do wheel weights matter that much?

[hadokenny]

A lot of people would pay a lot more just to get wheels that are a few lbs lighter than ordinary ones. Is it really worth it? Is a few lbs difference really that noticable? I mean most of the times the rims make up around 50% of the wheel weight. The rest is gonna be on tires. The few lbs difference on the lighter wheel wont make that much of a difference now if u get meatier tires as compared to heavier wheels with skinnier tires would it? Can someone enlighten me here?

[thx247]

nitekids wtf?



It should make a difference. I couldn't show you how much of a difference it would make mathmathitically because I'm a idiot with no schooling, but consider leverage and torque for a minute....


The further the distance the weight is from the center of rotation the more power it requires to get it moving in the same amount of time it would take if the weight was closer to the center of rotation. When you slap on 17's your overall acceleration compared to say 15's is slower. How much of a difference you notice is difficult for me to say since I lack large wheels AND the knowledge to 2+2=4 my point.

Also, any effort to minimize unspung weight is a good thing. The more weight the shocks and struts bounce and jounce the higher the wear on the suspension, and the slower the car can react to bumps and whatnot in the road.

Overall if you can afford it, go for the lighter wheels. Top speed will be the same (given they are the same sizes as what you replaced) and if they are lighter than their replacements they will allow the car to accelerate quicker. Ask around on FA and see if anyone can show you on paper the differences.

[Sundi240]

Same with carbon fiber hoods and removing interiors and shite...who the F cares about a hundred pounds or so for the price and hassle, especially for a street vehicle....if its full race vehicle then thats a different story.

[black s13]

wheel weight is unsprung, so only kinda like stripping an interior. lessening unsprung weight is the reason people swap z32 uprights into the rear, something around 8 lbs. lighter.

[citizen]

its not just unsprung weight, its rotating mass. less wheel weight = more power. the heavier your wheels are the more power it takes to spin them and the longer it takes to accelerate them.

[old_s13]

Those of you who say it DOESNT matter, I say... stop being retarded.

A good quality wheel makes ALL the difference in how the car will perform. Having good quality coilovers and shitty wheels is the biggest mistake you can make. Having cheap wheels in general is a big mistake. So, if you're going to fix up your car.. do it right.

Its not about spending big bucks, its about chosing the right wheel with the right specifications for your car. You have to think about what lug pattern you want, what width, height, and tire sizes your car can use. THEN, you have to take into consideration what brakes you are going to run, so that your wheels clear them and have sufficient cooling as well.

So, a good quality wheel will make ALL the difference in how your car will brake, accellerate, and handle.. especially over bumps.

I've had cheap wheels, I've learned my lesson. If you dont want to spend a fair amount of money on good quality aftermarket wheels, then find a set of OEM wheels that fit the bill. OEM wheels are always pretty damn good quality. This is why Skyline and FD RX7 wheels are good. MKIV Supra wheels are also good. Some of those wheels may require work to get them to fit snug, but you OEM quality is typically very good. R32 wheels are perfect for S13. I run FD wheels and sure it was a bit of work, but you cant go wrong with a 14lb 16x8 5-lug that clears Z brakes.

- Mike

[Dousan_PG]

old_s13 is RIGHT!

i think R33 GTR wheels are the PERFECT wheels hahaha

so sexy and forged! so are r32 but i like 17s hehe

but yea gotta consider EVERYTHING when choosing wheels
sucksto do things 2 times when you could have it done right the first time

then again if i had the money, the first time i would have bought a nice set of TE37s...haha

[AadosX]

Wheel weight matters a ton! It's related rotational mass, if you understand physics then you would know why. Too bad I can't understand offsets like I can physics. :D Basically, having extra weight on your wheels is one of the worst places on your car to have it. It's nowhere near the same as just weight in your interior, etc. Do you think they would make light rims that cost a lot more, but only weigh say a total of 20 lbs less?.. when you can just take out a door panel to have the same effect.

[old_s13]

offset is simple:

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/offset.htm

[RBBaby]

Originally posted by old_s13
Those of you who say it DOESNT matter, I say... stop being retarded.


