Yep, this is another one of those reflections (finally have a bit of time to do so) after driving my car and Prolene's car back to back (a week ago Saturday). The Spoon header installation and its comparo with the Mugen was done right afterwards last week (do a search and you should see it), and dyno session tomorrow - head to head with Prolene's pure-Mugen power vs. Mingster's hybrid Spoon-Mugen power.

Anyways, back to the subject. Prolene just recently got Spoon wheels on his car (see his posts on that subject), and I was really excited to get to drive it. In any case, I don't need to reiterate the awesomeness of the roads leading to his place, so I'll focus on the wheels. First, as some of you know the Spoon wheels' offsets are pretty different from stock, and they do stick out a bit. I haven't had time to measure it, but the "wider" stance of the car gave it a COMPLETELY different driving dynamics on the road. I don't want to describe it in the wrong way, but after driving his car I knew his car handled the twisties better than mine. Now we use different tires (I've got the stock S02s, and he's got SP8000s), but the difference is just so great I decided that I must have a set of those wheels too. Both of our cars uses stock suspension parts, no springs/coilovers, etc.

Now I can understand why Jason got those wheel spacers It's amazing what a little bit wider stance can do for your handling. Please keep in mind that I'm no race car driver, just your typical Joe reporting what I felt. Maybe Pontiac was on the right track...

 

I can think of a few areas where wider is not better. LOL

 

A wider track, achieved by pushing the wheels further out of the car, on it's own has its benefits including a more stable car and a slightly lower C of G. However, there are a few minor downsides that you should be aware of as well:
1) your suspension geometry changes - you are effectively changing your spring and shock rates because the wheel center is levered further out.
2) your steering geometry also changes for the same reason - causing a larger turning radius and steering feel characteristics
3) the stress on the suspension components and bearings are increased slightly also because of the change in the levered load.

You may also be more prone to having road debris thrown up and marring the side of the car more easily if the tires are further out.

On a separate note, you may also be finding that part of the effect you are feeling is a lower profile (shorter sidewalled) tire and possibly that of a lighter wheel/tire combo (reduced unsprung weight).

 

Gee, Wiz . . . wider works, huh? I guess that's why I see all these old Skylarks and Cieras tricked out with super-low profile tires sticking out a long way. Maybe the eight guys I usually see riding in the car are on to something and they really are smarter than they look.

 

Any pics of the Spoon wheels?