bigger wheel/rim = lower acceleration?

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Mar 9, 2004
  #1  
guys, i got a question again..

what are the cons side of getting a bigger wheel?

I know that it's heavier....
does that means that your car got more rolling resistance and thus need more power from the engine to roll your car forward? which supposely means a decrease in fuel efficiency?

so, bigger wheel, provides you with better handling, is that correct? however, is it correct that you will have a slightly bigger error in your tachmeter and also slower acceleration?

edit::
i can say...basically from my questions above, what is the good side and bad side of getting a wider tires and/or bigger wheels?

thanx!
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Mar 9, 2004
  #2  
Bigger wheels look better. Thats about it.
There have been numerous explainations posted regarding the loss of performance due to huge wheels, regardless of weight. So search... I don't feel like writing it all out again.
In short... the smallest wheel that'll clear the brakes is the fastest.
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Mar 9, 2004
  #3  
^^ Yup.^^

even if your big wheels are lighter then the smaller ones, you have to caluclate the distance from the center of rotation to where the majority of mass is to find the actual inertia of the big wheel.... meaning that the smaller wheel even being heavier will still have less Inerta then the larger Lighter wheel.

Wide However is good. So go find your self some light weight 15X7s and be happy in the knowlage that your car is actually set up for performance rather then show...
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Mar 9, 2004
  #4  
thanx guys, i'll do more research..

thanx again for the reply.. =)
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Mar 9, 2004
  #5  
mostly for the smaller tire sidewall and wider tires...
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Mar 9, 2004
  #6  
Quote:
Originally posted by zen_master
thanx guys, i'll do more research.
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Mar 10, 2004
  #7  
you just brought a tear to my eye, why can't we have more people like you
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Mar 10, 2004
  #8  
Quote:
Originally posted by HondaLuver
you just brought a tear to my eye, why can't we have more people like you
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Mar 11, 2004
  #9  
mmmmm....
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Mar 11, 2004
  #10  
damn this thread is making me wish i got 15" slipstreams rather then 17" subzeros
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Mar 11, 2004
  #11  
^^ I have both... Sorta.

1 set of 17s for street (with some nice performance all season tires)
1 set of 15s for autocross (with Some Falken Azenis love them tires)
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Mar 11, 2004
  #12  
hm..

confused confused..

a 16" alloy or 17" alloy?

hmhm..

crap, i already bought a new set of Firestone Affinity LH30 with my black steel rim....now, If i buy another new set of wheel with size other than 15"....i gotta spend another $300 for tires....geez...

hm....anybody know Sport Edition Wheels? it's pretty nice..n

btw, I can simply transfer my tires to the new wheel with the same size, right?
mainly...185/65/15?
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Mar 11, 2004
  #13  
This is basically the deal, if you race on some sort of a track, get 15s as dedicated track wheels, then get whatever for the street. If you just run the street, it really doesn't matter. A compromise is to go 16". You lose a little over a 15" wheel but if you make it light enough, you'll probably equal the stock steelies cuz they're so heavy.
I have 17's for the street, 15's for the track and my stock wheels for the winter.
Sport edition wheels are kinda junky. You can do better than that.
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Mar 11, 2004
  #14  
Personally, with the knowlage I have now I wouldnt go bigger then 16s... preferably 15s, Like nice 15X7. I've been contimplating selling my 17s and getting another set of 15s.

Zen, Yes you can swap your current tires on to another 15, no problem.
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Mar 12, 2004
  #15  
yay.... ic ic ic..

thanx for the infos, guys

hm...

gee....i just realize..

what is actually your term of 15x7?
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Mar 12, 2004
  #16  
15 is the wheel diamiter, 7 is the wheels width.

I believe the stock 15 is 5.5 inches wide = 15x5.5
most aftermarket 15s will be 6.5" wide, performance 15s should be atleast 6.5, but better if they were 7"
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Mar 12, 2004
  #17  
15'' is the diameter of the wheel and 7'' is the width of the wheel.
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Mar 12, 2004
  #18  
doh, got there before i did
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Mar 12, 2004
  #19  
wait2....but,

what is the maximum width of my stock steel wheeles?

it sure can't be more than 5.5, right? or is it?
can i put a wider size tires in my stock wheeles?

However, I bought a set of Affinity LH30 with 185/65/15 in size,
now...with that ratio, what is the width size of my tires? 5.5?

thanx!
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Mar 12, 2004
  #20  
The Stock EX wheels are 15X6 you shouldnt have any problem fitting a 185 on a 6.5 or even a 7" wheel though they may start to look funny on the 7"
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Mar 13, 2004
  #21  
ok question if 15" is the best for racing (and i am not argueing, just bringing up some food for thought) why do the JGTC, USTC and other races use a 17" or even 18" wheels for spec????
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Mar 13, 2004
  #22  
Quote:
Originally posted by CrazyCakes
ok question if 15" is the best for racing (and i am not argueing, just bringing up some food for thought) why do the JGTC, USTC and other races use a 17" or even 18" wheels for spec????
Because they're using huge brakes.
Viper LeMans Race cars have 16" brake rotors.
You stuff the smallest wheel you can and still clear the brakes. They're running brakes that require the use of larger wheels.
F1 cars use 13" wheels.
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Mar 13, 2004
  #23  
Stick with smaller rims if you want to keep the faster acceleration. That's one of the main reasons I got stock alloys. And they still look good. Depending on the tire you get with the larger rims, you could throw off the odo and speedo. The ride quality will decrease (you'll feel more bumps), and the car will accelerate more slowly.
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Mar 13, 2004
  #24  
a ha... ic ic, interesting information...thanx guys..

hm, whaddya think about that 15 or 16" EX stock wheel of '04 civic? looks nice, eh?

ah, lemme ask this one..

when u but ur '02 EX...ur supposely will get 185/65/R15 with Firestone RE690 (the suckest tires, ever...) now, what is the size of that OEM tires? 15x6?
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Mar 14, 2004
  #25  
technically we can fit 14s, but the reason boilermaker and me run 15 is that there arn't any good tires in 14s that we can use in our class of racing (Solo2 STS) Hoosier makes some nice wide 14s but they are not legal for our class.
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Mar 14, 2004
  #26  
ok thanks guys i didn't know they ran that hugh of brakes but that make total sense. so f1 cars don't need to run big brakes because of the little weight they have to slow down, right?
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Mar 14, 2004
  #27  
They weigh nothing and run carbon ceramic brakes with a rediculous coeffecient of friction. So they bite hard and can dissapate and tolerate high heat very well.
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Mar 14, 2004
  #28  
Freaky thing about F1 cars... Not only are they running Carbon Pads, but Carbon Rotors too....





ATS makes a set for Skylines and CIVIC/integra Rs

Civic/Integra R Carbon Pads and Rotors....... Only $4,000!!!
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Mar 14, 2004
  #29  
cool information, thanx guys..

hm....anybody know about brembo brakes?

what are they made from?
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Mar 14, 2004
  #30  
Cast metal.. Industry standard. The meterials in the rotors vairy a bit from MFG to MFG, but all use cast Iron as a base...
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