17" Magnum 500's

72 Blu,
[1] So Amtronic in post #62 was just imagining a rougher ride with bigger wheels???????????????? He didn't really feel the difference????

[2] An observant driver[ maybe not you ] will notice that if they have over inflated their tyres, the ride is harsher. This is particularly noticeable if the pressure was low initially, for whatever reason. Why is it harsher?

[3] Run your tyres WITHOUT air & see how good the ride is if you think air is 'inconsequential'. Try solid tyres, no air, & see what the ride is like. Circle track drivers like their tyre pressures right at the amount that they found gives the best handling/braking...within 1 or 2 psi...& using accurate measuring equipment to get it perfect. To them, 1 or 2 psi is NOT inconsequential.

[4] You must have a reading problem, so I will repeat it a second time. You claim that 'tuning'
the suspension to work with bigger 17" wheels/shorter side wall tyres will 'fix' the harsher ride.
If the same tuning is applied to the 14/15" taller sidewall tyre, it will give a smoother ride than the 17"combo. Somehow I think you know this but too gutless to admit it. Because at the end of the day, simple physics is involved....which you either do not understand....or not want to understand because it destroys your nonsense argument. The air in the tyre & the tyre sidewall take the initial 'hit' when the wheel hits a bump. The air inside the tyre is compressible & acts as a shock absorber, absorbing the shock from the bump. If you put more air in the tyre, the extra weight increases the density of the air & it becomes more solid. If it was possible to put so much air in the tyre that it became virtually a solid block, the ride would be veeeeeeeery harsh.
[5] To your question of pressure in the tyre increasing because of temperature increase, I agree, the ride quality does change......but it is so slight you do not feel it. We are getting into semantics here: the tyre [ rubber ] also heats up; when rubber is heated, it gets more flexible. So the tyre carcass will probably expand slightly from the heat....& the sidewall also flexes more. Competing parameters.
[6] Your bigger wheel combo being lighter could be because the wheel is lighter or the tyre is lighter...or both.
[7] Bottom line is what I said in my original post: the bigger wheel combo has less air to absorb the shock from road bumps....& gives a harsher ride, all else being equal. The air in the tyre is the first line of defence when the wheel hits a bump & the more there is, the better it will cushion the bump. The springs, shocks, come afterwards, to deal with aftermath.