I've read from some people that getting heavier wheels will greatly affect you accel and braking. How is this possible? If you put a 150 pound guy in your car, you will hardly notice the change in accel. Is it different with wheels or something?

 

You most definatally won't notice the difference unless the wheels are MOMO arrows or somethin like that. (28lbish)

My caffeines weigh 19.9 pounds each and are 2 inches bigger than stock. As soon as I got them on I noticed no difference in acceleration whatsoever. In fact they may even of made me faster

It's all about the #'s..you won't feel alot of things that could lag your times..

Also I would like to add if you have a 17" wheel and 18" wheel of the same width and weight, you will be faster with the 17" wheel.

Am I talking out of my @ss Darren?

 

Thanks for the info--i have a 95 with steelies and was looking at getting the OEM's off a 5th Gen. I've read those are very heavy, what do you think? I want looks and handling, speed is not my highest priority right now.

 

Yes, rotational inertia is much greater than linear inertia. I don't have my Physics book in front of me, but I think for an open cylinder, it's like .5(mass)(radius)^2. Lighter wheels are easier to accelerate (or decelerate, not that that is a proper physics term), so every time you hit a bump and it sends your wheel into the air, a lighter wheel with return quicker and with less energy required, meaning a smoother ride, more traction, less hp lost to accelerate the wheel, etc.

 

No problem.

I too had those ooglie 15" steelies.

Please do NOT get the 2000 SE 17" wheels. They are heavy. 26-27lbs. or so. They are also only 17x7 which in my opinion look to skinny on a Maxima.

If you want significantly better handling get no smaller than 17x8. It also helps make the car look more muscular.

I recommend to you...Konig Caffeines

What is your price range ? If you are serious and have alot of money, get a wheel like racing hart, Oz, Volk, ect. But if you are NOT rich like me, get a regular wheel like Konig, Enkei, ect.

I got my set of 4 Caffeines w/lugs, tools, ect. for $650 locally. The higher brand names like Volk will cost twice as much.

 

Enkei has some huge facility at exit 64 on I-65S, between Indy and Louisville. I think I'll stop in there on my way back to Louisville tomorrow. Those Caffeines look tight too on that lowered, Black Max, Craig.

 

thanks bro

 

Passengers in your vehicle sit on the springs. Wheels are what are called unsprung weight. If it weren't important nobody would use forged alum rims costing 4 times as much and being marginally lighter but much stronger. But on a Maxima, it'd be ludicrous to spend $599 or more per wheel when a $200 wheel looks great. The important thing is not to skimp on the 8" width, whether you go 17 or 18. The idea of 18's being slower is the fact that wheel is heavier than rubber, and you have 1" less sidewall and 1" more rim since the outside diameter is nearly identical either way. 18's look great imho though. Even Vettes have them only in the rear as do Lotus. 17's are so commonplace now they don't do much if it's looks you want. They are fine though and probably offer the best performance in the 235/45-17--just lack the outrageous look of the 18.

 

You are right but you must also consider that 18's require more expensive tires (sometimes). The tires also wear out significantly faster than 17's, costing you more $$$.

Yes 18"s look awesome but are very lagful on your car unless you get the racing kind. ($$$$)

 

Been asked before a million times, but I heard Max's ride better on 40-series rubber (than 50+ series rubber) but I can't remember if that was on 17 or 18 inch wheels. I would imagine 17's, but it would have to be some wide rubber to make up the overall diameter.

 

Damn! You must have the REALLY base model. I at least have seats !

 

I think the paradigm is shifting. There was a time when a 15" computer monitor was a luxury, and 14" was the standard. Then 17" became the standard. Now a decent 19" is only $239 and a awesome one is $429 or so. Someone even told me that laptops existed with monochrome screens, can you imagine that?

The price diff between 17" and 18" is not that much anymore. Just that selection is limited on the 18". My package was 2nd dayed to me at just over $1100, and the treadwear is 360, which is much higher than my stock RS-A which was 240.

Believe me, this summer everybody and their grandma will have 18's, and 19's will be the cost-prohibitive rims. But none of this changes physics, at low costs 18's are less optimal than 17's.

 

So you wouldn't get MOMO Arrows?

