata GL (w/the
    > V6).  For my budget, the difference between the interiors of the GLS &
    > the GL was just not worth the extra cost.

    > But now I’m thinking about the wheels.

    > The GL comes w/ 15" steel wheels & plastic wheelcovers.  I’m thinking,
    > when the time comes to put new tires on this car, what would stop me
    > from putting the 16" stock Hyundai alloy rims on it?  Would I have to
    > get the speedo recalibrated?  Any other technical considerations I
    > should think about?  The engine is the stock 2.7L V6

    > Any advice, opinions or amusing anecdotes would be appreciated.
    > Thanks.

  2. admin says:

    I guess my intentions for sticking with stock rims would be

    #1 to keep things as simple as possible re. fit, and

    #2. to not pretend that the GL is such an awesome car that it needs
    fancy aftermarket rims.

    but your suggestion about tirerack.com is a good one, as it seems
    there are nice looking rims there that are not too obnoxious.  I’ve
    used them before for tires, but now I can see they would work just as
    well for rims.

    Appreciate the reply & insight.

Place your comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.