Stiffer is usually better, but only to a point because if you get it too
stiff your traction will suffer. And if you change one end of the car
without touching the other end, the relative difference between front and
rear will change the handling. Stickier rear with same front will probably
increase understeer. This could be good or bad, depending on what you want.
However, my guess is that it won't make much difference.
-----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 14:20
To: mrclem@telocity.com; ba-autox@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: 15' front, 16' rear...better performance?
The new rims should be the same width as the old ones, but I'll have to
double-check that. I do want to stay in stock until I learn how to better
handle my car so I guess this thread is purely for information. I'm
realizing just how much I DON'T know about the dynamics involved when going
to different-sized wheels. :-)
>Extra width: more rubber, usually means more traction
>Narrower sidewall: stiffens the ride, could be good or bad depending on the
>car
It's a BMW 318i. Does that make it good or bad?
Please bear with me. The number of stupid questions I ask will decrease in
time, I promise.
Thanks for your input, Michael.
-Arnold
"Gee, Brain. What are we going to do tonight?"
"Same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try and take over the world!"
>From: "Michael R. Clements" <mrclem@telocity.com>
>To: "Clifford Richardson" <the_brain7@hotmail.com>,
><ba-autox@autox.team.net>
>Subject: RE: 15' front, 16' rear...better performance?
>Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 13:45:45 -0700
>
>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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