man, i have 205/40/17s on my car now, and for ***** and giggles, i put the front two stock 14" tires on, and holy **** man, what a difference. i was acclerating alot faster, the car was actually (kinda) pulling. the breaking was alot better, i never noticed how far down i had to press on the break to get a good stop..

the ride was so much smoother (tokico illumina's/ tein s.tech 2" drop) then it was with the 17's.. i was so amazed on the difference.

now i think i either want 16's on the car, lighter wheels tho (weight) or some gsr blades.

just thought i'd let u guys know.. for the people who didnt already know. it's just a difference like between a 67 VW beetle to a turbo teg..

 

car might not actually accelerate faster, but the speedo will sure rise faster cause of the smaller wheels... unless the outside radius remained constant, then u have a point.

 

actually, when i stood both tires/rims up aginst each other, the 17's were taller by 1/2 to 1 inch

 

It's most likely the weight difference. When I changed from stocks to 17s, there was a lot of lag. My stock rims were 35lbs with tires and my 17s 50lbs with tires. Anyone know if i could fit 93 accord rims in my 95 integra, both are 4 bolt pattern.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MRXMUFFIN &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It's most likely the weight difference. When I changed from stocks to 17s, there was a lot of lag. My stock rims were 35lbs with tires and my 17s 50lbs with tires. Anyone know if i could fit 93 accord rims in my 95 integra, both are 4 bolt pattern.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Correct me if I'm wrong but the accord rims you mentioned have a 114.3 x 4 bolt pattern while our cars have a 100 x 4 bolt pattern.



NRg

 

Yup, I noticed the same feeling when i went from 17 to 15
never looked back, I think 15's are ideal

 

i remember going from 16s to stock 95 gsr 15s......i definitely noticed an increase while accelerating.

 

got 16 inch advans rg's, feel alot better than stock gsr's on my gizzer. Lightweight wheel but expensive, worth it though

 

i would go back to 15's...but hell i spin my 17's like crazy...if i had 15's my car would be useless.

 

same thing here when i went from my 17" tenzo shu 4s to my 15 "spoons , alot better with the 15 and tires are cheaper, and car looks even lower

 

How was your cornering when you went to smaller wheels? With the larger rims your would get less tire deflection with the smaller radius tires and larger rim diamerter. But then its a tradeoff of better handling or acceleration from larger to smaller wheels.

 

I put 17's on my eg and it noticed a huge diffrence in braking. Also you can hook up better too. With the stocks i cold spin them in 1st and 2nd and now with the 17's i cant. But my 1/4 mile time came down some with the 17's.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Burnt Orange Teg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I put 17's on my eg and it noticed a huge diffrence in braking. Also you can hook up better too. With the stocks i cold spin them in 1st and 2nd and now with the 17's i cant. But my 1/4 mile time came down some with the 17's. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I don't think the size of the rim is going to effect you spining your tires it mostly has to do with the tire and how well it grips the road. I know when I put 17's on my civic it wasn't that hard to spin my tires but yet I went with a cheap set of tires when I first put my 17's on.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bahkhok &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How was your cornering when you went to smaller wheels? With the larger rims your would get less tire deflection with the smaller radius tires and larger rim diamerter. But then its a tradeoff of better handling or acceleration from larger to smaller wheels. </TD></TR></TABLE>

has more to do with the tire
I had 17" nitto 450
then 15" Falken Azenis

the Azenis acclerated/braked/cornered a million times better

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Burnt Orange Teg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I put 17's on my eg and it noticed a huge diffrence in braking. Also you can hook up better too. With the stocks i cold spin them in 1st and 2nd and now with the 17's i cant. But my 1/4 mile time came down some with the 17's. </TD></TR></TABLE>

You mean you had a faster ET with 17's? I don't know about that, unless you had super crappy tires on the stock wheels.

Also larger, heavier wheels require more braking force to stop vs. smaller lighter wheels. That pure laws of physics right there.

I hope everyone doesn't run out and put stock steelies back on thinking they're going to get better performance. If you want the best performance you should go with some light 15" wheels. Stock 14" steel wheels usually weigh in the 20-23 lb range. You can easily drop 40+ lbs of unsprung weight simply by switching from steel wheels to lightweight 15" wheels.

 

I went from 94 15in fat fives with Kumho 712's to 15in Rota Slipstreams 15's with TOYO T1S tires and saved about 25lbs. Car handles 10x better. Acceleration is amazing.

 

I just went from 17" 24lb rims to 16" 15lb rims,

huge difference

 

It wasn't necessarily the weight you noticed, but the amount or rotational mass and inertia. With the 15" wheel, there is less mass to move and less mass to stop, therfore, quicker acceleration and braking. Why do you think many road race and autoX guys don't have wheels larger than 15"? Many like light weight 14"s and some like to squeeze 13"s.

 

Ok, unsprung weight is great for braking, cornering and, well, less weight. However, larger diameter wheels and tires will give a larger "foot print" of rubber on the road and won't heat up as fast or as much as a smaller wheel/tire. Larger wheels will also give a more stable ride.

The reason you feel more acceleration is because when you switch to a smaller wheel, you're in effect, lowering the gear ratios. Its a drive of drive concept. It would be like installing a 4.9 final drive in a 4.4 stock tranny; wheels won't feel THAT different, but the difference is there.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dclute &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I don't think the size of the rim is going to effect you spining your tires it mostly has to do with the tire and how well it grips the road. I know when I put 17's on my civic it wasn't that hard to spin my tires but yet I went with a cheap set of tires when I first put my 17's on.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, it does. A smaller wheel/tire will break loose WAY faster then a larger tire. And yes, it does depend alot on the tire.

 

integra came with stock 14s? is it the g2? cuz the g3s are 15's...

 

LOL the 18's are so slow though I love the looks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TeaAddict &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">integra came with stock 14s? is it the g2? cuz the g3s are 15's...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, he is talking about his g2 coming with 14" steelies. However, only the 98-01 integras all had 15 inch wheels. The RS and LS from 94-97 came with 14" steelies and hubcaps as well. LS Special, GS, and GS-R had 15 inch wheels regardless of year.

 

Anyone know the weight of these gsr rims (fat 5's from 1994) ?





They aren't mine, I wish they were. That bronze is nice...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JUN1OR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Anyone know the weight of these gsr rims (fat 5's from 1994) ?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

16 lbs.
http://www.miata.net/faq/wheel_weights.html

 

The Fat 5's or the 98+ swirlies are about 15-16lbs, then add 15lbs for the OEM tire.

I can't believe some people seemed amazed by this breaking news. 17's will hurt your performance, period. Well, unless your boosting and your having traction problems. Besides that 17's and up are for looks.

I think on my teg I'll get a nice set of 16's. It will be a balance between looks and performance.