Williams on 14's

[KingStromba]

Except for the looks, what are the disadvantages and advantages of this?


Would the handling be improved or degraded?

Grip levels?

Ride?

Acceleration?

Any other comments. Not interested in looks aspect. Pure performance question.

[u33db]

Speak to Winston - IIRC he had his hybrid on RSI alloys for a while...

[KingStromba]

Oh i see, RSI alloys are 14's?


If you tried it what tyres would you run? What size wheels do 106 gti's run?

[u33db]

Yep, GTI's are 14" too.

I'd expect it'd improve acceleration as theres less mass to shift but i don't think it'd handle as well due to the larger profile (RSI tyres are 175/65/14 or therabouts) making it significantly more 'spongy'. You could probably cure that with an even lower profile on the 14" but i'd expect you might run into problems finding a tyres cheap enough/high enough speed rating...

[KingStromba]

Yeah, i looked and as soon as the profile shifts down the price is the same as 14's. I wonder what 13's would be like for acceleration.

[Jabba the...]

a believe there is a integra r on 13s or 14s which is supposed to bne a fantastic handelin car, the r5 gtt on 13s handels incredibly well and the general rule is smaller diameter = better accel and handeling 8)

[Zollo]

106 GTi tyres are 185/55/14.

It's the overall rolling radius of wheel and tyre you want to decrease to improve acceleration. Just going down one wheel size may not change things, because the higher profile 14inch tyre would offset the smaller wheel. i.e 185/50/15 may have the same rolling radius as a 185/55/14. Not sure though?

Another benefit of smaller wheels is a lower unsprung weight. Makes a big difference to handling, agility, composure, because the suspension is not working as hard moving the lighter wheel around. Would have to be a very light 14 inch wheel to weigh less than the 15 inch Speedline?

The higher profile tyre on a 14 inch rim would also absorb bumps better and would make the on-limit handling much more forgiving. They're also generally much quieter than low profile tyres.

Downsides would be increased tyre deformation during hard cornering and more flex in the tyre walls. This leads to lower levels of out-grip and steering response and turn-in isn't so good.

All the best hot hatches have smaller wheels/tyres - Williams, GTi 6, 106 GTi, Mk2 Golf GTi, R5 GTT.

Honda CTR, 206 180, Leon Cupra R for example, all have bigger wheels....[/i]

[Winston]

I only had 3 RSi 14's on :(

[KingStromba]

3?