I'm not even going to try to get technical.

Simple question, feel free to expound upon this as necessary. Simple, complex, I don't care as long as it is correct.

No speculation or 'I heard from a friend' stuff plesae.

Stock ITR wheel - 15" x 6"

What is the advantage to a 6.5" or 7" wheel? Or for that matter, what is the advantage of a wider wheel in general?

One obvious answer is that you can run wider tires. 205/50 Azenis supposedly fit better (I have no experience, so I say supposedly) on 15x7" wheels than on 15x6". A 6" tire is not going to hold a 225/50 tire, whereas a 7" may. I'm not really too interested in what size tires fit what size wheel.

I'm interested in some physics on the subject of wider wheels. To make the argument more simple, let's talk 15x6" versus 15x7" wheels.

We spend $300-$400 per wheel to get very lightweight forged wheels. Are we also paying for the width, does the increased width make a difference? (track, not street)

I'm talking TRACK here. For the street, my stock ITR 15x6"ers will do just fine thank you. If anyone has any first-hand experience or some science behind it, I'd love to hear what you have to say. Yes, my track experience/driver skill are relatively low. That doesn't mean I'm not learning or increasing my experience/skill.

I just find it hard to believe that a 7" rim is only different from a 6" rim because certain wider tires will fit better. Thanks in advance....


EDIT: Grammar, spelling, etc
EDIT2: I just realized this may be more appropriate in the RR/Autox forum. Feel free to move this thread if you (mods) feel it should be moved.


[Modified by Chris N, 4:21 PM 2/3/2003]

 

wider wheels make better use of wider tires and you can manipulate the offset
to increase track. otherwise i dont know of anyting else

 

are you talking the difference between using only a wider rim (same tire width) or wider rim and tire??

1. weight - narrower rims are lighter (yah I know obvious)

2. usually to fit a wider rim - you will have to use a different offset. this can affect "scrub radius" and track as mentioned by SgT- but the effects of this change to scrub radius and track - may help or hinder performance depending on the change

3. a wider tire will have more interior volume = more air = more weight = maybe more resistant to heating up??

you also have to remember that while cornering you are only really using the outer or inner edge of the tire. sidewall flex will partially determine how much the tire deforms under load.

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=404878

Scott, who thinks this might be enough to answer your question....

 

Thanks guys.

When composing my question/explanation I did not think of the comparison as anything but 'width A vs width B'.

Just for the sake of argument (discussion may be a better word!): 205/50 Azenis fit on the stock 15x6 rim. I have read countless times that the driver has experienced the 'sloppiness' of this combination. I'm guessing this can be attributed to the width of the Azenis compared to the 6" rim. Obviously a 15x7 rim would take out some of the 'sloppiness' because the Azenis fit better, due to the wider rim.

This does not mean that one cannot use the 205/50 Azenis on a 15x6 rim, it just means that this tire 'may' (or may not, I do not know for sure) be better suited for a wider rim (15x7 in this discussion), one that more closely matches the width of this tire. The best fitting rim/tire would yield the best results I'm guessing. True?

I think the answer was pretty simple - possible increase in track depending on offset.

 

Thanks Scott.
There's some good info in there that answers my question.
I searched under wider rims, wider wheels, etc, but didn't think of wider tires, let alone wider tyres.

Edit: LOL. F--- searching. I missed that thread on the FIRST PAGE of the RR/Autox forum. on me.


[Modified by Chris N, 4:54 PM 2/3/2003]