TeeCizzle

I kinda disagree....After having the Stock 17's and doing Touge on them U can manuver a lot faster and not have to to turn the wheel So hard...
When I upgraded to 18's...I seem to have to yank the wheel a lil harder and does Not Manuever as quickly as 17's do...

If you are doing Touge etc...I think 17's are th best!....For Cruising etc..18's!!...

djct_watt

This is the BIGGEST misconception about rims, period. Instead of multi-quoting everyone else, i'm going to respond to everyone.

CHAPTER 1: Misconceptions

It's not JUST about weight. The key factor is called ROTATIONAL inertia. Simple experiment: take a dumb bell in each hand and start spinning with your arms fully out stretched. Now do the same with your arms tucked in. Feel the difference? It takes more work (or in other words, more power) to spin, the further out the weight is from the axis of rotation. You can see it with figure skaters. When they spin, they extend their arms. Once spinning, they tuck their arms in and actually ACCELERATE their spin without exerting any extra energy.

On a wheel, the majority of the mass is in the outside lip. A bigger wheel means not only do you have more material and more mass, but that all the mass is moved away from the axis of rotation (which is the most important factor).

The actual formula is:
I (rotational) = mass x radius^2

Yeah, an increase in radius has an EXPONENTIAL effect on power losses and exponentially increase braking distances!

Chapter 2: HANDLING

Now what about handling? This is every ricer boy bling bling yo yo foo type person's justification for "riiiyyaams," dog. /rant. People compare their stock tires to their upgraded tires and don't make an apples to apples comparison. When people get larger wheels, they usually get them wider too. And the fact of the matter is that the NEW tires usually cost a helluva lot more too, and I'll explain why in a little bit.

1. Wider tires = better traction.
2. Higher quality tires = better quality rubber compounds = better traction.
3. Cheap tires = a soft ride designed for comfort.

You can get the EXACT same gains in traction associated with upsizing by either widening your OEM wheel width and/or increasing tire quality.

But this is where Mr. VTEK says, "what about sidewall, foo, der!!!!" Well, there's an answer to that too!

Question: what holds up your tire? Your sidewall? WRONG!!! It's AIR. Cheap tires can only handle low air pressures, which is why they flex. In fact, good quality tires will have higher tolerances. The higher the pressure, the less flexing you will get.

And hopefully you aren't going to make a stupid argument about low profile tires having low max PSI's. If you are, you aren't thinking 3 dimensionally. A low profile tire has less airspace, which means greater changes in pressure when subjected to deformation. So yes, even a low max PSI still means it has a higher pressure tolerance.

CHAPTER 3: Conclusion

What should you get, if performance is your only concern?

Ever seen a race car? Does it have rubber bands for tires? I think not! None do... Except for home made racers made by people who know nothing of physics.

And what about ferrari's and exotic cars? Here's a tip, look at the brakes! There's no gap between the wheel and the brakes! And thus is THE cardinal rules for performance wheels:

1. GET THE SMALLEST SIZE POSSIBLE THAT WILL CLEAR THE BRAKES!
2. Get the narrowest tires possible that will be slightly above the suspension/weight/power's limit of traction.
3. Get the best, best of the best (and possibly most expensive tires) possible.

All 3 of these rules are broken by about 99% of so called "performance enthusiasts."

Why do most good tires only come in low profile sizes? Because most performance CARS have big brakes! That's why! Most performance cars need more than 16" of clearance for their rotors and calipers! 10" brakes belong on SLOW cars, thus why it's harder to find performance tires for small wheels, but they do exist.

Do some research people... And you'll find out that this stuff is not opinion; it's physics and there are NO exceptions to the laws of physics. I don't care how much "nawsss" you run or how often your floorboards fall off. And it's been proven by legitimate, apples to apples testing on the track.

BIG WHEELS ARE PURELY COSMETIC! They add NO performance value whatsoever, unless it's to fit bigger brakes.

djct_watt

This is the BIGGEST misconception about rims, period. Instead of multi-quoting everyone else, i'm going to respond to everyone.