WERD FUCKIN UP!

a couple pounds of rotational mass does matter, and a hundred pounds of non rotational mass does too. and stuff like carbon fiber hoods is useful because it also helps to balance *some* cars out. weight reduction is great because oftentimes it doesnt cost much money, and it helps your car in ALL 3 important attributes; acceleration, braking, and handling.

[pruto]

i've switched wheels a bunch of times without changing power at all, you can totally feel the difference daily driving.

16in 300zx wheels, around 18lbs each. Feels nice,
15in 25lb steelies in the rear with 16in 18lb wheels in front.
VERY noticeable difference. much quicker acceleration in any gear/speed

17in forged wheels, 14-15lbs each. slowest of them all in the straight line. It actually took about a week for me to get used to the loss of "power". The car felt really sluggish.

My point is this wheel weight matters, but so does sizing. The cheap 25lb 15 inch steelies will give you more power and response than 15lb 17inch forged bling blings. Why? torque = force x distance from point of rotation. So even tho the forged wheels are MUCH lighter, all of its weight is further from the center of rotation, making it harder to turn. cost difference... about $400 per rim for most people.

Thats why drag racers and autoxers more often then not op for 15s and 16s instead of 17s and 18s.

However, My 17s offer much more grip than the 15s. Its a give and take situation. Do you want cornering? or straight line speed? Since most 240 guys are in it for the handling they like the larger rims. And larger cast rims prove a much bigger problem to power than small cast rims, people want the nicer forged stuff so the power loss isn't as great as it could be.

Unless your car has massive hp, then it doesn't really matter and you run on bling bling 3 piece 18s...

So, it depends on the driver and what you use your wheels for. Want max speed? get small 15s and it doesn't really matter. (smaller the wheel, the less weight is saved by going forged). Want max handling? get 17s and try to save as much weight as you can. 16s are a great compromise for stock KA power and nissan OEM 16s are extremely light for cast rims.

[gijoe69]

hmmm I'd say you get some 10" rims for the front and slap it on your ride and have 15" in the rear so when you launch it'll hop haha

[old_s13]

The size of your wheel should SOLELY depend on the size of the disc brake setup you plan on running. You cant have 15" wheels when you run 13" brembos, so everything has to work hand in hand.

For me, 16" wheels are super sufficient and work well with the brakes I run. Should I want something bigger, I'll eventually consider getting big brake kit and run 17" max.

If you can clear your brakes and that is not an issue, some people like bigger wheels because of the sidewall flex.. but since I drive in LA, I need a bit of cushion to my suspension. The polyurethane bushings wreak havoc on your daily drive.. they are very stiff and so I need to have more sidewall to compensate.

As for width of a rim, that always comes down to traction and clearance.. I love super wide wheels and tires.. so as long as you have the space to mount them, go for it. Of course, going too wide will also increase your rolling resistance and making going top speed more difficult.. but at the same time, it also makes the car more stable in turns and at higher speeds.. so its really a toss-up.

Thats what I think when I look at wheels and tires.. not fancy design and all that other crap (although that is a factor as well).

- Mike

[KA24DESOneThree]

Whoa, I see a red flag here: "17in forged wheels, 14-15lbs each. slowest of them all in the straight line. It actually took about a week for me to get used to the loss of "power". The car felt really sluggish."
If your car gets faster as heavier wheels are added, then something is seriously screwed up.

Lighter is always better. Lighter wheels reduce the unsprung weight, leading to better handling and feel, and they reduce the rolling mass, leading to better acceleration and braking.

I absolutely agree with Mike's opinions about size, although in some cases the widths available in a certain diameter are a limiting factor in staying with said diameter.

However, wide wheels and tires have two disadvantages one often overlooks in the quest for bling-ness. Wider wheels are heavier wheels, and will thus affect performance negatively. Wider tires are heavier tires, and will increase unsprung and rolling mass, and they can also cause handling problems. If you run 225s up front and 255s out back for the "wide rear tire" look, you will have increased your car's propensity to understeer. Also, the car will be more susceptible to "tramlining," or following the road's grooves. This leads to a less stable and more frenetic driving environment, which will wear on your nerves and make you a worse driver. If you have good power and honestly need 255s to keep any traction at all, then tune the car to neutralize the chassis. Also, if you overtire a car, you will end up with a car that is unwilling to maintain optimum slip angle for maximum grip. That means you'll never fully use the tires. You paid for them, why not get all you can out of them?

