acceleration vs wheel size and weight

[Doc Zaius]

Leave the noob alone! (We're not talking about overall diameter changes... we're flogging the much-discussed bigger wheels = more weight = less performance on our small cars).

But yeah, Loren's totally right: rubber for bigger wheels definitely weighs more (usually). Those sidewalls don't weigh very much at all. And of course you have to consider that with larger wheels, you're moving the weight distribution further from the center of rotation, which also hampers performance.

I've seen a couple comparisons around the Web, and the "general consensus" is that a reduction of 1lb of unsprung (wheel, tire, brake) weight works out to feel closer to 4lbs of sprung (normal) weight during handling & braking. So if you have larger wheels that weigh 5lbs more each, then that's kind-of equivalent to 20lbs of normal weight, times four for each wheel = 80lbs of extra weight. Not desirable!

[aucorium]

hey guys.

seems to be a nice topic to chat about.

well , here is my whole idea behind the question.

1 . i was thinking of putting on 15's to aid my acceleration while the car is NA tuned , but by doing this i loose the whole look of the car the way it is now , but , with the Tein super street coilovers coming soon , that can be corrected.

2.im thinking i should keep the 17's on , and maybe just try and find an even lighter 17inch wheel , as im thinking of going the turbo route and then i recon the 15's will loose grip quite a bit more and 17's might be better.

3.i like the road handling of the 17's and i am a bit worried about loosing that tight road handling feel i have.

4.i want to do a track day or 2 in the near future , so 15's would be better , but i see alot of the guys that run on circuits like Tskuba in japan , think i splet it right , run 17's on the NA tuned 4age and run in general better times than the guys on 15's, but i suppose for a really tight track 15's are better ...

so yeah , thats what been going through my head.

[aucorium]

ps: please excuse the spelling , im switching between windows at work , LOL!