 

Nah...don't get me wrong...in fact..those are my favorite rims! They are beautiful. But they are heavy as hell. And very expensive. Put 2 and 2 together!

But it's your car do whatever the fock you want to it. If you dont care about speed get the momo's! in chrome! they are beautiful.

BTW Frank, very well put 360 treadwear is excellent for 18's...your tires must be ANTI-performance

 

i have the oem 17's on my 4th gen they are a heavier rim but to be honest i didnt notice that much difference in acceleration my max still pulls hard..and they are a inexpensive good looking rim mine are wrapped in 235 4517ZR falken rubber and the ride is great...people will have their own opinions i too read all of those post talking about how heavy the rim is but i didnt want anyone else to dictate what i personally thought looked good...so just go with what you like and dislike and if speed isnt a factor go with the 17's

jon

 

This boy is good. Give him a cookie. He earned it.

Going up in wheel size, even when weight is held constant, will slow you down. That's the hard truth. Going with the factory 16s will slow you down a little bit (.2 second maybe).


Dave

 

HA! Take that sprinty!


...you didn't believe me did you

 

Okay I found it, I = mass X radius^2
This is the moment of inertia for a thin-walled, hollow cylinder. Mass being the weight divided by the acceleration of gravity, times the radius squared gives the force necessary (torque) to change the angular speed of the cylinder (RPM). This is JUST for the rim mind you, not the spokes or the hub, those are totally different equations. Yes, simply increasing the diameter of the rim, will slow you down even if the weight is the same, because with that extra distance from the center, the weight of the rim has even more leverage to exert its inertia.


Dave B- That means a lot coming from, "The Man when it comes to launching."

 

Treadwear ratings can only be compared when the tires that are being compared are made by the same tire brand. Each tire brand has there own rating system so comparing treadwear ratings between brands is meaningless.

This may be stupid of me to say but I have a thought on this subject. Tires weigh much more per inch then a rim in general. For example a typical low profile 18' tire weighs in the range of 22-28lb's. Now look at how skinny these tires are and it would appear that an extra inch of rim would cause less(is it) rolling enertia, or what ever you guys are saying. IE, 1' inch of a 20 lb 20 inch rim weighs about approx. 1 pound. If that same rule applied to a 18 inch tire that weighed say 25 lb's that inch of tire would weigh a bit more then 1 inch of rim. know what I am trying to say? I am probablywrong but think about it and correct me.

 

Moment of Inertia around (insert axis). Moment of inertia for a cylinder is generally accepted to affect rotation. Basically, what you're saying is that you slow down when you go up in size, not because of the increased rim diameter, but because of the increased tire diameter since tires weigh more than rims per unit of measurement. While when you simply plus size, since the overall tire diameter stays the same, going to an 18" rim eliminates sidewall, which weighs more than the increased rim weight. Therefore, you actually LOSE weight when you plus size.

I disagree, a tire has more weight in the tread, steel belts, etc. than in the sidewall. Going to a plus one, I doubt that a 1/2" ring of sidewall (even two of them) would weigh as much or more than the increased mass of the rim.

 

So the best thing to do is go with 15lbs 19 inch wheels

 

Folks, weee have a winner here!












Am I PWing this thread?

 

Here we go again with the strong language. How funny is it to say 15 lasts longer than 16, which lasts longer than 17, which lasts longer than 18. Traction AA vs A vs B vs C is also not useful, nor is YR vs WR vs ZR vs VR vs HR vs SR, and then load ratings are also not of any use.

The D.O.T. says "Treadwear is a comparative rating based on the wear rate of the tire when tested under controlled conditions on a specified government test course." It is clearly meant to allow consumers to compare tires of different brands. Reiterate what you see on the Tire Rack website all you want. Do you achieve different results in the real world? Yes, as you do with the EPA mileage rating for the car.

Like everything one must do a reality check. Sure, you can pick stocks by throwing darts or having monkeys draw names out of a hat after ******** in it. Sometimes it works. But it's not a controlled situation. Comparative ratings are just that, meant to be used in comparison.

 

ok smart guy are you ready to get shut down? I sold tires in high school and I know how the system works. Learn your facts before you preach, your talking out of your **** and making a fool out of your self .