[nightwalker]

You also have to remember that a wider rim is harder to get going, whether if it's from a stop, or accelerating on the highway. (vision a string tied to a rock. Lengthen the string and the rock is harder to spin around your head, a shorter string doesn't take as long to spin)

I dream about 16x8 SSR Competitions... :drool:

[Gladman]

a pennie saved is a pennie earned.....


every lb adds up... cf hood here, stripped interior there... and some light weight forged rims around the corner :D

they all add up and the end result is very different from the stock form. no 1 mod is goin to change your car like you may want it to, its a combination of many.

[Jeff240sx]

Whoa, I see a red flag here: "17in forged wheels, 14-15lbs each. slowest of them all in the straight line. It actually took about a week for me to get used to the loss of "power". The car felt really sluggish."
If your car gets faster as heavier wheels are added, then something is seriously screwed up.

I've read 2 of your 6 posts. And corrected 2 of the 2 I've read. Why do you speak so matter-of-factly when you don't know what the hell you're talking about? *sigh*
From a pure physics point of view, is one better than the other? First of all, it's important to understand that the wheel size is one of the gear ratios in the drivetrain. Say you have a 1:1 engine rev/tire rev ratio. 1 engine revolution = 3.14x16", or 50.24" of movement. Make that a 13" wheel, and one engine rotation moves you 40.82". This is equivalent to an increase of gear ratio by 23%, or 4.086 to a 5.026 final drive. The opposite happens when you move to a 19" wheel, with 1 engine revolution = 59.66, a reduction of 16.8% of a final drive, or changing from a 4.086 differential to a 3.44 ratio. His car didn't get slower by adding a lighter wheel. His car got slower by adding a LARGER wheel.

For everyone else pondering wheels, you also have the kinetic energy in the wheel, which is a measure of how much energy you've spent just getting the wheel to spin rather than investing that energy into the road. Here's the equation for the kinetic energy of a rotating object:

r is radius
m is mass
I is rotational inertia
E is energy
w is angular velocity
P is the constant Pi

E = 1/2 I w2

rotational inertia is obtained by this equation (solid discs or solid cylinders):

I = 1/2 m r2

but w is radians per second, which is rotations per second (rps) times radians per rotation, which is 2 P

w = 2 P rps

rotations per second (rps) is velocity/circumference
circumference is 2 P r
so rps = v/(2 P r) therefore:

w = 2 P (v/(2 P r)) = v/r

This gives us an energy equation of:
E = 1/2 I (v2/r2)

Now we work on the I term, which as stated above is based on mass and radius.
But of course mass depends on radius. The mass of a cylinder is:
m = density 2 P r
Let's let the constant C be "density 2 P":
m = C r
So:

I = C r r2 = C r3

and then

E = 1/2 C r3 (v2/r2)

collapse the 1/2 into the constant, and combine terms, and we get:

E = C r v2


Conclusion
This means that for any given forward speed of the car(v), the energy required just to get the wheel up to speed is greater for larger radius wheels. And this relationship is linear, e.g. a wheel that is 50% larger (in radius) will require 50% more energy to reach the same speed (note that this is only wheel rotation energy, not the much larger amount of energy needed to accelerate the car and driver).
So this issue is finally settled, right? Unfortunately not. It takes this much energy to get the wheel up to speed, but once it's there, you only need to add more energy to make up for what has been lost to friction, and here the larger wheel wins.

Larger wheels have less rolling resistance, for several reasons. First, they won't drop (as much) into a smaller hole as a smaller wheel would. Second, they have greater leverage for lifting the wheel over bumps. Third, there is less deformation of the tire at the contact patch on the ground. Fourth, smaller wheels require faster drivetrain speeds, which will have higher frictional losses. Fifth, for similar reasons they will have higher hub friction.

