CHANGED: TRACK wheels
12-02-2007, 06:51 PM
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CHANGED: TRACK wheels
I have the opportunity to buy somebody's 16" smart wheels. The current wheels on my ride are 185/??/15. These would be 205/??/16. They are original smart wheels so fitting/offset should not be a problem.
The question is how much better would those be at the track.
Any ideas?
The question is how much better would those be at the track.
Any ideas?
12-02-2007, 08:49 PM
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Originally Posted by AusS2000,Dec 3 2007, 02:11 PM
Depends if they are heavier or lighter and what sort of tyres are on them.
Need more info.
Need more info.
However I dear say they'd be heavier as they are probably made of the same material. Bigger wheel = More material.
The tyres on them are Continentals (don't know the ref) the tyres on the 15" are Bridgestones 340s which are pretty hard wearing tyres.
12-04-2007, 02:24 AM
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OK. The wheels are gone but I got a chance to look at them in person. I had read the ad wrong and they were actually 15" so it was really a question about wider wheels.
MINE
185/60/15 Rims are 5.5 and 6.5 inches wide (front a and back).
Don't know the weight.
THEIRS
205/50/15 Rims are 6 and 7 inces wide.
Front's weigh 14.5 KG and rears 15.5 KG with tyres.
MINE
185/60/15 Rims are 5.5 and 6.5 inches wide (front a and back).
Don't know the weight.
THEIRS
205/50/15 Rims are 6 and 7 inces wide.
Front's weigh 14.5 KG and rears 15.5 KG with tyres.
12-04-2007, 01:34 PM
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Originally Posted by cashout,Dec 4 2007, 09:24 PM
..................... so it was really a question about wider wheels.
For the best possible handling wider is better but once you start getting too wide then you seriously reduce top speed & fuel economy.
The car manufacturers do extensive engineering calculations to determine the optimum width for the car in the driving conditions they predict it will most commonly encounter. They may err a little in favour of economy and if it's a family car they don't consider widths that would be suitable for track conditions.
I haven't driven a Smart but my understanding is that they handle beautifully and probably don't need any extra wheel/tyre width. I suspect that if you were to put wider wheels/tyres on the Smart you wouldn't notice any improvement in the handling but what would be noticeable would be a drop-off in performance.
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12-04-2007, 02:10 PM
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Thanks RR.
In this case both sets of wheels are original smart equipment designed for the roadster. The wider ones were introduced towards the end of production (2005) and most of the cars with that model year had them on from the factory.
The only reason I'd want wider wheels would be to reign in some of the understeer the car has (without mucking around with springs, bars, etc). Of course i may be mistaken as to that being the way around it.
In this case both sets of wheels are original smart equipment designed for the roadster. The wider ones were introduced towards the end of production (2005) and most of the cars with that model year had them on from the factory.
The only reason I'd want wider wheels would be to reign in some of the understeer the car has (without mucking around with springs, bars, etc). Of course i may be mistaken as to that being the way around it.