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jskim9 · 10-30-2002, 12:38 AM

no, wider is better. Pontiac's ads are referring in wide track (width of the car itself) which is also advantageous for cornering.  
back to tires...  Wider is almost always better, except for snow.  Tires grip obviously comes from friction, larger the surface area, higher coefficient of friction.  Some people believe that having a smaller surface area will increase force applied to a smaller area increasing friction force, however, I don't see that logic.  Nobody actually proved that logic to me yet.  

anyways, going back to the original post, I think the original question was the diameter of the rim.  There's almost no difference b/t 15" 16" and 17" in terms of performance.  As for weight difference... it's only about a 2-3 lb difference for most rims.  Larger rims are only advantageous for fitting larger brakes.  If you ever plan on going Z32 brakes, you'll definitely have to upgrade to 16" or larger rims that can clear the calipers.  Some people think that having a higher tire wall will allow the tires to compress under high speed cornering, but that's why you should run higher pressure when you race.  FYI: Indy cars run 15" rims (or is it 16?) but they're 14 inches wide.

10-30-2002, 12:38 AM	#6
jskim9 Zilvia Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 174 Trader Rating: (0)	no, wider is better. Pontiac's ads are referring in wide track (width of the car itself) which is also advantageous for cornering.   back to tires...  Wider is almost always better, except for snow.  Tires grip obviously comes from friction, larger the surface area, higher coefficient of friction.  Some people believe that having a smaller surface area will increase force applied to a smaller area increasing friction force, however, I don't see that logic.  Nobody actually proved that logic to me yet.   anyways, going back to the original post, I think the original question was the diameter of the rim.  There's almost no difference b/t 15" 16" and 17" in terms of performance.  As for weight difference... it's only about a 2-3 lb difference for most rims.  Larger rims are only advantageous for fitting larger brakes.  If you ever plan on going Z32 brakes, you'll definitely have to upgrade to 16" or larger rims that can clear the calipers.  Some people think that having a higher tire wall will allow the tires to compress under high speed cornering, but that's why you should run higher pressure when you race.  FYI: Indy cars run 15" rims (or is it 16?) but they're 14 inches wide. __________________ (insert clever comment here)