So there!
-Jeff

[Kain_Pabyeda]

when you take two gears from...let's ay a watch. One bigger, one smaller, which one turns fastest, and Why?
The small gear. Less surface space. If you were to take the same two gears and bend them out into straight lines, which would be bigger? It would take longer to travel the length of the larger gear than the shorter gear.
Think of rim height as a drag race. Guy with the 20" Rims is runnin the 1/4 mile, you runnin on your ghetto ass 15"s are only runnin the 1/8 mile. Your both racing to the finish line. With identical car specs for each car, the only difference is Rim size.
Take a guess who crosses first.

[Jeff240sx]

when you take two gears from...let's ay a watch. One bigger, one smaller, which one turns fastest, and Why?
The small gear. Less surface space. If you were to take the same two gears and bend them out into straight lines, which would be bigger? It would take longer to travel the length of the larger gear than the shorter gear.
Think of rim height as a drag race. Guy with the 20" Rims is runnin the 1/4 mile, you runnin on your ghetto ass 15"s are only runnin the 1/8 mile. Your both racing to the finish line. With identical car specs for each car, the only difference is Rim size.
Take a guess who crosses first.

Son of a bitch! :stupid: The 15" "ghetto" rims cross first. I hate misinformation.
The 15" rim accelerates faster, and crosses the 1/4 mile first, in a higher gear than the 20" rim guy. 20" rim guy will likely have a higher trap speed, but slower acceleration, and lose.
-Jeff

[Jeff240sx]

Looks like somebody likes to read.

Or maybe took a few physics courses in college, and knows how to apply knowledge and problem solving practices towards real life situations. I've also found the exact change in your car that happens when you add a lightweight flywheel. It's in the FAQ.
-Jeff

[Matt_240]

so in conclusion,

lighter wheels = makes a difference
size of wheel = makes more of a difference

[brokenben]

Or maybe took a few physics courses in college, and knows how to apply knowledge and problem solving practices towards real life situations. I've also found the exact change in your car that happens when you add a lightweight flywheel. It's in the FAQ.
-Jeff
:Owned: i try not to contest wat mods say. :)

[sykikchimp]

going from a 16x6.5 (s14 se wheels) to a 17x8 F x9 R made my car feel like it lost 10hp. I run the big wide wheels on the street to get the ladies wet.. I run the 16's on the track because:
1. better acceleration
2. Car is more neutral, and easier to tune the handling
3. The suspension works better overall.
4. Steering feel is much better. (much smaller scrub radius.)
5. Tires are cheaper
6. If I go off track, and bend a wheel, I'm out $50, not $300.

[russian]

going from a 16x6.5 (s14 se wheels) to a 17x8 F x9 R made my car feel like it lost 10hp. I run the big wide wheels on the street to get the ladies wet.. I run the 16's on the track because:
1. better acceleration
2. Car is more neutral, and easier to tune the handling
3. The suspension works better overall.
4. Steering feel is much better. (much smaller scrub radius.)
5. Tires are cheaper
6. If I go off track, and bend a wheel, I'm out $50, not $300.


just out of curiosity what tire sizes you run chimp?

[sykikchimp]

205/50-16 azenis on the s14 wheels, and the 17" have 215/45's all around (which I'll change when I need to replace them.. they are the tires that came on it.)

[KA24DESOneThree]

Jeff, you're a dick, plain and simple. However, you did raise the point that he was raising the overall diameter of the wheel/tire combination, which is something I did not even consider. (Sometimes I get ahead of myself) However, considering neither of us knows what width and aspect ratio tires Pruto was running on any of his wheels, that is not a valid point. Should Pruto tell us, maybe you can validate your argument, or perhaps it will be refuted.

As for the rest of what you said, most is related to tires. The deformation of contact patch is due to sidewall flex and tread squirm, not the size of the wheel. Granted, the size of the wheel sometimes has an effect on the aspect ratios available for certain widths, but that was not mentioned in what you said. The higher the aspect ratio, the greater the flex. The more sipes in a tire, the higher the amount of tread squirm.

