I want to buy some new shoes for my 98lxv6 but i have been reading in a bunch of sites that bigger rims are usually heavier and will slow you down. And to it is best to just buy a high performance tire for your oem wheel. Does anyone have any experience with this?? Also how much do the oem wheels weight??? 5 spoke alloys.

 

And i have found some lightweight wheels online. Some oz racing ones but they are freaking expensive. Even the 15 inch ones!! But they only weight 14 lbs. I found them at tirerack.com

 

Yes they will make you slower if they weigh more than OEM in terms of acceleration. However, your top speed will slightly increase because your wheel diameter is larger.

 

bigger rims will slow your acceleration cause of the circumfrence of them but i wouldnt say cause of the weight...lightweight rims are exspensive lol the wieght might to it little but not enough that your would notice just you would notice in acceleration of the bigger rim but if you get low pros or somthing thats about the same as your oem tire its shouldnt make any diff

 

Explain to me what low pros are. I dont know. Sorry...

 

It is due to the weight more than circumference. I have 18' wheels on my Accord and just put them back on on Sunday from my oem 15' steelies that I use as my winter wheels. In reality, the diameter isnt much of a difference between the 15' and the 18' because the actual tire sidewall on the 15' is so much larger. If you had 30' wheels that were the same weight as oem then yes it would be b/c of circumference because the wheel is acting like a longer gear ratio.

Trust me, you will notice a difference in acceleration, steering when driving slow/not moving, and ride quality.

 

Bigger heavier wheels also puts a much larger stress on the torque converter.

 

It certainly won't make you go faster.

It will probably throw your speedometer off. Use:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

To see how much the new wheel/tire combo will throw you off.

 

I read about that whole speedometer thing aswell. Dont like it at all. I am thinking of just painting my oem a nice black color and get some high performance tires. But damn those oz racing ones looked sooo sweet!!

 

IF YOU GO TO THIS LINK. YOU WILL SEE THE ONES THAT I AM TALKING ABOUT.
O.Z. RACING SUPERTURISMO. 15 INCHERS. AND THEY WEIGHT 14LBS.



http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Wheel...All&sort=Brand

 

You have to realize the diameter change is very small from a 15' to a 18'. It will only throw off you speedometer by 2-3 mph if you get some 18's w/ 215/40/18 tires.

 

Low profile tires are tires w/ very short side walls that are usually more stiff to support the weight of the vehicle and to reduce flex since most larger tires are performance tires. Ride quality will decrease.

 

So what you are saying is that even though the rim is gonna be bigger the overall size of the the wheel and tire put together will be pretty much the same???

 

Low-profile, high-performance tires for the oem wheels is the best way to go.

 

Yes. The larger wheel with low profile tires will be only slightly larger in diameter.

 

What are you wanting, new wheels for looks, or just performance tires?

 

Depends on your tire choice.

I went from OEM 15" to ITR 15" to 16" Volks and my speedometer is off due to tire selection.

 

I went from 185/65/R15's to 215/40/R18's and my speedo is off by only 2-3 mph.

 

Yep, that's approximately correct

You should check out that website I posted, VERY useful to pick out the right tire size.

 

^ Yes sir!

You shouldn't really be worried about your speedo being off. If you can remember that you will be going faster than your speedo says you are you will be fine. I also like to use both GPS and the police speed signs to compare my speedo reading to what those say.

You might find that your speedo is correct up to 30mph or so and then is off by 4mph @ 70mph.

 

yea i was about to post that same website lol it's a good find.
those wheels are real nice too

 

Perfomance will suffer, as will fuel economy, and you'll make yourself a target for those on both sides of the law.

 

my car was definitely slower with 18' knock off rims.

 

Make sure you have lock nuts and an alarm. When I went from 15 to 17's I noticed the accel was a slightly slower not much though. There are guys out there with 18's that can move but IMO thats too big. 17's are the best of both worlds to me.

 

larger rims weigh more and will cause the following

fuel milage degrease
change in ride quality uaually for the worse
added weight slows down accelleration