Ulysses
Enthusiast
It really depends. Do the tires and wheels combined create a significant difference in weight and difference from stock height? If so, yeah, it could slow you down.
wheel size vs performance?
- Thread starter Ulysses
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treynor
Enthusiast
There are two parts to the question:
1) How does wheel size affect launch?
Generalizing considerably, larger wheels (18+) go hand-in-hand with shorter, stiffer sidewalls. Short stiff sidewalls are worse than long flexible sidewalls in handling the events which occur during launch. Thus, smaller wheels and taller tires are better for launch. This is quite significant in Viper 1/4 mile times.
2) How does wheel size affect acceleration?
Part of the engine's output during acceleration goes to rotating the vehicle's wheels & tires. Thus, acceleration decreases as wheel+tire rotational intertia increases. Larger wheels carry more of their mass at a greater radius from the axis of rotation, and in general tend to be heavier, and thus usually have greater rotational inertia. Wheel weight is typically of only minor significance in Viper acceleration, as the total power consumed in rotational momentum is modest.
... so yeah, bigger wheels are slower in the 1/4 mile
1) How does wheel size affect launch?
Generalizing considerably, larger wheels (18+) go hand-in-hand with shorter, stiffer sidewalls. Short stiff sidewalls are worse than long flexible sidewalls in handling the events which occur during launch. Thus, smaller wheels and taller tires are better for launch. This is quite significant in Viper 1/4 mile times.
2) How does wheel size affect acceleration?
Part of the engine's output during acceleration goes to rotating the vehicle's wheels & tires. Thus, acceleration decreases as wheel+tire rotational intertia increases. Larger wheels carry more of their mass at a greater radius from the axis of rotation, and in general tend to be heavier, and thus usually have greater rotational inertia. Wheel weight is typically of only minor significance in Viper acceleration, as the total power consumed in rotational momentum is modest.
... so yeah, bigger wheels are slower in the 1/4 mile
treynor
Enthusiast
If you're talking about drag racing, no one I'm aware of makes a drag slick in larger than 16", so that's your performance limit. In general 15" or 16" seems to be the current ideal for dragrace wheels on a street car. For roadrace, 16"-18" is pretty typical.
Size matters. My reply: "What Ben Said...both times."
