I finally got the dough and am set to order 17" rota tarmacs with 225/45/17 tires. Has anyone noticed any substantial loss of power or gas mileage with the 17" wheels. I am also worried about straining the transmission life with this wheel combo. My car is a daily driver but the 16" wheels look too small for the car IMHO. Any advice?

 

I put on my 225/45/17 tires when it's dry, and when I have an autox event to attend.

When I used them for a couple months, I did notice a drop in gas mileage, along with some minor lag in acceleration but that's probably due to the more rotational mass and surface area in which your tires are touching the pavement.

 

Yes, i agree with jchow!! The bigger wheel size you go, the rotational mass slows down based on my understandings..ANyone else wants to add in on their knowledge..

 

Well stated. But the 17s on your car look wicked!!!

 

unless you're getting some really weird rims, shouldn't they be lighter than the stock ones? Overall diameter of the wheel is going to stay pretty much the same, you're just taking away sidewall and adding wheel

 

Usually when you go larger rim (say from 16" to 17") you go with a lower profile tire (say from a 50 series sidewall to a 40) (examples only...)

Doing this keeps your wheel specs (overall diameter) the same as the previous setup. Has several benefits key being it helps keep your speedometer reading the same.

As long as you don't go with a ridiculously wide tire (225's being fine) you should not see any significant change in gas mileage. Nor any reduction in life of the transmission.

 

input your old setup and new and youll see what changed

http://www.howmanyfiveyearoldscouldyoutakeinafight.com/

 

/\ lol...wtf? Good to know I could get 22 of them before they overran me.
Personaly I think I would do far better than that.

but I fail to see how this helps determining whether or not the OP should go with 17's

 

it answers this part of the question

 

RedStage said it correctly too. Many people actually see slightly faster 0-60 and 1/4 mile times since they've upgraded to lighter wheels. Due to less unspeung weight (or is it less rotational mass?) you should see better MPG's, unless because the car is slightly perkier you are driving it harder, then you'll see a drop in MPG's

 

Alright, dumb question. Going to a 215/45/17 tire from the stock 205/55/16 tire does not change the overall wheel diameter therefore the speedometer, torque and gas mileage does not get affected right?

 

i can take 26 five year olds....woohoo

 

i can only take 24 but if jebb209 and i team up we can take 50! sweet, thats like 2 classrooms full of anklebiters