how come i see all alot of drifter run super wide rims and tires that bearly fit on? instead of having the sidewall vertical the sidewalls are all leaning towards the middle.


also which tire size would give me enhanced handling on the circuits, 195/55/15 or 205/50/15

the 195's have a lower sidewall there for increasing sidewall stiffness BUT the 205's have a wider contact patch. hmmmmm anyone have any input?

 

I think its more an issue of looks than anything else. The VW guys are often guilty of super wid3e wheels with stretched tires. The tire should have the largest vertical springrate when the sidewall is vertical, so it would require require more air pressure to keep the same spring rate with an inclined sidewall.

Stiffer sidewall vs. contact patch....most people choose contact patch, but gearing changes of the smaller tire may be beneficial to you also.

 

alot of it is looks, jsut to get a really wide wheel w/ a nice lip to fit on the car, but it is also for performance.

in drifting you need the car too react quickly, stretching a tire on there will make sure the sidewalls dont flex when transitioning. the same goes for road racing as well. but often people take the streched tire overboard. there is a limit to what will do you good.

 

A 205/50-15 is going to work way better on a 15x7.5, than it is on a 15x6, if that is your question.

What size wheel do you have? I'm going to assume the generic 15x6.5, in which case I'd go with the 205/50-15.


Modified by crxfanatic at 12:47 PM 4/13/2005

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b20zej1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
also which tire size would give me enhanced handling on the circuits, 195/55/15 or 205/50/15

the 195's have a lower sidewall there for increasing sidewall stiffness BUT the 205's have a wider contact patch. hmmmmm anyone have any input?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think you are mistaken. The 195/55/15 will have a TALLER sidewall then a 205/50.

I'd go with the 205/50's for better performance. Always remember though that just because the sidewall is smaller does not mean it is stiffer. For example a generic 205/50/15 sidewall will be NOWHERE NEAR as stiff as say a falken azenis sidewall. And just for info I have heard the toyo t1s have extremely soft sidewalls. (I am not sure what kind of tires your looking at I just threw that in there for future knowledge.)

 

thanks for clearing stuff up. im on stock gsr rims, which im guessing is 15x6.5. i have some 205/50/15 ziex's, but im looking for sometires for the track in june.

lets say i somehow magicly got acess to some rt-215's, the 205/50/15 would have better corning performance better because of lower side wall and wider contact patch?

 

Stock GSRs are 15x6.

You would notice a huge difference if you went to the Falken 215s. The tread with is wider compared to most other 205/50-15s, the sidewalls are much stiffer, and the compound is much stickier. Think of the Falken 215s as a 80 treadwear DOT race tire.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b20zej1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">lets say i somehow magicly got acess to some rt-215's, the 205/50/15 would have better corning performance better because of lower side wall and wider contact patch?</TD></TR></TABLE>

exactly

 

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