The width of the tire determines the rolling resistance, hence you not seeing wide, large rims on the Toyota Prius or Honda Insight. I know the Insight runs tires that are 165/65-14, and the Prius runs 185/65-15s. Hmm... neither is a big wheel or wide tire, interesting. Maybe they should ask you for wheel and tire advice? :mrmeph:

[Jeff240sx]

Jeff, you're a dick, plain and simple. However, you did raise the point that he was raising the overall diameter of the wheel/tire combination, which is something I did not even consider. (Sometimes I get ahead of myself)
Yea, I'm an asshole. And sometimes, you're just wrong. See also, the LSD thread.
As for the rest of what you said, most is related to tires. The deformation of contact patch is due to sidewall flex and tread squirm, not the size of the wheel. Granted, the size of the wheel sometimes has an effect on the aspect ratios available for certain widths, but that was not mentioned in what you said. The higher the aspect ratio, the greater the flex. The more sipes in a tire, the higher the amount of tread squirm.

The size of a wheel determines the shape of the contact patch, and to a lesser extent, the size. Most contact patches are "the size of a postcard (Skip Barber Racing School, 2001)," more or less. A taller wheel will have a shorter vertical contact patch, and make up for it by trying to make a wider horizantal patch. If the sidewalls won't give, the taller wheel simply has a smaller patch.

The width of the tire determines the rolling resistance, hence you not seeing wide, large rims on the Toyota Prius or Honda Insight. I know the Insight runs tires that are 165/65-14, and the Prius runs 185/65-15s. Hmm... neither is a big wheel or wide tire, interesting. Maybe they should ask you for wheel and tire advice? :mrmeph:
I believe that this "rolling resistance" you are referring to is "drag." Drag is made up of all forces acting in an opposite direction of travel, i.e. friction. This drag is directly related to the contact patch. A larger area of a contact patch, the greater the force of friction over the entirety of the patch. Greater friction, and more power is used to make the wheel turn. Point awarded to large wheel with low profile tires. Again.
About the prius and the insight, I really believe that the fact they are hybrid cars relates to the tire and rim selection. The gas motor in the car simply accelerates the car, and then when cruising speed is attained, the electric motor comes on. To use as little gas as possible, you'd want more acceleration per fuel used. This comes from using a smaller tire to change the gear ratios. Once the car reaches cruising speed, and no more load is on the gas engine, the electric motor takes over. This motor can have it's own gearing, and eliminate the top-speed problems a small wheel gives you.
This is purely speculation, but in my mind it works.
Also, if you don't like the way I am doing something, or something I said, PM me. Openly disrespecting moderators is cause for a ban. You do have knowledge, just don't give off the aura of "I made the damn car so I know all" and then be wrong. LOL
-Jeff

[Chernobyl]

rotational inertia is obtained by this equation (solid discs or solid cylinders):

I = 1/2 m r2

Why do you use the equation for a solid disk in your calculations? A wheel has most of its mass in the barrel and center, with little mass between. Considering the mass in the center is at a very short radius, say we ignore it... so a car wheel is better modeled by the inertia equation for a cylindrical shell... or

I=m*r^2

Which is 2 times as much inertia as you use in your calculations. Using this equation (more correct, IMO), the difference in inertia between say 15" and 17" wheels is quite a bit greater than the result of the solid disk equation you used.

And I wouldn't take overall wheel diameter into the argument as plus-sizing wheels is usually done so the overall diameter doesnt change.

[Jeff240sx]

Why do you use the equation for a solid disk in your calculations? A wheel has most of its mass in the barrel and center, with little mass between. Considering the mass in the center is at a very short radius, say we ignore it... so a car wheel is better modeled by the inertia equation for a cylindrical shell... or

I=m*r^2

Which is 2 times as much inertia as you use in your calculations. Using this equation (more correct, IMO), the difference in inertia between say 15" and 17" wheels is quite a bit greater than the result of the solid disk equation you used.

And I wouldn't take overall wheel diameter into the argument as plus-sizing wheels is usually done so the overall diameter doesnt change.

