Optimal Wheel Size for Stock Power

[denverizzles]

so after reading the many posts of this thread, i'm beginning to wonder whether it's the diameter of the rims that slow down the car or the weight?

If we have an 18x9 weighing 19lbs and a 17x7.5 weighing 22lbs, will you notice the power difference? and which one will have a better response?

[Tanuki]

Originally Posted by RAYSSPL

Optimal wheel size for stock power? That's easy. Stick to stock wheels.

Especially since some folks here are sensitive to changes in their ODO/trip/speed/mpg readings

Well that has been proven wrong on a few performance comparisons.

Originally Posted by denverizzles

so after reading the many posts of this thread, i'm beginning to wonder whether it's the diameter of the rims that slow down the car or the weight?

If we have an 18x9 weighing 19lbs and a 17x7.5 weighing 22lbs, will you notice the power difference? and which one will have a better response?

Right, wheel weight is not the only factor. You have to look at the balance, rotational diameter etc. So you have to find a sweet spot for the tires/ wheels.

[Smudgeous]

Personally, I decided to go with wider tires and lighter wheels. When I was trying to make up my mind of how wide to go, I figured 235 was a good balance between being noticeable wider and not drastically bad on weight and turning radius increase. I wound up choosing 235/45/17, since the stock speedometer was already noticabely faster than actual speed and it pretty much evens out the difference with the larger tires. The rubber I chose were the Kumho Ecsta LEs (Max Performance Tires for $96/tire with a $50 rebate), which run 23.4lbs each, compared to OEM's 20.39 on the Michelin Primacy HPs.

Since the tires are 3lbs heavier, I went with the best-looking forged wheels I could find for my budget, and happily chose TSW Nurburgrings in 17x8 +35. Each wheel weighs 17.95 compared to OEM 20.1, so my grand total for thicker, stickier rubber is only 0.86lbs heavier. While I don't like being heavier, I figured .86 was a pretty good number

[Tanuki]

^nice, very similar to what I went with as well. Any pictures mounted?

[Synack]

1"

Sent from my Nexus 7

[Smudgeous]

Originally Posted by Tanuki

^nice, very similar to what I went with as well. Any pictures mounted?

Here is my journal entry on the wheels/tires, and here it is after installing Eibach Pro Kit lowering springs. Didn't really know which picture or two to use, so just hit up the links to get an idea

[hyper4mance]

A friend sent me this link:
http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...omparison-test

They mix two types of tires: extreme and max, so just be careful if you are entering in autox or whatever that may place you in different categories based on tires. To be honest, I didn't really look into it when picking the tire, but oh well. Originally I was going to go star specs, but after looking at the price and performance I settled on S04's (summer), x-ice3 (winters), and light rims (wedsport tc105N 17x8) which should be comming in the next week or two.

[Tanuki]

Originally Posted by Smudgeous

Here is my journal entry on the wheels/tires, and here it is after installing Eibach Pro Kit lowering springs. Didn't really know which picture or two to use, so just hit up the links to get an idea

Nice that looks like about the perfect drop to me too.

[soodxn]

reviving an old topic here, just wondering if popular opinion has changed or not 5 months later. For a car staying on stock power, is 17x8, on 225/45 tires the best bet? I see a lot of 17x9 on 245/40 nowadays, even on stock power.

[norsamerican]

I opted for a staggard 18x8.5 18x9.5 setup. Slightly aggressive offset and grippy

[bakerr6]

I'm running 16 x 7 with 225s and will continue to until I go FI. Once I go FI, I will move up to 245s or 255s

[ill86]

215 on 7", check lol (OEM)
245 on 8", check (Volk on street)
225 on 8", check (Work on winter)
215 on 8", testing (Volk on YH AD-08)
255 on 8", testing (Volk on street/track)

as you can see I've been on 7-8" , 215-255mm.

If I decide to stagger I'll stay under 8.5/9.5 on <255mm.

If I decide to widebody I'll install 9.5/10.5 on 255/295mm

[Khyron686]

Originally Posted by soodxn

reviving an old topic here, just wondering if popular opinion has changed or not 5 months later. For a car staying on stock power, is 17x8, on 225/45 tires the best bet? I see a lot of 17x9 on 245/40 nowadays, even on stock power.

I'm torn between 215/45-17 and 235/40-17 on an 8 inch wheel. The 225/45 increases the sidewall height over stock which I'm not keen on. I'd prefer slightly quicker accel vs higher top speed, so the 235 seems better. Of course the PSS doesn't come in that size. :P

[Flow]

Originally Posted by ill86

215 on 7", check lol (OEM)
245 on 8", check (Volk on street)
225 on 8", check (Work on winter)
215 on 8", testing (Volk on YH AD-08)
255 on 8", testing (Volk on street/track)

as you can see I've been on 7-8" , 215-255mm.

If I decide to stagger I'll stay under 8.5/9.5 on <255mm.

If I decide to widebody I'll install 9.5/10.5 on 255/295mm

So, what is your impression of the performance impact of the the different sizes?