CHAPTER 1: Misconceptions

It's not JUST about weight. The key factor is called ROTATIONAL inertia. Simple experiment: take a dumb bell in each hand and start spinning with your arms fully out stretched. Now do the same with your arms tucked in. Feel the difference? It takes more work (or in other words, more power) to spin, the further out the weight is from the axis of rotation. You can see it with figure skaters. When they spin, they extend their arms. Once spinning, they tuck their arms in and actually ACCELERATE their spin without exerting any extra energy.

On a wheel, the majority of the mass is in the outside lip. A bigger wheel means not only do you have more material and more mass, but that all the mass is moved away from the axis of rotation (which is the most important factor).

The actual formula is:
I (rotational) = mass x radius^2

Yeah, an increase in radius has an EXPONENTIAL effect on power losses and exponentially increase braking distances!

Chapter 2: HANDLING

Now what about handling? This is every ricer boy bling bling yo yo foo type person's justification for "riiiyyaams," dog. /rant. People compare their stock tires to their upgraded tires and don't make an apples to apples comparison. When people get larger wheels, they usually get them wider too. And the fact of the matter is that the NEW tires usually cost a helluva lot more too, and I'll explain why in a little bit.

1. Wider tires = better traction.
2. Higher quality tires = better quality rubber compounds = better traction.
3. Cheap tires = a soft ride designed for comfort.

You can get the EXACT same gains in traction associated with upsizing by either widening your OEM wheel width and/or increasing tire quality.

But this is where Mr. VTEK says, "what about sidewall, foo, der!!!!" Well, there's an answer to that too!

Question: what holds up your tire? Your sidewall? WRONG!!! It's AIR. Cheap tires can only handle low air pressures, which is why they flex. In fact, good quality tires will have higher tolerances. The higher the pressure, the less flexing you will get.

And hopefully you aren't going to make a stupid argument about low profile tires having low max PSI's. If you are, you aren't thinking 3 dimensionally. A low profile tire has less airspace, which means greater changes in pressure when subjected to deformation. So yes, even a low max PSI still means it has a higher pressure tolerance.

CHAPTER 3: Conclusion

What should you get, if performance is your only concern?

Ever seen a race car? Does it have rubber bands for tires? I think not! None do... Except for home made racers made by people who know nothing of physics.

And what about ferrari's and exotic cars? Here's a tip, look at the brakes! There's no gap between the wheel and the brakes! And thus is THE cardinal rules for performance wheels:

1. GET THE SMALLEST SIZE POSSIBLE THAT WILL CLEAR THE BRAKES!
2. Get the narrowest tires possible that will be slightly above the suspension/weight/power's limit of traction.
3. Get the best, best of the best (and possibly most expensive tires) possible.

All 3 of these rules are broken by about 99% of so called "performance enthusiasts."

Why do most good tires only come in low profile sizes? Because most performance CARS have big brakes! That's why! Most performance cars need more than 16" of clearance for their rotors and calipers! 10" brakes belong on SLOW cars, thus why it's harder to find performance tires for small wheels, but they do exist.

Do some research people... And you'll find out that this stuff is not opinion; it's physics and there are NO exceptions to the laws of physics. I don't care how much "nawsss" you run or how often your floorboards fall off. And it's been proven by legitimate, apples to apples testing on the track.

BIG WHEELS ARE PURELY COSMETIC! They add NO performance value whatsoever, unless it's to fit bigger brakes.

lbjshaq2345

26s for me xD

rolloutrs1

i vote for 18s!

MilanoRed

17" carbon fiber rims, biatches!! now that's what you call low weight -> low inertia.

07_Tc_blacksandpearl

I put 18's on my tc and to be honest i didnt notice a performance drop at all. I gained cornering but thats cuz i put nitto invo tires on em . I love thoes tires. I want them to have my babies