rims effect on power
 

is there and equation or nething that has to do with rims size and weight effecting a cars power or torque or nething... cause i have 17 inch giavanna CHROME :( rims on my civic and this kid was saying that him and his daddy were taking about it and they think those rims should increase my torque cause of more surface area :confused: :confused: :bs: in which case me and another kid from HAN called him an idiot... any proof u guys can gimme on this?

Like I said in the other forum it's bull****. Wider tires would give you better grip since you have more surface area, but only engine mods can give you Torque. Lighterweight wheels might free up wasted Torque, but not add it. And no Chrome rim is gonna be lightweight. Cuz you the Numba One Stunna.

A wheel can increase torque if the wheel/tire's overall diameter is smaller than stock.

Well no 17'' is gonna do that.

site with wheel weights http://home.earthlink.net/~cvlocas/wheels.html

there are several effects that happen when you change wheel sizes ranging from faster acceleration times (shorther length wheels or lighter units), slower acceleration (longer lenght wheels or heavier wheels), higher top speeds (longer length wheels), better cornering from wider wheels or tires

when you increase the weight of the wheel it leads to slower acceleration and increased braking distances with with more premature brake wear (increase in rotational intertia)...it also increases unsprung weight since the stock suspension was designed for the stock weights of the wheel

wheels mainly come in Length x Width...for instance stock honda wheels are usually around 15" x 5"...that's 15" tall and 5" wide

there are also ways to decrease overall length with tires...i.e. low profile units

when you change the rim or tire size it also changes your speedo since it was calibrated for the stock wheel combination...i.e. if the overall length increases then your speedo will show a lower speed when you are actually going faster...vice versa

the best combo is a slightly larger wheel than stock...moving from a 15" x 5" to a 16" x "6.5" unit that is lighter and wider than the stock wheel and keeping fairly aggressive tires...the whole package will weigh a little less than stock and give you much more grip for acceleration and cornering purposes without slowing you down and overtaxing your suspension

to get much more in depth...do a web search on unsprung weight and rotational inertia

Re: rims effect on power
 

sorry, there is no simple equation because there are several factors involved, not just wheel weight and radius, but where the weight is on the rim (close to the center or towards the outside of the rim). A rim that weighs lighter than stock can use up more torque due to the fact that some of the weight of the rim has to travel farther (as in a circle with a 17" radius compared to a circle with a 13" radius).

anyways, those giovanna bling blings are worth plenty, sell them and get some nice racing wheels. I suggest rota, they have an unbelievable quality/price ratio, plus I have 2 uncles that work in the rota rim factory. they're poor and they both have a huge litter of kids (filipinos multiply like rabbits:thumbup: ) so you got to help them out j/k. but seriously, some nice lightweight rims and sticky tires would do you really good.

-brtecson

ha...my wife's a pinoy...i thought rotas factory was in thailand?

Lighter wheels will give you a better launch because of less rotating mass.

Yeah, the only thing I don't care for the rotas are the wheel width. For my CRX in 15", they only make them 6.5" wide, whereas my car can take up to 7.5". Are there any relatively affordable but lightweight 15x7, or 15x7.5 out there for the CRX. I think the only wheel that can do this are perhaps the SSR Comp's, but they're definetly not cheap, and I've heard they're not the most durable for street use either. However, the their 15x7 weighs a mere 9.2 lbs iirc. That's hard to beat!

7.5" will disallow you to turn the wheel lock to lock without rubbing the splashshields in the fender well...6.5" are fine for a road car...get a seperate pair for track events where you aren't trying to test a cars turning radius

i have a set of 15"x6.5" rota c8's (11.5lbs) on our 2k1 civic with some dunlop sp5000 all weathers on it...i've had them for a year and am very happy with what i got for $400 shipped (rims only)...have hit several large potholes (i'm in wash, dc) and they are still fine