A Good Reason to Stay With Narrow 17s

[FlamingRectumSyndrome]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/special-...transformation

Short version: Even with lighter-than-stock 18" wheels, the larger diameter puts more weight farther from the wheels' axis of rotation, making for slower acceleration and a lower top speed. And simply replacing the Prius-sourced stock tires with a set of stickier rubber (still in stock size) dropped lap times by 2.3 seconds. You don't need huge tires on this car- they reduce steering response and acceleration and top speed. Add 100 horsepower and the story may be different.

[gramicci101]

18's look better though.

And 265's look sexy. Have you seen @Jive Turkey's setup? Nice.

[sshole]

This is new and exciting.

For an article posted on August 7, 2012.

[Tainen]

Still a good point- looking through the wheel subforum, I'm seeing something like 70+% of all the threads are about 18x9.5" wheels to "get flush" and "concave."


I picked up a set of NT03+Ms in 17x7.5 for this reason and a few others- tire choices are much cheaper and plentiful, far less rotating mass, more money to spend on track days and other consumables, etc.


It's just the difference between people that want a nice looking wheel for aesthetic purposes and those that want to go as fast as possible around a track. 265s don't make you faster... in fact, they make you slower in a ton of cases, as others have shown in various threads. But do they look good? Yeah.

[MokSpeed]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

18's look better though.

And 265's look sexy. Have you seen @Jive Turkey's setup? Nice.

I take it you're into stance? If so then this article won't really matter for you.


The point he's trying to get across is many go up in tire and wheel size to attempt to prevent the rear from swinging out so easily and believe this to make the car perform better. When in reality you achieve better results simply by switching to a better tire that is the same size and going up in tire and wheel size actually makes the car slower.

[Pete156]

Perhaps someone should qualify that this thread is all about an 86 with relatively stock power. Once you go FI, 215s do not make the car faster cause there is little or no grip at WOT.

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by MokSpeed

I take it you're into stance? If so then this article won't really matter for you.


The point he's trying to get across is many go up in tire and wheel size to attempt to prevent the rear from swinging out so easily and believe this to make the car perform better. When in reality you achieve better results simply by switching to a better tire that is the same size and going up in tire and wheel size actually makes the car slower.

Haha, not at all! I was raising bullshit objections to a 2012 article, given that most people will never see a track and don't need the super best track tire recommendation. The ones that will see a track already know what range of tire sizes they should be looking for. And Jive Turkey's car isn't stance at all, it's actually very very nice.

[MokSpeed]

True, but if we're arguing practicality then oversized wheels on a lowered vehicle wouldn't really be ideal would it? Given that most people will see speed bumps and dips in the road it would be very very frustrating.

[BRZ NA]

Wonder what would happened when it's 18" but over all weight same as stock.(with tire)

[Jive Turkey]

i agree with all of this, the car feels peppier in 1-2nd with small 17's. i run a 17x7 in winter.

however, once you go beyond stock suspension and brakes and add a little bit of power, this car needs more tire, period.

further more, in a corner it is now able to carry much more speed vs stock suspension, so i need to compensate with a bigger tire, or else the 225's would just be over worked.

so the argument you're making is really about fun on the street in an otherwise stock car, then yes, you want smaller tires, but if you track it or push the car you'll see the need for more tire...

[Gilwith1l]

Isn't this common knowledge by now

[SirBrass]

How much more tire, though?

I'm planning on going from 215's to 225's on 17x8. Still not enough for eventual super charging to below 300 whp?

[tahdizzle]

I have 17x9 wheels for my BRZ, and those are my dancing shoes. 215 even on a better compound is not enough tire for autoX in my opinion.

In ST* class at least.

[SirBrass]

Originally Posted by tahdizzle

I have 17x9 wheels for my BRZ, and those are my dancing shoes. 215 even on a better compound is not enough tire for autoX in my opinion.

In ST* class at least.

What about good old canyon carving and some very occassional track, with some ability to slip the back end on turn in (not drifting, just getting the nose pointed around a little faster)?