Yea, that formula is more correct. I just went with what I had in my mind, as opposed to finding an exact model to base a rim off of. That equation would result in a y=2x graph, rather than a y=x graph, so a 50% size increase is 100% more energy to rotate. Overall wheel diameter generally doesn't change with adding low profile tires, but overall inertia does change with the addition of a larger rim. I guess I was trying to say 2 things at once, and didn't make a more clear distinction.
-Jeff

[Red]

Well here is a great task for anyone who can so a simple program...

Take all of the math equations and put then in a web based wheel calc that would let you type in your current HP, wheel stats, drive ratio. and would let you type in the stats of the wheel you would like to go to and it would tell you all the numbers of how much extra Hp it would take and stuff like that...

I suck at math and I = C r r2 = C r3 means jack to me.

I would love to be able to type in the stats of my 18's and see how much power loss I have due to the bling factor... (it was more of the fat meat factor, I would rather have 16x8's and 16x9's)

But never R33 wheels they are :ghey:

Kidding :wiggle: :rofl: :wiggle:

[Chernobyl]

Yea that'd be nice, but unless you measure it with some kind of dynamometer, you'll never know the inertia of every wheel out there. Pretty much just accpet that you will be slower with:
a)larger diameter wheel, even of the same weight
b)heavier wheel, even of the same diameter
c)fat girlfriend riding shotgun

[Jeff240sx]

Yea that'd be nice, but unless you measure it with some kind of dynamometer, you'll never know the inertia of every wheel out there. Pretty much just accpet that you will be slower with:
a)larger diameter wheel, even of the same weight
b)heavier wheel, even of the same diameter
c)fat girlfriend riding shotgun

You could make a general formula. Inertia is a -ft/lbs effect to the power of a car, and then total torque (car torque at the wheels - inertia of wheels) x rpm / 5252 = horsepower loss.
-Jeff

[Crab Walker]

All i know is that when i turn on speed channel and watch autocross, when they go in for a pit stop, there always throwing on either 17"18" or 19" rims on the car.

When i watch drag racing, its always 13" - 15" wheels.

I like cornering so i soppose ill look for some light 17's or 18's.

Im guessing larger, lighter rims benefit the car most when it comes to cornering.

[ca18guy]

All i know is that when i turn on speed channel and watch autocross, when they go in for a pit stop, there always throwing on either 17"18" or 19" rims on the car.

When i watch drag racing, its always 13" - 15" wheels.

I like cornering so i soppose ill look for some light 17's or 18's.

Im guessing larger, lighter rims benefit the car most when it comes to cornering.
Thats more to do with the tire then the wheel. They most likely run the 17/18 inchers for the lower profile sidewalls which with stiffer sidewalls means almost no sidewall flex while turning.

[Chernobyl]

Yep... you don't see forumla 1 cars running 17/18s... they run 13's. All about sidewall stiffness, they run special tires. Us who use street tires have to take advantage of low sidewalls to obtain the same effect.

[KyoLo]

glad i have TE37 and Apexi N1 Type Pro combo

[ryan hagen]

so the dt-05r's in the group buy arent good rims? they are pretty heavy compaired to alot fo 17's the 17 by 7.5 was like 3 lbs heavier that a fn01r-c 17 by7 , i was gonna get dt-05r's in 17 by 8.5 all around but now i m considering getting the fn01r-c in 17 by 8 front and 9 rear just cause they are lighter, but the down side is i ahve to go 5 lug.........what do you guys think in this rim compairison?

[old_s13]

crab> All i know is that when i turn on speed channel and watch autocross, when they go in for a pit stop, there always throwing on either 17"18" or 19" rims on the car.

thats because with drag cars the type of brakes being used are the LAST thing to care about.. brakes are only needed to make the car stop, its really not a big deal.. you're not being rated on how quickly you stop AFTER the 1/4 mile.

Larger diameter wheels came into effect when larger brakes/rotors were being used, they work hand in hand. This is why 15" dont work well with Z32 brakes.

