Rims + Tires

[esper]

Hello everyone! i have a 5 lug 95 se and was wondering when selecting new tires and rims what should i look for?? first of all what are the best sizes?? and how do u read tires??  are 18's ok or are they only good for show? i would really like to shift towards performance!! are there any benefits for 16 vs 17 vs 18 ??   and how do front and rear match ups affect drifting and  track driving?? (i.e. i see many driters in japanese videos mismatching their front and rear tires? why??)

thanks to all who reply and help!!

[DSC]

Here's some FAQed articles to check out.

reading tires (http://www.zilvia.net/f/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=6;t=11972)

tech articles on rim/tire size (http://www.zilvia.net/f/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=6;t=9180)

As for the mismatch, it'll be either because they damaged one, and bought a different kind. Or they have the full set of front rims normally, but swap rear ones for different rims with shitty tires for when they drift. Or they could only afford 2 rims. Or they wanted different characteristics from their rims, like getting the lightest rear rims possible whereas the front one's don't matter as much.

16 vs 17 vs 18
The larger the rim, the smaller the tire. The smaller the tire, the less sidewall flex, the better the lateral (cornering) traction. Each size up will be heavier than the same model rim in the size below it. Each size up will reduce straightline accyleration...drag racing for example you want a lot of sidewall flex. If you ever watch the top fuel drag cars, their tires twist and contort like crazy when they launch but they grip and don't spin.
Each size you go up, the more expensive tires become. you DO NOT want to drift with 18" rims, you'll be out of money in no time. Also, when drifting you hit stuff...18" rims are more expensive to replace. For most normal people, 18" rims will be heavy and just for show. I'd get 16" or 17" rims that are light weight, allow good airflow to brakes and are wide enough to allow 225 tires, which would be a comfortable minium of 7.5" wide or around there. You can go wider if you can afford it, but watch out for clearance issues.

more links...
http://velocity.isfaster.com/drift/tech/wheel/wheel.htm
http://drift.cynergic.net/html/theory.html
http://www.turnfast.com/tech_handling/handling_tractn.lasso

[esper]

THANKS DSC!! ALL my qudstion finally answered!! (I hope) but if i have any more i will post them after reading all these great articles hehe)

[adey]

that's one other thing that I love about my S13 -- it looks GOOD with 15s on it! If I had an S14, I'd have to have at least 16s, and probably 17s to make it look half decent. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'> &nbsp;
S14s just don't work as well with 15s as S13s do. Heh. Anyway.
to add to DSCs exhaustive explanation, let me say that it is possible to find 17" rims that weigh as much as 15" rims... as usual, it all comes down to how much MONEY you want to spend. For example, a set of 17x7 Volk Racing CE28Ns will probably weigh about as much as a set of 15x7 Motegi or Konig rim... So keep that in mind, too.
(note I used this example as a comparison, and have no real evidence to justify it)