Guest

You're on crack. If he has 18s with the same percentage height of a sidewall vs the 17s, then yes he'd have good handling. But if he went with a lower profile sidewall then his handling ability will diminish slightly. But with a higher sidewall height on 18s he'll make his gearing slightly taller thanks to the overall taller tire/wheel combination, which is not good for accerlation.

18s with a shorter sidewall percentage vs 17s with a higher, the 17s will out perform the 18s as far as cornering ability.

On the 17s with the 245/45 tires he went with his height is 25.68" tall.

MCFAST

So, you are saying that if the side walls are taller you get better cornering ability. I do not think so!

Guest

Oh but I do think so. Low profile tires make for a harsher ride, there is less cushioning between your rim and the road.

Cornering with low pro tires will not allow your car to track and will be a hell of a lot more bumpy. Bumps cause small lapses in grip as the suspension bounds/rebounds.

Same principle as when you hit a pothole and your car pulls in the direction of the tire that hit the hole.

You will never see someone who autocrosses their car on the weekends with low profile tires. Period.

MCFAST

I saw a car show, on TV last week, thay took a Honda with 15in wheels and then put on 16in then 17in then 18in, every time thay put on the big wheeles it was faster, around the track. so what do you think about that? I do know what you mean, when it comes to a bumpy road, but there is a lot more to it then just that.

Guest

What you don't mention is the size in tires related to each other.

I didn't see the show so I can't argue it, but if you knew the tire sizes I could.

My point is not against wheel size, it's against sidewall height. But the main reason the larger rims made it slightly faster is because as the rims got larger, the width got wider. Wider tires= more contact patch= more grip.

That doesn't mean that less sidewall height is good for autocrossing, or daily driving on ****ty bumpy, pot hole infested roads. Autocrossing tracks usually have tighter cprmers than any professional race track.

javsvt

If having 17's with larger sidewalls is better, dont you think all the higher end performance cars would be using them. For example, the Z06 uses 295/30/19 if im not mistaken. Whatever it is, it is a very low profile.

Guest

You're missing my point. Read up, I said that the cornering performance will diminish slightly, not be absolutely horrible.

But anyway... the C6 z06 uses 275/35/18 on the front; 25.58" tall with a 96.25mm sidewall height. 325/30/19 on the rear; 26.67" tall with a 97.5mm sidewall height.

My sidewalls are a mere 10mm taller. The reason the Z06 will corner better is because of the suspension setup.

All in all you want sidewall on a daily driver, or if you plan on doing any type of racing that doesn't involve going in a straight line.

Must all of you argue with me for making general statements?