Of course, there's always the styling thing.. people tend to like rubberband tire look <gag>

[KA24DESOneThree]

Jeff- I am sorry; I was out of line. If I could edit my post to remove the offensive content, I would. You're actually a pretty cool guy.

Crab- Are you talking about the Speedvision touring car races? (There are no pit stops in autocrossing.) If you are, then the reason they run large wheels is because they are running street tires made by Toyo. Thus, since the tires are meant for street use, they have less stiff sidewall material than the Hoosier slicks usually run in SCCA Pro GT1, GT2, GT3, etc. Less stiff sidewall material means they have to have a smaller aspect ratio sidewall to get decent stiffness.

In a drag car, the size of the wheel doesn't really matter all that much, it's more the width that matters. Also, the smaller the wheel, the larger the sidewall that can be run. This larger sidewall increases the "wrinkle" of the tire, allowing a larger footprint and more traction for the holeshot. Brakes really have nothing to do with the sizing of a tire, because the brakes on a drag car are simply marginal... at best.

Ryan- Buy what you want, but remember that heavier wheels will just slow your car down, unless you buy absolute rubber bands to increase the gearing, thus making up for the weight of the wheels. This increased gearing will cause your car to run higher revs in each gear, which may actually make your car a bit slower to certain speeds. So, there's not really an upside to installing the heavier wheels other than the fact that they fit your setup now.

old_s13- The styling aspect of 17/18/19s came from racecars. The first that comes to mind is the British Touring Car Championship. They are now mandated to run either 18s or 19s. (I believe it is the latter) Lots of punters in Britain decided that looked cool and began the trend. Around the same time, most of the Deutches Tourenwagen Masters cars were running wheels with a 17" minimum diameter. Again, lots of punters in Germany decided it looked cool and began the trend there. About the same time as the two series listed above, the JGTC cars started using bigger wheels. Yet again, lots of punters in Japan decided it looked cool and began the trend there. How it started here is... well, either we got it from all of them or thought of it ourselves. I don't know. People didn't even think of how big of brakes they could fit; they were, and still are, only interested in looking cool.

I hope I cleared up some things for people.

[ryan hagen]

Ryan- Buy what you want, but remember that heavier wheels will just slow your car down, unless you buy absolute rubber bands to increase the gearing, thus making up for the weight of the wheels. This increased gearing will cause your car to run higher revs in each gear, which may actually make your car a bit slower to certain speeds. So, there's not really an upside to installing the heavier wheels other than the fact that they fit your setup now.




cool so basically i ll just get more traction which i NEED, lol i was gonan go to tt-ring gear cause i was so pissed at my first gear, i can and usally launch in second when me and my friends race.

[cowbomb]

it matters alot. it can cause a big problem like wheel vibrations which can eat away at ur suspension and so on...........

[KA24DESOneThree]

Cowbomb- we're talking about the weight of the whole wheel, not the little weights you put on the wheel to balance it.

[tastyratz]

jeff you have a good point in your first post but it was already mentioned that you were discussing gearing changes when the overall diameter is to stay the same. it is very true that the farther out you move the weight the more of an impact its going to have, a lighter smaller wheel is beneficial in so many ways its incredible. another thing to consider is alot of times a tire thats got a shorter sidewall alot of times tends to be heavier. depending on the combo and optimum tire for your configuration and needs sometimes a larger/smaller wheel size can change your tire selection to a more optimal configuration. overall smaller lighter wheels=faster. in the 1/4 it makes the least difference than the autox track because if you think about it the amount of resistance change % wise can be fairly moot when you have several hundred pounds of rotational driveline components. does it make a difference you can feel? absolutely, but its nothing significant acceleration wise. drifting would probabbly improve because you could "snap" the wheels better. as far as contact patch goes there has been an excellent thread I was involved in regarding that. at rest patch doesnt change only shape does when you go to a wider tire. however a wider rear tire does make a difference on a higher hp car due to alot more weight shifting to the back.

[mike13]

jeff you have a good point...

genius... this thread is 15 months old

[tastyratz]

doh! damn i thought that said 2005 on the last post. i didnt get enough sleep last night, chock up a dumb point on me under reading comprehension. lol