kravmaga

Hey folks, Just figured I want to ask a few enthusiasts what they think about this. I just picked up a sweet lil' S2k (niiiiiice). And I wanted to check out maybe putting some sweet 17" rims on there as well. But I hear that sometimes if you oversize your rims, it kills your acceleration...Heavier centrifugal mass or something. Anyone here try this? Notice any appreciable difference?

Thanks!

--Bill

minboost

get a forged lightweight wheel, like volk. Even the "heavier" volks, like the GT-N, are LIGHTER than the 16" stock wheel and with the right tire size have a SMALLER overall diameter.

I put GT-Ns on my car and the car definitely felt quicker (but probably in my head). I put on 18" CE28Ns (which are actually even lighter) and the car def. felt slower.

EssTooKayTD

go 18".

and make sure they are at least around the same weight as the stock 16's, such as the Volk, Work, etc. wheels. 17" is cool, but you'll love the look of the 18. Just stick to the lightweight ones.


keep us posted on what you get.

RazorV3

bigger wheels look great on teh s2k but just remember to lower your car in the process.

wanabe

plenty of photos of 17" and 18" wheels on this board-
check out the photo forum and the tirerack tire & wheels forum...

Rick Hesel

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

You in fact don't want a smaller overall diameter. When putting on larger rims, you want to mount tires of a size that make the overall wheel/tire diameter and the circumference of the tire as close to stock as possible. Tire Rack, for example, strongly recommends that there not be more than a 1-2 percent variation in circumference. With a smaller diameter (read smaller circumference) your speedo and odometer will give you falsely high readings, the gap around the wheel well will be larger than it already is, and the car will be lower (try that look -- lower with a larger wheel gap).

This is a mistake people commonly make when mounting new rims, ususally because they haven't done their homework.

Incubus

A bigger overall size will reduce your car's rate of acceleration (as if you've got shorter gears), even if you go lighter than stock.

I say just get with what looks nice, unless you plan on drag-racing a Formula 1 bred car.

alexf20c

My Spoons weigh 12lbs each. 16x7.0 front, 16x8.0 rear.

Incubus

12 pound spoons? That's heavy. Every bite means you lift a twelve pound object. That's ridiculous.

Russ

I've done more tire/wheel homework than probably anyone on this board and Rick, I usually agree with you on most issues but not on this one. I chose smaller diameter tires because it changed my gearing from stock to around 4.33 By doing so, the size and brand of tires I chose weigh 6-lbs less per corner than stock and together with my 16-inch wheels which weigh 13.5-lbs each, I dropped nearly 20-lbs of unsprung weight per corner or roughly 160-lbs of static weight. Would you like to hazard a guess as to how much "free" horsepower this added to the car? I can tell you....quite a bit. After the tire/wheel change, the car was noticeably quicker than before. I lowered the car with Tanabe NF springs (1.2 inch drop) and to date, no one has asked me what kind of jeep am I driving. In fact, with me in the car (which is always the case) the gap between the wheel wells is two fingers. vertically. As close as I would like. As for speedo error, it's 3mph less at 75mph so my actual speed would be 72mph if my dig shows 75. Not a major concern.
I wouldn't recommend this to everyone but for those who are looking for every bit of speed or quickness available, dropping down to a 24-inch tire and losing .8 inches together with a super lightweight 16-inch wheel is like adding 10 horsepower. Now if I could just post a pic, I'd show ya!