Bigger rear wheels

obi_waynne

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Anyone want to discuss the merits of having wider rear wheels?

I note that the new Audi RS3 has narrower rear wheels which has a beneficial effect on the handling.

Do big rear wheels only work on muscle cars? Is there any point doing this on a fwd car? (I've lost count of the number of show cars which use larger rear wheels under a super wide bodykit!)

Is it just a visual thing then?
 
BMW must do it for a reason.

They do. Some of it is probably for marketing purposes to set their high end models apart from the run of the mill stuff like mine. Sometimes it's not so much for getting wider rubber at the back but for getting narrower rubber at the front so that the wheels don't impinge on the bodywork or suspension under full lock manoeuvres.

What I'm getting at is that simply fitting different size rear wheels will not be beneficial without stacks of other chassis changes. Even then the benefits are likely to be marginal in normal driving.

If the rolling radius is different to the front set you will also get huge problems with the ABS and the DSC/ASC+T (which is BMW's incredibly memorable for traction control and stability control programmes). The ECU's on cars fitted thus will be programmed to be aware of the different rolling radius.
 
Staggered wheels also give bragging rights. The size of the rears is often mentioned in magazines. Take the E39 for example, it uses 8J fronts and 9J rears.
 
i used to run much bigger wheels on the back of my last trans am
run 245's on the front and 315's on the rear
did not help it grip that much to much power there

but most of the time you put smaller ones on the front to get the lock plus wider tyres dont steer all that great tend to turn on the edges of the tyres
 
wider rubber on the rear end of a rear wheel drive car makes for better burnouts and grip off the line, it's a drag racing thing. as far as i can tell thats the only reason for doing it.
 
Staggered wheels also give bragging rights. The size of the rears is often mentioned in magazines. Take the E39 for example, it uses 8J fronts and 9J rears.

Yes, the M5 does have rather big rubber.

My sub 3 litre E39 is on stock 225/55 tyres on the stock 16" rims. It handles very well, as any half sporty saloon car should. But if I were to fit bigger rims and tyres I doubt anything would change apart from road noise becoming intrusive.
 
This is mainly for the whole "look at my ass" look lolive seen people running 10" rear on a mk4 golf and a 8.5 on the front only really for looks. Prehaps staggering tyre sizes will have more benefit if your slapping more rubber on the road?
 
This is mainly for the whole "look at my ass" look lolive seen people running 10" rear on a mk4 golf and a 8.5 on the front only really for looks. Prehaps staggering tyre sizes will have more benefit if your slapping more rubber on the road?

As stated many times, fitting wider tyres DOESN'T put more rubber on the road :) (when discussing road legal tyres)
 
the contact patches on the rear wheels for any set of road tyres will fit on a single sheet of A4 paper, although the difference in price for a wider tyre should be enough to put anyone off
 
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Tyre contact patch area and shape is dependent upon many factors. Sidewall stiffness plays a big part. Perhaps the reason that so many people don't like the driving feel of runflats?
 
the contact patches on the rear wheels for any set of road tyres will fit on a single sheet of A4 paper, although the difference in price for a wider tyre should be enough to put anyone off


Crikey, I'd love to get a contact patch that size :)

This just about covers this subject. Read and learn everyone :)

 
Crikey, I'd love to get a contact patch that size :)

This just about covers this subject. Read and learn everyone :)

Would you really want an A4 page sized contact patch? Without letting the tyres down to about 12PSI, that is?

The actual downforce per sq inch would be quite small, therefore the car would likely skate all over the place in all but the very driest of conditions.
 
Would you really want an A4 page sized contact patch? Without letting the tyres down to about 12PSI, that is?

The actual downforce per sq inch would be quite small, therefore the car would likely skate all over the place in all but the very driest of conditions.


I know, I was only wishing I could have a contact that large AND have the same grip per square inch :)
 
question why does not putting a larger size put more rubber on the road? Surly if your on a 205 a 225 has more rubbber?
 

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