Please help me understand the performance advantages ( if any ) of going to larger 17 or 18 wheels. As you can see from my sig. I'm modified in many ways-but not wheels. I still run OEM 16's. Is there a genuine improvement to be had ? I'm not asking over in mods forum because those guys for the most part are interested in looks even if they think they have the answer. The folks here in Racing have true knowledge regarding performance. Is it worth doing and why? Thanks for helping a novice out. Let me add that I'm not interested in tracking my car-rather I'd like to get the best performance out of it.

 

I found the stock sizes were inadequate for daily driving with the increased power of a supercharger.

I went with R compound dot legal tires in 235 and 275/17 on Volks 7-1/2" in the front and 9" in the rear. Now it stays hooked up.

 

No advantage to going to 18s unless you want to run a tire wider than 255. If you want to go wider, then you should increase the rim size vs the aspect ratio of the tire in order to gain the most preformance from the tires traction units.

That's short and simple answer.

 

I think the biggest difference would be a lot better selection of tires in 17in sizes. If you stay with the same width as stock I think the difference would be hard to notice.

 

Yeah, definitely a better selection of tires (with 25" OD) in 17" sizes. Pretty much every tire comes in the 225/45R17 and 255/40R17 combination. The lower profile tire and slimmer sidewall gives you better steering response and feel.

I think running DOT-R on the street is a waste of money. Sure you have more power, but why would you need to put that much power down on the street? For street, I am using Sumitomo HTR-Z II on 225/45R17 all around.

 

if you dont mind me asking, what is the profile for your 275 width rear tires? any rubbing issues? i know your car really needs that much traction for the great power that your car have

what are the tires that you're using?

 

[QUOTE=suzukablueS2000,Aug 4 2009, 02:33 PM]if you dont mind me asking, what is the profile for your 275 width rear tires? any rubbing issues? i know your car really needs that much traction for the great power that your car have

 

Sideways- what offset, suspension and aligment settings? Looks absolutely MAD!

 

17 inch Volk LE28s in 7-1/2 and 9 inch with factory suspension.

 

Wheel offset? I assume the rear fenders are rolled?