I know this topic has been covered before but I have to bring it back up again because of the number of people that I see and read about, who tune their cars to race, but still use 17 and 18 inch wheels.
From what I understand, the smaller the wheel, the better acceleration you will get, because of the smaller number of revolutions your tire makes, and the lighter weight combined with more weight closer to the point of rotation. In other words, if you have 2 cars ( same torque/horsepower etc.), one with 15 inch wheels, and one with 18 inch wheels, and you give them both 10 seconds to a move at a constant rate, the one with the larger wheels will have moved a shorter distance, because it takes slightly longer to make 1 revolution, than the smaller wheel.
Well if this is the case, than why are so many people racing with 17, 18, even 19 inch wheels ? Does this mean that the difference in acceleration between the wheel sizes is negligable ? Also, if my above stated 2 car scenario is true, why do the serious drag racers have little 15 inch wheels in back, and tires that look like they must be about 20 -22 inchs in diameter in the front ? Doesn't that go directly against the smaller wheel/faster acceleration theory ?