TexasGunRunner

I read earlier where somebody noticed a significant power loss when they switched their wheel/tire combo. Others speculated this was due to weight.

I want to understand that better. Based on what I have read:
1) many prefer larger rims with smaller tires basically for aesthetic reasons
2) smaller rim combos usually facilitate faster acceleration, due to lower weight, not size
3) wider is better because the contact patch is bigger, therefore more grip, more traction
4) racing class rules impose restrictions on rim size/tire size

What else does it effect and how? Handling, cornering, etc.?

So, the holly grail would be a large rim that is as light as a small rim. OK, but what is the weight of the stock GSL-SE rims? Is that a good benchmark, or what is a good target weight for a high performance rim?

Most of the above assumes the total outside diameter is the same, but some doesn't (I know you would have to recalibrate the speedometer). Some of it also seems counterintuitive, since you would think a larger diameter would provide more distance covered for the same rotation...although there is slightly more mass to move.

I have two GSL-SEs, one of which needs new tires a while ago. I would like to budget a nice rims and tires for aesthetics and highway performance. I probably will do some autox, but will switch back to the standard wheels for that (no reason to tear up the nice stuff), unless I really get into it.

On the Viper, the rear tires are different than the front. It has always looked odd to me that you can lower the RX-7 and max out tire size so it looks 'tight' up front, but that same rim/tire combo looks too small in back. Why not put larger tires in back? Has anybody tried that? I would think you could go larger, simply because there is no yaw travel. Again, you would have to recalibrate the speedometer.

From a performance standpoint, what are the factors that go into tire selection? Are there certain charateristics to avoid or seek, other than treadware, traction, and temp range?

FWIW, I went back 15 pages of posts and couldn't find anything. Searching is useless because so many people list their mods on every post, nothing is filtered out.

Thanks,
Brian T. Carter

TexasGunRunner

C'mon folks...some of y'all are real smart - surely you could spare a little knowledge on tires and wheels with respect to performance for a poor Texas yocal.

I know I mispelled "tires" in the title...but geez...

--BTC

oni-dori

just switch to better and slightly wider tread tires. im not a big fan of super huge wheels. i think it depends whether the car needs bigger tires to control the power. i mean there is a big power difference between a viper and my little gs. most cars that have bigger tires on the back needs them.

mmasid

I haven't tried it on my Rx-7 yet but I'm sure the same principle applies. My pantera has 345/35/15 on rear and 315/35/15 on front. I tried the same size only 17's for a while to see the difference for myself. I couldn't tell any acceleration difference just by feel, but gained 10 mph in the top end.

TexasGunRunner

Any recommedations for tires and rims? Perhaps a better question, any recommendation for where to buy tires and rims?

Thanks,
BTC

TexasGunRunner

I found this awesome website which allows you to search all brands and has manufacturer info, etc.

Most importantly, in many cases, it list the weight of the rims.

check it out:

wheelspecs.com