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Old 05-28-2014, 10:09 PM   #95
Weasel Soup
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Boxer486 View Post
Couple things.


1-That rubber is often lined with steel belts and performance tires are quite often heavier than the performance wheels they go on to.


2-For most people it is for strutting, but at a certain application and power point, big wheels are advantageous or even necessary.
The steel belts (woven strands) are still lighter than the aluminum (solid). I've dropped from 'Extreme Performance' summer tires on 18" wheels down to studless snow tires on 16" wheels and been 10 lbs lighter per wheel. I know that's not a 100% fair comparison, but even a gravel rally tire on the same 16" wheel resulted in 5 lbs less per wheel than the 18" setup.

As with any car modification, its all about what the owner wants from the change...

Just for the sake of debate (educate me), why would someone on stock brakes get a benefit from a set of 18x8" wheels over a set of 17x8" wheels? I know that a car with 50% more power than stock usually needs bigger brakes, which can make bigger wheels necessary, but any car at near stock power w/stock brakes? Why would bigger wheels benefit them?
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