First and most notably, it will change your gearing -- that is, unless you
use a lower profile tire to ensure the overall wheel diameter is the same.
Bigger wheels = taller gear = less acceleration in each gear, yet higher top
speed in each gear.
With the two sizes you gave, the 225/50-16 makes for a slightly larger
overall wheel. But the difference is only about 1% so the it is probably
irrelevant.
Since for all practical purposes the overall diameter of the wheel hasn't
changed, the only real differences are:
Extra width: more rubber, usually means more traction
Narrower sidewall: stiffens the ride, could be good or bad depending on the
car
Bigger rims: could make the wheel lighter or heavier, depending on the rims
BTW, using different sized wheels will make your car illegal for stock
categories.
You didn't mention whether the new rims would be wider than the old ones. If
they are, you might need a different offset.
That's about all I can think of.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-ba-autox@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-ba-autox@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Clifford Richardson
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2001 13:21
To: ba-autox@autox.team.net
Subject: 15' front, 16' rear...better performance?
Question: How does having larger rear tires on a rwd vehicle affect it's
performance? I don't mean wider although I'd love to hear inputs about that
too. Although I've been planning to upgrade to wider tires all around for
some time now, a thought just occurred to me: just upgrading the rears from
205/60-15 to 225/50-16. Will the smaller wheels up front give me "better"
steering while bigger ones in the rear put more power to the road?
-Arnold
"Gee, Brain. What are we going to do tonight?"
"Same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try and take over the world!"
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