ok... I was just thinking to myself. I was trying to search for facts on this and piece them together. But I am going to assume that the metal on rims would weigh more than rubber. So that would mean a smaller wheel with the SAME circumference as a larger wheel would be lighter... (that is assuming that the wheel design is the same)...

Also, you could change the handling easier with a smaller wheel by changing tire sidewall stiffness..



SO WHY!! does everybody wnat such big rims on their cars? I am not talking about the tahoes with 22" but say the bmw that come with 19".... Why would they do that?

 

big side walls are disgusting

 

I was just assumeing... I don't know how much a sq inch of aluminum weighs nor do I know what a sq inch of rubber weighs...

I was just guess...



But I know this is probably irrelevant but if you look at NASCAR or IRL or F1 they have A LOT of side wall... but I dont know if that is controlled by the rules....

 

That is just apperance... I am talking pure function NOT form..

 

f1 is controlled by the rules. but they also have hand made custom tires with rediculously stiff sidewalls.

 

www.matweb.com

you can look up properties of any material, granted you might need to know the technical name, and figure out your self which would be a better choice. There is ulitmately an optimized point, where a rim of x-diameter with a tire sidewall of y will perform better than a rim of s-diameter and a tire of w-sidewall. An example of this is with the S2K, when the y went from 16" rim to a 17" rim they actually softened the suspension up a bit. They final result was a better ride quality but about the same handling characteristics

 

just because NASCAR does something does not mean it is the best way to do something..

 

Larger diameter wheel/tire combo is meant more for top end, smaller for acceleration. Adjust car as necessary.

Bigger wheels show you have more money...same with lip. People go insane over anything with 2" or more of lip...it looks butt ugly! Why not just flip the wheel around and have 5" of lip on a 6" wide wheel?

 

Different wheels for different applications.
Generally,
Dragracers want more sidewall.
Road racers want less sidewall.
Posers want big lips.

All racing has rules especially when it comes to tires since tire manufacturers are almost always major sponsors of a particular series.