disadvantages to bigger wheels?
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disadvantages to bigger wheels? OK, so what's the DISadvantage to having big wheels and low profile tires? Why don't they ship like this from the factory? And why does BMW get away with it?
My understanding is it has something to do with the lower profile being bad for some types of driving. What would that be?
I ask because when I get my LX with covered 14's I'm probably going to want to replace them. I'm just not sure if I want to go with 15's or 17's though. I want to be practical and not screw up the handling, but I also want to improve the look since I think covered steelies are just silly.
My understanding is it has something to do with the lower profile being bad for some types of driving. What would that be?
I ask because when I get my LX with covered 14's I'm probably going to want to replace them. I'm just not sure if I want to go with 15's or 17's though. I want to be practical and not screw up the handling, but I also want to improve the look since I think covered steelies are just silly.
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There are a couple of things here that apply.
1. Total wheel/tire combo size. as in Total diamiter.
2. Weight of the Wheel/tire combo.
3. Profile of the tire
1.The wheel/tire combo size effects acceleration by essentialy changing the final drive ratio of the car. Wiht out going in to detail, if you go to a larger total diamiter the stock you will more then likely accelerate slower, but you will have a higher top speed. The opposite happens when you go smaller then stock. you will accelerate quicker but you will lose some of you top speed.
2. Weigh of the Wheel and tire combo is very important. basically the lighter the better, The reason BMW can use larger wheels is becaus their engines make more torque and its what you pay for after all, would you buy a BMW with steel wheels? (They do exzist on 318's though).
3. The Profile of the tire determens a couple of things, handling chariteristics(Low profile tires are good for turning but not so good at acceleration/off the line traction, Ride quality (Low profile tires will have a rougher due to the short stiff sidewall), and to a lesser extent Wheel/tire survivability (A shorter side wall allows for less absorption of impacts, thus allowing more oppertunities to damage both rim and tire).
there is more, and you will probably hear all sorts of ideas and opinions, but this is the basics.
1. Total wheel/tire combo size. as in Total diamiter.
2. Weight of the Wheel/tire combo.
3. Profile of the tire
1.The wheel/tire combo size effects acceleration by essentialy changing the final drive ratio of the car. Wiht out going in to detail, if you go to a larger total diamiter the stock you will more then likely accelerate slower, but you will have a higher top speed. The opposite happens when you go smaller then stock. you will accelerate quicker but you will lose some of you top speed.
2. Weigh of the Wheel and tire combo is very important. basically the lighter the better, The reason BMW can use larger wheels is becaus their engines make more torque and its what you pay for after all, would you buy a BMW with steel wheels? (They do exzist on 318's though).
3. The Profile of the tire determens a couple of things, handling chariteristics(Low profile tires are good for turning but not so good at acceleration/off the line traction, Ride quality (Low profile tires will have a rougher due to the short stiff sidewall), and to a lesser extent Wheel/tire survivability (A shorter side wall allows for less absorption of impacts, thus allowing more oppertunities to damage both rim and tire).
there is more, and you will probably hear all sorts of ideas and opinions, but this is the basics.
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Rep Power: 375 It also all depends on what you plan to do with your Civic. If its show car then its up to you what you want to put on there but basically the disadvantages to the bigger wheels are weight, accel and you need to watch out for fender rubbing with larger wheel and tire combo. I feel that lightweight 17s are a happy medium between daily driving and show/racing
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Rep Power: 0 Originally posted by RedDragon333
It also all depends on what you plan to do with your Civic. If its show car then its up to you what you want to put on there but basically the disadvantages to the bigger wheels are weight, accel and you need to watch out for fender rubbing with larger wheel and tire combo. I feel that lightweight 17s are a happy medium between daily driving and show/racing
It also all depends on what you plan to do with your Civic. If its show car then its up to you what you want to put on there but basically the disadvantages to the bigger wheels are weight, accel and you need to watch out for fender rubbing with larger wheel and tire combo. I feel that lightweight 17s are a happy medium between daily driving and show/racing
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Rep Power: 424 Originally posted by MrDisco99
I have no intention of showing the car. I just want wheels that look better than stock and don't sacrifice handling or ride quality. And if it improves them then that's great too.
I have no intention of showing the car. I just want wheels that look better than stock and don't sacrifice handling or ride quality. And if it improves them then that's great too.
BMW gets away with it because you can't sell $50000+ cars with 14" wheels. The 325 and 525 still come standard with 16's, I think all of the 330 line up comes with 17, and I know the 530 does, the 540 may come with 18". They can do it because they do one hell of a job with the suspension. It's awesome at soaking up bumps as well as being tight and stiff when it has to be. Unfortunately that comes with a big price tag. In the mean time, Civics still use fat tires to soak up some of the bumps and vibration.
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Rep Power: 380 Its really personal choice. For me I ended up with 2 sets of wheels and tires. one for street and one for Autocross. On the street, I have a set of Axis Se7ens 17X7 They are heavy as hell but they are my street wheels so that dosnt concern me. My autcross Wheels are a set of 15X6.5 Rota Slipstreams (I should have waited for the 15X7's to come out) They are light 11.8Lbs and I can fit a short tire on them for a bit of a gearing advatage.
YOu kinda have to choose if you want looks or performance (If you have a boat load of $$$ you can have both) and go from there. Looks = larger wheel where performance = smaller wheel (IN most cases there are some Very light 17's). You also have to take in to consideration on what you Intend to do with your car as in Do you race? are you going to race? and if so what type of racing will you do? this will help you determin if you want a small light wheel for racing, or a large heavy wheel for street/looks. It will also help you determin what type of tire you will want to get. Do you want an all season performance tire, or an Utra High performance Dry traction tire. do you want a tire that will help you with drag launces, or with turning?
If you were to get 17's the power loss would be minimal, most people would never be alble to tell the difference, however, on the track, that difference can cost you Precious time. So if you dont intend to race, go with what you think looks the best. If you do intend to race, then every .001 counts, so I'd suggest getting the smallest lightest wheel you can afford. Other wise, Go with the 17's they look good and with the right tire the loss of ride quality will be minimum. Or 16's if the ride quaity is that important to you. or 15's if you want to look like an actual racer and not some poser(jk)
there thats my $0.02
YOu kinda have to choose if you want looks or performance (If you have a boat load of $$$ you can have both) and go from there. Looks = larger wheel where performance = smaller wheel (IN most cases there are some Very light 17's). You also have to take in to consideration on what you Intend to do with your car as in Do you race? are you going to race? and if so what type of racing will you do? this will help you determin if you want a small light wheel for racing, or a large heavy wheel for street/looks. It will also help you determin what type of tire you will want to get. Do you want an all season performance tire, or an Utra High performance Dry traction tire. do you want a tire that will help you with drag launces, or with turning?
If you were to get 17's the power loss would be minimal, most people would never be alble to tell the difference, however, on the track, that difference can cost you Precious time. So if you dont intend to race, go with what you think looks the best. If you do intend to race, then every .001 counts, so I'd suggest getting the smallest lightest wheel you can afford. Other wise, Go with the 17's they look good and with the right tire the loss of ride quality will be minimum. Or 16's if the ride quaity is that important to you. or 15's if you want to look like an actual racer and not some poser(jk)
there thats my $0.02
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