Wheels/Tires Basics

[richip]

Does anyone have a link to wheel & tires basics? What characteristics to look out for and how they affect driving, performance, efficiency? From my [thread=15893]first thread[/thread] I got the idea that tires/wheels is the mod to give the highest price-performance (bang-for-your-buck) ratio.

[franklin]

Have you tried looking around in the Wheels and Tires section of this forum?

[emlevins]

Search is your friend, as Subietonic likes to say

[richip]

Thanks, guys, but I did go through this (Wheels/Tires) forums and couldn't find a basics or primer on wheels and tires. Most of the posts talk about wheel looks. I'm more after wheel performance even if they look so-so. If you know the name of a thread, I'd appreciate a post.

 

I did go trundling the 'Net, though, and I found the following two links: http://www.intellichoice.com/carBuying101/GripOnTires and http://www.deltatire.com/basics/default.asp. Oddly enough, neither site mentiones wheel weight, and yet I've encountered several posts on performance that specifically mention desiring lighter rims. This made me think that the material used for the rim is also a consideration. HRE's site mention "aluminum" for their tires, but not their specific weights. I'm guessing aluminum's the lightest material for wheels that are still durable.

[dv8ingvector]

Depends on what you budget is you could go with magnesium if you want to spend around a G or more USC on "1" rim. Weight is always important but “rotational weight” is even more so as its inertia in multiplied buy its speed. So basically lighter rims = a more responsive car. I am sure one of the Auto x guys can explain it better.

Have you checked out the checked out the SSR competitions?

[franklin]

Thanks, guys, but I did go through this (Wheels/Tires) forums and couldn't find a basics or primer on wheels and tires. Most of the posts talk about wheel looks. I'm more after wheel performance even if they look so-so. If you know the name of a thread, I'd appreciate a post.

 

I did go trundling the 'Net, though, and I found the following two links: http://www.intellichoice.com/carBuying101/GripOnTires and http://www.deltatire.com/basics/default.asp. Oddly enough, neither site mentiones wheel weight, and yet I've encountered several posts on performance that specifically mention desiring lighter rims. This made me think that the material used for the rim is also a consideration. HRE's site mention "aluminum" for their tires, but not their specific weights. I'm guessing aluminum's the lightest material for wheels that are still durable.[/quote

If light weight is one of your priorities youll likely want to look at forged rather than cast wheels. Forged wheels are more expensive but should be stronger and lighter. A good place to scope out wheels for your car would be on the web @ Tire rack.com. Here you can compare weights and view the wheels on your car.

[richip]

If light weight is one of your priorities youll likely want to look at forged rather than cast wheels. Forged wheels are more expensive but should be stronger and lighter. A good place to scope out wheels for your car would be on the web @ Tire rack.com. Here you can compare weights and view the wheels on your car.

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

For newbs like me, I did manage to find a link on the tirerack.com site to their tech articles: http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/index.jsp. Lots of interesting and educational stuff.