I still don't understand myself...
For a start 15" look silly on classic cars - it seems to be all the rage
to put them on muscle cars too... no no nooooooooo... muscle cars have
big fat huge pieces of rubber on them... not skinny things...
I still don't know why you need _more_ grip than the standard sizes
myself - it seems to me that the suspension isnt set up right in the
first place - and fitting bigger tyres is a hack to try and fix that...
I still claim that my 145s give me serious grip with devine neutral
handling... it goes around corners like a bat out of hell... or
something that goes around corners very quickly... as tested on the
Scottish not-much-wider-than-a-Spitfire roads back in October...
So, I conclude, to the people who want to fit 15"ers... if it's just for
fashion... that's ok, just as long as you don't think you're getting a
better ride of handling... to the people that know better... let's not
try and argue - let them live in their Miata world...
(yes this email is written in a happy frame of mine :o) )
James
M D "Doc" Nugent wrote:
>There won't be any change in a CAD drawing of the
>suspension's arcs, but the plus two wheels/tires WILL
>change the real-world geometry. Better grip between
>tire patch and road will compress the suspension
>bushings more, making their pivot points change, and
>slop from sidewall flex with "old style" tires will be
>gone, so the bushings and bearings can be expected to
>fail sooner. Small stuff, but real. For plus two
>wheels/tires to achieve their potential, you need
>non-flexing bushings (polygraphite, etc.) to keep the
>suspension pivots in one place.
>
>As to performance, I'd bet you could find a 13"
>autocross tire that would outperform 15" low profile
>street tires. All you really get with plus two
>wheel/tire combos is a different look - not
>automatically better performance.
>
>M D "Doc" Nugent
>Renton, WA
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