whiteglanzav
Member +
anyone have experience of 15's compared to 16's and does it make a lot of difference ?? in a bad way ?
whats the handling like with 16" rims ??
- Thread starter whiteglanzav
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whiteglanzav
Member +
damn just what i thought - but didn't want to hear
if only there wer a set of 15" sa3r's for sale !!!!!!!
cheers boys
if only there wer a set of 15" sa3r's for sale !!!!!!!
cheers boys
pilgrim_fgau
Member +
I would put that down to the tyre compound and pressure and not the size of the wheel bud
kellygt
Member +
I was running 195/50 15 bridgestone Potenza RE 0 1Rs with 28-30 psi bud I would call that a good compound tyre wouldnt you??
I am now running 195/45 16 BF Goodrich G profilers with 28-30 psi not exactly the best tyre in the world but my wheelspin has decreased noticably and my car still handles as well as it did with 15's on it all depends on how your car is set up I run -1.00 to -1.05 degrees of camber on the front with Trd shocks and springs with Cusco camber adjustable top mounts and Whiteline Anti-lift kit Whiteline Arbs with Whiteline poly drop links front and back and a Whiteline adjustable Panhard rod
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Well I would stay with 15's but would consider putting 16's on the rear -) Assuming 16's be wider and low profile - having them on the rear would in theory give better handling!
Having bigger/heavier wheels in front would give:
more stress to the brakes and the gearbox
heavier steering wheel - won't be as responsive as with smaller wheels
worse mpg in city driving,
would be a lot worse when wet/snow - everything - traction, handling, braking, etc...
worse of the start line - due to the heavier weight of the wheels
cost more to replace bigger tyres cost more.....
The speedo will be slightly out as well
so really to many negative sides -) THe pros would be:
better brakes in dry conditions
would achieve higher top end
better MPG on the motorway
more traction in dry conditions
Having bigger/heavier wheels in front would give:
more stress to the brakes and the gearbox
heavier steering wheel - won't be as responsive as with smaller wheels
worse mpg in city driving,
would be a lot worse when wet/snow - everything - traction, handling, braking, etc...
worse of the start line - due to the heavier weight of the wheels
cost more to replace bigger tyres cost more.....
The speedo will be slightly out as well
so really to many negative sides -) THe pros would be:
better brakes in dry conditions
would achieve higher top end
better MPG on the motorway
more traction in dry conditions
It's not fair to compare different make/profile tyres....
28 psi - way too low even for 15"
The wheelspin would decrease with lower profile tyres - also wider tyres would help as well - but only when dry -)
ANd there is the whole science of suspension setup depending on the size of the wheels and tyre profile.....
to be honest if I had the money for them advans I wouldn't give a damn about handling and stuff because them wheels are just way too sexy lol
whiteglanzav
Member +
well when i first had the car it had 17"'s on it which were truely terrible lol,
15's do feel mint but i dont wanna go anywhere near anything bigger if its going to make it even the smallest bit worse......
15's do feel mint but i dont wanna go anywhere near anything bigger if its going to make it even the smallest bit worse......
weeJohn
Lifer
Your negatives are all balls mate, apart from the cost of the tyres. A larger wheel will not stress brakes as the disc is attached to the hub not the wheel, there is the same contact patch of rubber on the ground on larger wheels so steering weight will not be affected, your city mpg will improve as you will be travelling further at each turn of the wheel at the same rpm, look at my drag times for off the line figures and as most EP speedos read about 10% over the reading will actually be closer to correct than with smaller wheels.
I have ran 16s on 195 x 45 tyres and 15s on 185 x 50 tyres, I went back to the 16s as the 15s were not as good. A smaller wheel will aid acceleration on a lower powered car but if the engine has more torque then it wont be noticeable, in fact if you have more power then smaller wheels will spin up easier.
Most rally cars when competing in tarmac rallies run larger diameter wheels than they do on loose surfaces, partly so they can get bigger discs on and partly as its a handling improvement for the hard surface. If it was worse they would stick to the smaller wheels.
whiteglanzav
Member +
kellygt
Member +
Thanks mate I thought I was the only person that prefer's 16's to 15's
I am seriously thinking about 16's handling sounds good but people say comfort is lost with 45 wall size vs the 50 wall size, from your experience what do you think ?
16" would normally mean wider tyres! I mean 14" usually 185, 15" - 195, and 16" - 205 or even bigger - so when I was talking about larger wheels I meant the larger contact patch.
Disagree with city driving.
My speedo is correct on 15" checked by GPS.
Try 15 on 45 profile - see if you like them. - Like I said on the rear it would be beneficial to have bigger tyres - in front - like you said only if you have big power - I assume more than 200 bhp.
Don't forget that all this is only valid in dry conditions - having wet/snow - you will benefit from smaller (narrow) wheels - like 185 or 175. - That's why all the WRC cars in Sweden have small tyres compared to Spain race - but doesn't rain in Spain as often as in the UK.
Rally cars - massive BHP - so of course they will benefit from wide tyres - say 235/30/19 - but again not when it's raining/snowing -)
Rev - I'd say 50 is where the comfort at it's minimum -) Try 45 see how it's like! I stick with 195/50R15 - cheap tyres and not a bad comfort.
Blak_Mamber
Member +
Going from 16's to 15's i found the 15's to be much better. But then again, the 15's are wider and lighter.