fastback79

I was just curious if anyone that upgraded from 16-17 rims felt any low end power loss or felt their gas mileage go down. I want 17s but do not want to lose torque or have my gas mpg go down.

enrique64

well i have 17 in rota tarmac 2s and i didnt notice any change, only good things haha corners so much better =) my rims weigh 18 lbs each.

fastback79

I imagine with the rims ony weighing 18lbs, the car would be quicker right?

enrique64

well..a lil but not enough to **** your pants about lol if you havent checked out suibiedude.com the have some good rims. rotas are really nice for the price

fastback79

Yes the rotas are sweet. Has your gas mpg changed?

enrique64

not that i have i have seen. i have cai and exahust..so im sure that may have helped a lil bit..but since i got them i drive a lil faster lol sorry im not much help for that haha

fastback79

Thanx for the info bro. I think I'm gonna go 17s!!

NW OBS

iTrader: (2)

I saved almost 10 lbs per corner when I went to 17" from OEM 16". This Mod is the best single upgrade I did... felt like a quick 10 hp increase. Racers use a x10 formula for 'unsprung weight'

So, - 40 lbs of unsprung weight = - 400 lbs of weight loss for the total car.

Watch your TIRE weight too... it is part of the formula to a successful +1 application. It's the total weight of both wheel and tire per corner that makes the difference!

Stock: Wheels 21 lbs... Tires 23 lbs. = 44 lbs
Upgrade: Wheels 16.5 lbs... Tires 18 lbs. = 34.5 lbs

enrique64

i agree man, the biggest thing i saw was how much better the car handles in cornering..it feels lighter. i see you got the subzeros..nice. i was going to go with thoses..but they didnt have the color i wanted so i went with the rota tarmac 2s

J-Chow

hmmm wierd.
When i had my 17' rota subzeros along with summer tires . . yes, I did feel a dramatic change in cornering and handling, but 2 things I felt were trammlining and increased road noise, but that's due to the tires (they only have 15% tread left).

As for gas mileage, mine decreased, not by much though.
One tank of gas, I can get 550km using my stockers, but with my 17' i can only get about 500km. But that's probably due to the low tread left on the tires, and also the width of the tires being 225/45/17 . More traction on the ground, but you're also having a lot more tire surface contact with the pavement.
I'm assuming less tire width = less surface area contact = increase gas mileage
more tire width = more surface area contact = decrease gas mileage

that's IIRC . . . but idk . . . correct me if i'm wrong

fastback79

I'll probably go with 215s instead of 225. The 225s are probably causing the slight decrease in gas mileage. As stated earlier, I would imagine losing 10lbs per wheel would increase gas mileage and launch times.

enrique64

i wouldnt really worry about the gas mileage..i would rather have a car that could corner better then got good gas mileage haha but thats me i guess.

Vizzionz

if you really want your car to handle "better", dont do just the wheels, upgrade your suspension! (i.e., springs, sway bars, etc)

i put my stock 16" wheels back on, and i have the tanabe df210 springs installed. they are 15% stiffer then STi springs, i can take corners at twice the posted speeds

i would stay with a 16" wheel since it IS lighter then any 17" wheel... the lighter the wheel the faster you'll go, the bigger/havier the wheel the SLOWER you'll go!

enrique64

as long as you get a light 17 you wont notice. light is good dont get me wrong..but the car looks sooo much better with a nice pair of wheels. are stock 16s are not very wide...16/6.5 I have 17/7.5s and it makes car handle way better. my new wheels and tires weigh less than my stock set up did.

Vizzionz

i didnt mean stay with the stock 16" wheels, i meant use any 16" wheel in general! you can get 16" wheels that are 7.5" to 8.5" wide!