dsthez

Basicly just looking for a really light wheel & tire setup. Looking at the kosei k4r 16x6.5 et52 only 12.4 lbs . Now I know in the rear id be dropping an inch compared to stock will that hurt handling? Tire sizes I was thinking wud be either stock ap1 sizes or 225/50r16 all around or even 205/50r16 all around. Has anyone had a really light 16" setup and noticed improvements in accel/braking/handling or am I just wasting my time? Thanks

Manga_Spawn

A wider wheel and tire will allow for better handling braking and overall grip. This is why may ditch the 16 inch wheel size and go to 17s. There is far better tire choices in the 17 inch size.

s2000Junky

I get the theory application, but yeah your wasting your time here in this case. More tire/rim width/grip increases the performance in all but acceleration category (unless forward traction is an issue) 10 fold, over simply lighter/smaller package. With anything there is a balance of course, but your so far out of the sweet spot on this car, you would be shooting yourself in the foot running something that small/narrow for the sake of 4-6 pounds a corner, sprung weight or not.

On a Prius it makes perfect sense.

MMisencik157

This would be the best setup for maximum efficiency if all you are doing is driving down the freeway. But the car will feel horrible and handle like shit if you are concerned at all with performance.

Manga_Spawn

If you bought the S to be efficient you bought the wrong car. You ment to buy an insight.

dsthez

I dont think it wud handle like shit. No open minded people at s2ki.I remember over at jwelty vw forums people would all be openminded. Theres plenty of people running 16"s anyways.

Manga_Spawn

And you didn't read the original post very well. He asked if there would be any improvements in several areas. With the 16's there would not be a noticeable increase in performance in any of the areas he asked about. It would absolutely handle like crap compared to a wide sticky 17 inch wheel and tire set up. There is extremely limited tire sizes for 16's when you start looking at wider wheels. Being opened minded is one thing but you have to look at facts as well. Sure plenty of stock Ap1's have 16's but you do not see very many people if you see anyone running them in a competitive manner. There is a reason for that. Also he would be running a wheel that is an inch narrower than the oem AP1 wheel which would likely hurt even the acceleration piece because it would not get adiquit traction. I would not be surprised if you spun through first and second and maybe even thrid with these depending on the tire.

Also it's worth mentioning that with a VW forum you are talking about a lot of different models of cars so there are different ideas of what works because there are numerous different cars being discussed. Here we are all talking about the same car. Sure there is a minor differences between AP1 and AP2 but not very much. So if your thought has some fact please state it.

clarkster009

Lol that was the OP. He asked for advice, didn't like it, and now says we arent open minded

Manga_Spawn

Oh lol I didn't see that on my phone. Well he is free to do whatever he wants to his car. I also don't think a 225 would fit very well on a 6.5 inch wide wheel. Another thing I was thinking of was I wonder if the wheel face would clear the caliper. Have fun with your money but this is a bad idea.

MMisencik157

A 225 would not be supported so well by such a narrow wheel. The tire would roll around on the wheel more and deflect under load which is why I said it would handle like shit compared to the same tire on a wider wheel and especially a wider 17 inch wheel. You are also limited tremendously in good tires that you can run with the wheel size you have in mind.

The VW guys tend to be more "open minded" because the know and/or care less about performance.