Jump to content
The mkiv Supra Owners Club

The wheel issue continues.....


BigRoy

Recommended Posts

Right off came the Khan 18's and on went the stock 17's. Well apart from a hernia lifting the 18's, WOW what a difference. I must admit I did doubt CW's comments regarding increased unsprung weight and larger diameter wheels affecting handling. I thought to myself well OK on a track maybe but everyday road useage? Well Chris the proof is in the pudding and WOW! So all I need now is 20" rims that weigh less than the stocks with tyres, look like 20's when parked up but morph into 17's once rolling!

 

Seriously though what a diffence:eek:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So would a lighter or heaveir wheel be better for handling, only reason I ask is, cause I could imagine a lighter wheel getting dragged around more (like camber and grooves in the road) due to there being less weight in the wheel. I understand why people generally go for lighter wheels, but I presumed this was always a weight saving idea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Volks I have are forged, I only noticed how light they were when I went to carry the 17s back in to the shed and realised the 18s were much easier to carry out. I then checked the weights and the 18s are lighter than stock 17s. Very few wheels are forged though so most weigh quite a bit.

 

JB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally posted by Branners

The Volks I have are forged, I only noticed how light they were when I went to carry the 17s back in to the shed and realised the 18s were much easier to carry out. I then checked the weights and the 18s are lighter than stock 17s. Very few wheels are forged though so most weigh quite a bit.

 

JB

 

What wheels do you have ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

same with lowering springs though, quite often they can throw off the handling as well. Its a question of what you want from a car, I wanted the car to be on different wheels and sit lower than stock, I accept the handling has gone off a little but I dont push the car that hard anyway (Im getting old, things go by much quicker now than they used to :) ) so I accept its a problem.

 

JB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally posted by Nick

Volk have a very good reputation for making quality, lightweight wheels. If the Blitz Z1's didn't exist, I'd definitely have a set.....:)

 

Deffo, I chose the Blitz purely for the looks, other than the Do-Luck I'd deffo go with Volks (or those manaray Hyper revolutions? alloys that I couldnt find for buggery).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is there much of a weight difference in a 17" tyre vs an 18 or 19" tyre? I know the sidewalls are smaller (assuming the width stays the same for a fair comparison) so they should weigh less, but I'm sure I read that because the sidewall has to be so much stiffer they can end up being heavier in the larger diameter sizes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Have to say that I've noticed a decrease in tramlining and general 'wandering-around-the-road-ness' on the drive back from Brighton this week after I had gone from 16s to 17s. I complained in the technical forum about how both my girlfriend and me had both noticed the car seemed to tramline a lot and then just suddenly go off in a new direction all by itself. I noticed it again on the drive down when at one point I'm physically applying pressure to turn the wheel to the left as the car tries to wander off to the right on a straight bit of road - it's really odd.

 

On the drive back though I didn't notice it once, and the steering actually seemed lighter as well :conf:

 

This all seems to go against the grain for moving up from 16s to 17s so I'm a bit perplexed. I still need to try it on a particularly vicious bit of tramlined road near my house to really compare directly (lorries have indented some lovely 'railway tracks' up a curving, uphill road for about 3/4 of a mile), but at the moment I certainly feel that the car is less unbalanced by potholes, camber, indents, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally posted by 200SX Boy

I still need to try it on a particularly vicious bit of tramlined road near my house to really compare directly (lorries have indented some lovely 'railway tracks' up a curving, uphill road for about 3/4 of a mile

 

Got back 10 mins ago - confirmed, it's MILES better.

 

Anyone on 16s I would recommend going up to 17s immediately!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. You might also be interested in our Guidelines, Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.