My car is currently runnig 215 65 15's all the way around..I am trying to find a wheel size that will give me better looks, better handling (curves, as well as drag) but do not want to give up a decent level of ride comfort....I DO want wider in the back narrower in the front..(Do not care to rotate) I would like some input on 16 inch rims versus 17 inch, as far as ride versuses handling...I have had 3 third gen Camaros, but all have had 15's, so I have no experience in this area....I would like to keep the current tire height which is around 26 inches.. What are the disadvantages of larger wheel diameter????. What difference can I expect handling wise, all other things being equal, by going up in rim diameter???Thank you guys for any help on this issue......Tom

 

I will be getting some 17's on mine this Tuesday. With 245/45ZR17 all the way around.

I have heard that bigger wheels with wider tires will improve the ride quality some because the amount of tire on the road is bigger and it won't fall into bumps as easily.

You could get 17 by 8's in the front, and 17 by 9.5's in the back. Do 245/45 in the front, and 285/40 in the back. You would be very happy with the results.

 

Thank you for your input...I belive, I will do something like that as soon as possible.....Any others care to comment..I would really like input on this..I have read alot of post concerning tire size, but have not really seen this issue hit on..Thanks again, Tom

 

Keep in mind, the bigger diameter wheel (within reason) will improve handling, but the 15's will provide the best drag strip performance assuming the same width & diameter of tire is used. This is due to the larger sidewall that allows the tire flex & increase the contact patch under acceleration.

My preference is 15's for the strip & 17's for the street.

I am running 275/40-17's front & 285's rear on 17x9's. I used the 285's because I had them & would recommend only a 275 on a 9" wheel.

275's will give excellent handling & hook the car unless you are making serious HP. These will work fine on a car capable of 12's. Besides at some point your traction will exceed the strength of the rear end... spinning is often cheaper than a 12 bolt.

Hope this helps.
Lonnie

 

Lonnie, yes this does help...No serious horse power on my car for quite awhile..Altho it does see the 1/8th mile track every now and them....Money will not allow very many mods right now.....BUT........IN TIME....thanks for your reply.Tom

 

Wider tires will tend to follow road irregularities more than narrow ones, but nothing that would stop me from running them. Mine sees 60mi./day & I'm glad I put them on. I love the handling & now have the desire to upgrade spring & shocks.

 

Since you'll have more rubber on the road, you'll feel more surface irregularity--and if the side wall is narrower as well, comfort will be affected.

JamesC

 

Thanks to everyone for their answers.......

 

I just went form 15's to 16's all around with a 245/50's and I can feel a difference in the handling. It feels alot more planted in the corner and I feel less bumps. Also looks alot better IMO

 

Went ahead and got 17 inch Rims (Voxx) 8 inch all 4...255 45's on back 245 45's on front....Kumho tires...Have the back on should have the front on Monday (they had to order the front rims) With just the back on it is the difference between night and day.....

 

What backspacing did you get? Can you get any pics?

 

Well, first, the most obvious difference between 16" tires and larger one's, is the price. Bigger tires will always cost more than smaller ones due to the fact there's more material being used in the manufacturing process. But tire's (generally) are something you only by once every few years so that shouldn't really be a problem.

Some things that can be however, are the following.

The bigger the wheel is, the shorter the tire's side-wall is going to be. Basically, this translates into a stiffer ride. The bigger the wheel, the less comfortable the ride becomes and the more pronounced the road-noise will be inside the car.

On the upside though, an upgrade from 16" wheels to 17's (or larger) will improve your vehicle's cornering abilities because the tire's side-wall is much stiffer and doesn't "flex" as much, providing better handeling and faster steering response.

Obviously, this is a good thing if you're into auto-cross, or want improved handeling in your street car, but as I said, this is at the expense of ride comfort and road-noise. Another thing to keep in mind is generally, when most people go to larger wheels, they also go with wider tires. Again, this will help the vehicles cornering capabilities as there's much more "rubber" contacting the floor, but on a street car, you'll find that the wider wheels/tires tend to follow all the imperfections of the road you're on, much more than with a narrower tire.

(For example, if you let go of the steering wheel on a straight away, you'll find the car wanting to pull to the left or to the right, depending on the surface of the road. This also occurs on narrower tires, but not nearly as much)

Another downside to bigger wheels with shorter side-wall tires, is that they'll limit your car's "straight line" traction.

If you're into drag racing, you actually WANT your tires side-wall to flex because it helps the tire "stick" to floor. If you've ever watched slow-motion replay's of car's running slick's or drag-radials, you'll see how the rear tires literally "fold" on a hard launch. This is what helps the car put the power to the ground.

It's a matter of preference really. "Big wheels" are all the latest rage and alot of people are more than willing to sacrifice a little comfort and road noise for what they feel is a better "look" for their car's.


Me personally, if I absolutely had to get a bigger wheel, I wouldn't go any bigger than a 17. Sure, 18's look really good (on some cars) but the ride quality is horrible. Almost like being in a wagon over a dirt road. Not something I would want to live with on a daily basis, that's for sure.

My IROC runs on the factory 16's with so-called "ultra high performace" yokohama 245's all around. It's lowered and handels like a slot car. It's almost as if it's ridiing on rails. Best of all, it has enough side-wall to keep the car comfortable and absorb most of the road noise. Personally, I thing 16" wheels are the most balanced wheel size providing both comfort/handeling/straight-line traction/ and noise absorbtion, but that's just me. To each his own.

Since you obviously want to upgrade though, I'd say go with 17's and call it a day. 275's out back, and 245's up front. That would be a nice combination and you should feel a difference in your car's handeling.

By the way, buying stiffer springs will improve your handeling MUCH more than an upgrade to bigger wheels will, and it's a much more "cost-effective" upgrade to do. (Just something to think about....

 

Although it is commonly accepted that taller wheels with shorter sidewalls automatically "handle" better, that's not necessarily the case. First of all, we need to define "handling." Handling is the way a car responds to control inputs and forces. It is not how fast the car is in cornering, braking, or forward acceleration. There is no one "best handling" - handling comes down largely to driver preference and skill, and also the type of course being driven. Some drivers like razor-sharp responses to control inputs, some like less response because that usually provides a wider range of high-grip slip angles (i.e., you don't have to be as precise at staying right at the limit of grip). Some drivers like their cars to handle with less understeer than others, and a high-speed track or lots of slaloms or race traffic will favor more understeer than a low-speed autocross with few slaloms. None of that has much to do with lateral or longitudinal grip, which are actually what determine how fast a car can corner, accelerate, or brake, and which then determine lap times. And unlike "handling," lap times are absolute for all people: faster is better in all cases.

In general, a shorter sidewall sharpens steering response but gives less room for error with slip angles. It's also less tolerant of imperfect camber angles, and since our cars have a wide range of dynamic camber angles during performance driving, this is important. And yes, the shorter sidewalls will flex less and give a harsher ride if all else is equal. All of this is also more affected by the tire design than the rim size. IOW, you could easily have a sharper responding 16" tire than a 17" tire of a different design. Ditto with grip - the tire design and compound is way more important than the rim size in determining lap times. Two things that can't change with tire design are rim clearance and load ratings. 17" rims will clear more brake and suspension parts than 16". And if tire diameter and width are held constant, load ratings are always higher for the smaller rimmed tire because it holds a bigger volume of air.