Directly from a site that explian's how tires are rated. Haha dumbass..

 

Treadwear is relative to the lowest grade tire that a particular manufacturer makes, so if Brand X sells El Cheapo tires for busses in Brazil that last 5,000 miles, then a 10,000 mile tire would get a 200 rating. All their other tires get to be compared to their worst one. I got that exact analogy from a Tire Rack salesman. Tread wear is therefore only valid for comparisons of tires by the same manufacturer, which makes it &#$% hard for us to figure things out!

 

added 2 tenths to my best track times..

 

Yea rims SUCK

The best rim - 9 pound 15 inchers


Actually folks, if you are supecharged running high boost and are 5spd, running heavy rims is an ADVANTAGE. This is becuase they help hold the power down to the ground better.

I feel special now

 

Is that right?
I'm about to order a set of 17"x7.5" Ace A204 Impact rims (www.acealloywheel.com) on 235/45 Z Potenzas RE730s for my Max.
I'm torn between 17" and 18" but for performance is the 17" better due to the rotational inertia?

 

This guy sold tires last August so he's an expert. DOT says something else.
from the horse's mouth

Everyone knows that conditions are not equal out there on the road. But a means of comparison is still necessary and that's what UTQG was designed to do. If you did a RFP for NYS, you gonna tell your boss it doesn't mean anything? You ain't gonna keep your job that way.
By the way, it's business, not bussiness.

By the way genius it's business, not bussiness. Give him a cookie too! email me if you need the screen snapshot i got it

 

That is true. If you are into performance get 17's. But please, PLEASE get 17x8. Or 8.5 ..the traction will benifit you more and it will look alot better.

In your case if you have traction problems I dont think heavy rims are an issue since you'd get less spinnage = faster

 

Your going off subject, what I initial said was correct and you tried to to make a fool out of me, now I proved you wrong and your trying to swindel your way out of it. You got SHUT DOWN , you were wrong and I was right, take it like a man you little woosy. And ohh, sorry I did not proof read my post at 3:00 AM last night

 

Heres some proof, read it and weep you ***..

http://www.costcoauto.com/news/article.asp?newsid=11

Heres some more dumba$$
http://www.kauffmantire.com/learning...res.asp#treads

Heres a quote strait from goodyear's web site

Heres the link to that http://www.goodyear.ca/tire_school/tirespecs.html#utqg


But hey, don't let the facts get in the way, just continue to attempt to put me down for correctly "correcting" you. In the future I will make a note to not correct anyone when they are wrong, I mean after all how dare I correct someone! What are you even doing on this site? I come here to learn things and to help others, you on the other hand put the people down that try to help you and try to teach you something. Just something for you to think about and again don't preach what you don't know. Keep it up thoguh becuase I am really enjoying shuting your puck *** down over and over again!

BTW I sold tires tires in 98, not August.

 

lol ethan your madd funny....dont fu{K with ethan...if he posts he is correct 99% of the time....yo ethan i got my **** dropped and rims on...yo ethan there a place that can install nos for me how much u think they should charge????they said 800.00(just intall) i seen a fogger kit for like 460.00 from yankee### or someone....

 

IIRC there was an article in technobable in SCC that said that adding 1lb to a wheel is like adding 1.5lbs to the car x final gear ratio. So adding 7lbs (this case my stock ranger wheels vs 00 mustang GT wheels) increases the curb weight of 1st gear by like 100-150lbs (guestimate). Other than increased traction I can barely spin the tires (damn 2.3L 112hp/135tq at the flywheel). However with the stock tires I can chirp 2nd and 3rd from time to time.

 

$800 sounds a bit high, what shop quoted you that price? If they charge $50 an hour that means it is going to take 16 hours for the install, are they going to tune the car on the dyno for the price too? I have never installed NOS before so I don't really know how long it would take. Try searching or post the question.

I will have to check your ride out some time , it must look pretty damn sweet now! When I get my rims we should meet up some time.

 

Orrrrr, you could upgrade the suspension (i.e.- wider wheels, polyurethane mounts, radial arms, FWD trailing arms, better shocks/springs, etc.); thereby regaining the lost wheel hp/tq.



You are special Craig, very special.