can I dispel the 18" wheels dont handle thing/myth? They do. ALL manufacturer teams in the World Rally Championship now use 18" wheels for asphalt rallies and most in the JWRC too. Its a bit of an old wives tale this 'dont handle' thing. If they dont, there's something else not making the car handle, it 'aint the wheels if the offset is correct. So there....see BTCC and ETCC race cars .....all nothing less than 18's.
Go get 'em. (The JC Works wheels are also 18")
M
I'm sure you are right RP and I don't doubt what your saying! I for one noticed a massive improvement in handling, grip etc when I switched from 17"s to 18"s. However this could be more to do with losing standard run-flats and running a decent tyre.quote:Originally posted by redpoint rallying
can I dispel the 18" wheels dont handle thing/myth? They do. ALL manufacturer teams in the World Rally Championship now use 18" wheels for asphalt rallies and most in the JWRC too. Its a bit of an old wives tale this 'dont handle' thing. If they dont, there's something else not making the car handle, it 'aint the wheels if the offset is correct. So there....see BTCC and ETCC race cars .....all nothing less than 18's.
Go get 'em. (The JC Works wheels are also 18")
M
I have raced around all over the place on 18"s and never once thought my car was lacking in handling abilities. 18"s theoreticaly decrease acceleration very slightly but this can be resolved by running a tyre with a lesser diameter compared to that of the 17".
I have blasted alloys paying me a visit soon to refurb my current 18"s so i'm sticking with them. Gona get some new rubber for them too. Getting all of that work done works out about £150 cheaper than buying new alloys so i'm happy with that.
Like you sleepy I found going to 18's a vast improvement although as you rightly said at least some of that was due to the lighter wheels and better non runflat tyres
Bloody hell, now you tell me :( I could have had a set of 18s which do look better, AND the handling.
Bugger!
Now i know when getting new wheels to buy 18's!
I hate my run flats, but hey better waiting till after winter now to purchase a nice new set of 18".
Sleepy, yes, you have it. Whenever you increase the diameter of your wheels, (on any car) from the manufacturers standard diameter, you MUST reduce the aspect of the tyre to maintain your accelleration and gearing as it was with the standard rims. If you dont,and you maintain the same aspect tyre on the bigger rims you will have a larger rolling circumference which changes the gearing of your car and will affect the speedometer reading proportinately.(It will decrease your accelleration slightly)
So, bigger rims, lower tyre aspect. A good tyre supplier will keep you right on what aspect to put on what size rims but as we are talking about Minis....whatever the Works 18" rims have, just stick to that size. They have worked it all out for you!
m
Im sure its been posted before but this will show you the discrepancy in your speedo when you change wheel tyre combos from standard
The wheels look good sleepyrascal! I have to say, I found the handling on my s went downhill a bit when I went from 17s to 18s, and that's with toyos on my 18s (and runflats on the 17s). I'll have to change back to the 17s at some point to see if I'm not imagining things...
Remember there's adifference between ride and handling. I'd be surprised if the handling was worse with bigger wheels - although with a larger unsprung mass, it is certainly possible - remember bigger wheels may weigh less than standard, but larger tyres will weigh more. However, what will be compromised will be the ride, as there is less damping through a smaller sidewall.
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