Can My Car Benefit From Larger Rims?

[DrewII]

hey everyone thought i would start off by posting a pic of my car. i currently have the buddy club P1s in gunmetal with some good 245 yokohama advan ruber on the rear. only thing im not happy with is traction. these P1s from my understanding are a lightweight racing alloy. good for the track. but bad off the line. even when the tyres have warmed up a bit first gear the traction is really bad. i have the turbo boosted to about 14psi with bigger fuel pump intercooled, zorst.

my question

could i benefit perhaps by purchasing bigger rims? say 19", 20" ? will this improve my traction obviously because there is a larger wheel base more rubber will be on the floor. i have tein adjustable coil overs which i can adjust if need be to get more of the rubber on the floor. or will the tyres and wheels be too heavy for any benefit at all?

what do people think? anyone experienced with enlarging their rims and gaining better traction?

[cheez]

not gonna get better traction with a larger diametre as the wheel base will be very similar. to get better traction you have 2 options,

1. get a set of rims wider than your p1's, say a 18x9.5 or something for the back

2. run a wider tyre on your current rims if you can, if they 8 inches wide then you still should still be able to get a 265 tyre on with only minimal bulge on the side.

hope that helps you out

[DrewII]

not gonna get better traction with a larger diametre as the wheel base will be very similar. to get better traction you have 2 options,

1. get a set of rims wider than your p1's, say a 18x9.5 or something for the back

2. run a wider tyre on your current rims if you can, if they 8 inches wide then you still should still be able to get a 265 tyre on with only minimal bulge on the side.

hope that helps you out

yeh i didnt think of that. ill inquire in some rubber that is wider than what i have now i think that might do the trick.

[XKLABA]

I have 265/35/18 on 18x9s and i wouldn't put them on anything smaller as mine are already bulging a little bit, try and get the P1s in 18x9 or 9.5 for the back ( I think there is someone in group buys doing 18x10 in P1s they might be abel to orgenise something for you ).

Edited June 16, 2007 by XKLABA

[DrewII]

I have 265/35/18 on 18x9s and i wouldn't put them on anything smaller as mine are already bulging a little bit, try and get the P1s in 18x9 or 9.5 for the back ( I think there is someone in group buys doing 18x10 in P1s they might be abel to orgenise something for you ).

so your saying get two new rims just for the back? 18x10? sorry i dont know if i caught you properly do you suggest me keeping 17s on the front and just getting two rear ones 18s? will that look alright? because thats a good idea if it is the case.

[XKLABA]

Sorry mistake, i meant 17x9 or 9.5

[SEX-DR.]

ill tell you a little something about these wide (but most importantly low profile) tyres which you are considering.

as these wide tyres are generally all low profile, and the tyre walls are very small, offering a significantly less play or give in them, as apposed to larger profile tyres (like the pro drag racers have) thus making them spin a lot easier. Sure there is a 20-30mm extra tread on the road/surface but only about a 100mm of that is actually sitting on the road at one time.

so other than having a few bragging rights about the size of your wheels/tyre widths, for traction that is not the exact answer. what you gain with the extra width of the tyre, you could be losing with the minimized tyre wall. there is an optimum diametre for each individual application. Consult a tyre tyre/wheel place for their 'professional' recommendation/opinion.

Hope that gives you some food for thought,

Peter

[Eug]

where are you losing traction? on the street? on the drag strip?

control your right foot

soften your rear suspension a bit (if it's damper adjustable)

check your wheel alignment (camber)

check your tyre pressure

shouldnt have traction problems with your mods and power level...

[DrewII]

Sorry mistake, i meant 17x9 or 9.5

oh ok well

just went outside to have a look had a browse on the net too the largest the p1s come in are 17 x 9 i went downstairs to have a look at mine and i measured the width was about 9 inches wide so they must be 17x9. the tyre on them at the moment is 245/45/17 and i inquired as to a better tyre and the comments i had from a couple places was the tyres i have on it at the moment are the most expensive and soft street tyres i can get. theyre yokohama advan something. the next option for tyre set up was some light track racing but street legal tyres such as the Toyo RA1s which have the same tread pattern as one of their drag radials only they are street legal. 500 dollars each. i guess its not that expensive only the rubber on moderate driving will last around 10k kms. hard driving who knows. but they are a much softer compound. maybe that is the go for me with my traction problem.

