I figured I might get a slightly more authoritative answer
here... Since we have road race and cone dodgers, both
with lots of different kinds of equipment...
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeffrey Blankenship
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2000 11:13 AM
To: 'neon@iastate.edu'
Subject: RE: neon Neon R/T Wheels--Huh?
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Corey E. Bigley [mailto:cbigley@tribweb.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2000 8:11 PM
> To: neon@iastate.edu
> Subject: neon Neon R/T Wheels--Huh?
>
> Don't make me feel like an idiot, but I thought that the R/T
> wheels that came stock from the factory where 15"
<snip>
> If they are only 14's, why so little?
<snip>
> I would want at least a 15" for handling.
Actually, the longer I hang around the autocross scene, the more
convinced I am that larger diameter wheels on street cars
are primarily better cosmetically, and that's all.
For example, Street Prepared cars, which can have any size wheel
you want, will frequently move DOWN an inch in diameter. This
gives advantages in several areas: less unsprung weight,
better distribution of rotating mass for reduced polar moment of
inertia, and gearing ratio may be better.
So, when it comes to handling, SMALLER diameter is better.
Increasing the WIDTH of the wheel (and tire) is what seems to
give better handling, regardless of diameter.
So I'm wondering what the advantage of larger diameter is?
Is there a heat/wear advantage of lower RPM at high speed which
is significant? Is the tire patch bigger? I can't think of
anything else. Yet you see that wheel diameter is generally
proportional to how expensive and fast a sports car is.
I have a feeling that as long as there is excess torque and you're
optimizing for sustained high speed, large diameter has its advantages.
But if torque is in short supply and you're optimizing for low speed,
handling and acceleration, you need to minimize wheel mass and inertia.
Am I reading the tradeoff correctly here?
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