light wheels?

[anthunny]

anyone try or know if their would be a much difference with a 95 GXE 5spd on some stickier 15inch wheels, NO RIMS either.... compared to 15 16inch stock wheels with rims....?

tenth or 2 faster? or not even really noticeable?

[I30tMikeD]

Your question does not make any sense.

Yes, ligher and smaller diameter wheels will help.

Stock wheels with rims????

ask your question again by telling us the weight and size of the two different wheel/tire combos you are thinking about using.

[Ceasars Chariot]

yeah, take off a tire/wheel you have and put it on a scale. make note of the weight and then find out how much your rim and tire weigh.

now if you shop around and find a tire or rim that is lighter (same size) take the weight of the combo and subtract it from what you have now.

if the new wheel/tire combo is 5 lbs lighter. mulitply that by 4. 5 x 4= 20

At this point you would have reduced 20 lbs of unsprung weight. Which has the effect of taking off 160 pounds of chasis weight. ( 20 x 8) some people say every pound of unsprung weight you take off is like taking 10 pounds off the chasis. I really dont know. But you can at least get a close idea.

But if you did reduce the tire wheel combo by 5 lbs in this case you would reduce the 1/4 mile time by .160

this is just to give you an idea

[Nismo_K]

There is this rule of thumb among racers that adding weight to something that rotates is far more detrimental to performance than if you add it to the body of the car. (Wheels, Flywheel etc)

I have a formula somewhere for rotational inertia but can't find it, someone else might be able to post it so you can work out what is more beneficial.... also, diameter of wheel size affects rotational inertia too, so these are additional things to consider.

[Nealoc187]

When he say's rims I think he means hubcaps.

[Ceasars Chariot]

lol, i used this same redneck theory on the chariot before i went out to the track. figured out how much weight i was taking off and came up with .3

then sure enough went to the track and it was dead on. i was running 15.1 at the time and went from that to a 14.8 second chariot. tires and wheels for me was a great mod, these rims may be small but they sure do spin ! lol

[speedemn]

I have not tried different rim/tire combinations at the track (keeping all other factors constant) but going from stock 15" sawblades with snow tires, to my SSRs with Firestones, is a night and day difference on the street; in effort required to get the car rolling off a stop; accelerating from coasting.

I hope to try to do a comparative analysis with 16" SE rims vs my SSR Type Cs at the track sometime, after I have a few kinks worked out.

[JClaw]

Ceasars: I'm thinking of going from stock tire/wheels combo (40 pounds per corner) to 11-pound rims + 16-pound toyo T1-S. That would be 27 pounds per corner. however, since I already have to shift into 4th, I'm going with 205/50/R15 in the front and 205/65/R15 (regular size) in the rear.

So I'm guessing 27 pounds per corner (rear) and about 25 pounds per corner front. That would reduce the upsprung weight by 56 pounds (with taller gearing) but only 30 pounds less on the drive wheels.

The contact patch of the smaller tires will probably cost me some traction. Also I have LSD, so that *might* help a little.

Any idea how much of a difference this will make?

I ran consistant very low 15s stock.

EDIT: Wow, I really hadn't realized how old this thread was...

[JSutter]

i think the 205/50 will be too small, you will fry them like no other.
as for the weight of your combo

[JClaw]

I'll try really used (i.e TOTALLY used) same sized tires for free and see how it goes. But the T1-S should compensate for the smaller contact patch.

I'm thinking of 215/45/15 too. Even smaller, but they're wider.