Edited June 16, 2007 by DrewII

[DECIM8]

Im pretty sure everyone has said it .. at once point in time you are going to have about 20cm of tread on the road at each corner .. unless youve decided to drive over something ... i.e racing.. so the bigger diameter you have will not increase your traction.. a few things can tho..

Better tyres.. Top grade tyres will give you much better grip .. not some nan kang crap!

Lowering you air presure .. technically lower presure will give more tread on the ground .. but will also crack and advance tyre wear drematically.

Wider tyres/rims.. the wider you go the more tread on the ground in the 20cm block .. so if you have 10" rears your putting down a 25cm x 20cm rectangle of tread and if its a nice deep tread and a softer compound it will grip a hell of alot better than some hard tight tread.. if your dragging drop the presure low .. if not keep it at 35ish ..

hope thats helped

On another point you may want to look at the following.

Coilover suspension, camber and toe adjustments (negative adjustments in the front for better handling) and bushes and a lighter weight wheel which you already have ;D

Edited June 16, 2007 by DECIM8

[DrewII]

where are you losing traction? on the street? on the drag strip?

control your right foot

soften your rear suspension a bit (if it's damper adjustable)

check your wheel alignment (camber)

check your tyre pressure

shouldnt have traction problems with your mods and power level...

its on the street. im not a freak on the road. i have only had the car for 5 months and im learning to control the twin plate clutch which came with the car not easy and ill admit takes a lot of practice at first even trying to move the car but whats the point with having power when your standing on the same spot with your wheels spinning. i can control my foot off the line but after about 4 thousand rpm when boost is kicking they spin on the spot. i will look into some of the other points you made about suspension and camber because that is something i havent looked into so far. what psi you recommend?

[DrewII]

On another point you may want to look at the following.

Coilover suspension, camber and toe adjustments (negative adjustments in the front for better handling) and bushes and a lighter weight wheel which you already have ;D

hey mate thanks for sharing. i do have tein adjustable coil overs, havent touched the camber im the first owner in australia so im not sure exactly what has been done in the way of camber (i will look into it though) looking at my tyre wear though does seem to be fairly even. and the car has new bushes (done in japan) and yeh the p1s. but i think will look into camber just to make sure the tyres are touching the floor evenly.

[Eug]

its on the street. im not a freak on the road. i have only had the car for 5 months and im learning to control the twin plate clutch which came with the car not easy and ill admit takes a lot of practice at first even trying to move the car but whats the point with having power when your standing on the same spot with your wheels spinning. i can control my foot off the line but after about 4 thousand rpm when boost is kicking they spin on the spot. i will look into some of the other points you made about suspension and camber because that is something i havent looked into so far. what psi you recommend?

give the alignment, current suspension setup and tyre pressure a go first...

they are basically free adjustments which you can look into before spending money (uhh obviously pay for alignment though), and will make dramatic differences if done correctly.

tyre pressure? around 38psi (i run around 36psi for track work)

how much power are you making? my mate had a triple plate nismo clutch and although annoying, it wasnt an issue, even his missus drove it!

like you said; you've only had the car for a short while - learn to ease into the throttle rather than stabbing it. there are people with more power and crappier tyres getting better traction then you, so its definately not the hardware.

[DrewII]

good news i took the skyline to bob Jane t mart today and had two Maxxis MA-V1 tyres fitted to the rear they are 255/40 also noticed when took off old tyres completely worn on the inside. had wheel balance and rear adjustment. now there is zero loss of traction in first gear at all!!!??? very happy the guy mentioned the next tyres up were dunlops same ones used for the M5 BMW but for extra 100 dollars you cant even tell the difference.

i paid 250 for each rear tyre and im more than happy with the handling, low road noise, and excellent traction.

[R33silverS2]

I think the p1's look sweet - the gunmetal look snice on your car also.

Just wondering though what ecu are you using in your car and is it the standard turbo? How much power are we talking?

Cheers