i believe this article was discussed in the past, but i can't recall what the arguments against the findings were...

http://www.grassrootsmotorsports.com/plustest.html

i currently drive a '96 integra in STS on 14" aftermarket wheels that came with the car with 195/60 falken azenis. i have little aspiration to run nationally. i am considering moving to DSP just to run R-compound tires (likely the ecsta v700, but perhaps victoracers, depending on the size). since my car is rarely driven outside of to/from autocross events and at them, i am considering leaving the kumhos on the car from april/may until october on whatever wheels i select.

is there any merit in running a 205/45 on a 16x7 or 7.5 wheel over a 205/50 on a 15x7?

if i stay with 15s, does anyone know if i can fit a 225/45? what wheel offset would i want to target?

thanks for your advise,
phil

 

EDIT-Just read the articale-very good, like to know what the 'Experts' think!

 

i have 17s that i was using on the street, but since i drive so little, it seems pointless to change, especially in a street tire class...

fwiw, at a test and tune i drove both the azenis on 14s and kumho 712s on the 17s and the 14s were considerably faster. the grip of the tires is not the same league, but i could feel a slight loss in acceleration, and these are relatively "light" 17" wheels (ssr integral, still 16 lbs).

-phil

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Philbert &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i believe this article was discussed in the past, but i can't recall what the arguments against the findings were...</TD></TR></TABLE>

They increase the width of the tire each time they increase the wheel size (and obviously the tire that goes on the bigger wheel) by an inch, so it's not really a good comparison.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by manveer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

They increase the width of the tire each time they increase the wheel size (and obviously the tire that goes on the bigger wheel) by an inch, so it's not really a good comparison.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Exactly. A more valid comparison would have been, for example:

13x7 with 205-60-13
14x7 with 205-55-14
15x7 with 205-50-15
16x7 with 205-45-16
17x7 with 205-40-17

Same tire model, same compound etc.

But to answer your original question, no there is no real reason to run 16 unless you are planning to run a wider tire that's not available in 15". I would imagine a 225-45-15 fits since that's what most national ITRs run.

 

the hot setup for dsp integra's is a 13x8.5 or 9 wheel with 225/45-13 a3s03, or 235/45-13 ecsta's. personally, i run a 15" wheel on my SM civic, and use a 225/45-15 a3s03. 16 and larger is a waste imho.....

*edit: i take that back. hoosier makes a 245/45-16 that would work well with some high hp turbo apps, but it is too tall (it'll wreck our gearing) for us n/a folk. if they made a 245/35 or 245/30-16 i would be all over it...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rodney &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the hot setup for dsp integra's is a 13x8.5 or 9 wheel with 225/45-13 a3s03, or 235/45-13 ecsta's. personally, i run a 15" wheel on my SM civic, and use a 225/45-15 a3s03. 16 and larger is a waste imho.....

*edit: i take that back. hoosier makes a 245/45-16 that would work well with some high hp turbo apps, but it is too tall (it'll wreck our gearing) for us n/a folk. if they made a 245/35 or 245/30-16 i would be all over it... </TD></TR></TABLE>

i know the 13s are the big thing, but my garage has informed me that they no longer want me to be storing extra sets of wheels/tires in front of my car. so i can keep my snow tires/wheels in my girlfriend's parent's garage, and hope to have just one set for street and autox. so it's either 15 or 16. it seems like i have more flexibility with the 15s (205/50 or 225/45) than i do with 16s, and lighter weight to boot...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Philbert &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i know the 13s are the big thing, but my garage has informed me that they no longer want me to be storing extra sets of wheels/tires in front of my car. </TD></TR></TABLE>

13's are small, put them IN the car

 

Can anyone guess whos car they used as the test car. CRXLee's