16" wheels vs 17" wheels opinions

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fionntan

Banned
I read somewhere that it is beneficial to have smaller wheels. What are your opinions, and why please?...I have 17s and I am looking to put new brakes on. I was going to go with big brakes but if smallers wheels are really a better thing to have then maybe I should just change out rottors and pads instead of going big.
 
:) i wrote them for a reason

happy you found them helpful
 
Something else you might consider is wheel hop. I had a set of 17's on my car, 16's and right now 14's. It seemed like the larger my rim was the more wheel hop I had. I don't know if you experience the same with your 17's, but when I was running 17's it was nearly impossible to take off with any kind of gusto without rattling my teeth loose.
I read somewhere that it is beneficial to have smaller wheels. What are your opinions, and why please?...I have 17s and I am looking to put new brakes on. I was going to go with big brakes but if smallers wheels are really a better thing to have then maybe I should just change out rottors and pads instead of going big.
 
I havent really been driving my car to hard yet...I still have a weak engine and I am trying to get all the suspension and brakes worked out before I do any serious driving. Right now it just gets me back and forth.
 
I agree...I just have to get to where it can handle that kind of driving. The steering has some issues and my brakes are in bad shape, it just isnt ready to get thrown around by a rookie like me.
 
My car handles like a dream, DA's are nice and wide. All my suspension and steering upgrades make it pretty well autocross worthy. Unfortunately my tires suck so so much, not worn just crappy compound.

Learn your car, it can get you out of jams. You can make the difference between a wreck or close call.
 
I can drive pretty well and since I have been learning more about how cars work, I am starting to understand what the modifications are changing (camber,understeer, body flex, etc.) and how those modifications are improving the drivability of the car. I am also doing all the work my self so that I can better understand my car. Why pay for a shop when I can teach myself. Since we are talking about it, they have schools that will teach you right, like defensive driving schools or something. I would just like to find somewhere that I can learn that isnt on the street. I am to old to get arrested for reckless driving.
 
:withstupid:

i miss embarrassing guys in vettes on back roads with my Insight :D


Haha. I pissed the hell out of a guy in a TT Quattro a few days ago. I think I beat him coming out of every corner but two. He asked me what kind of engine I have. :D


Blanco said:
This is the best time to learn how to drive your car. If you can't handle it well with a low power engine, you won't be able to handle it with more power.

Agreed. If you go to a performance driving school now, you won't waste nearly as much money on 'upgrades'. Remember that it's the driver, not the car.



I hate to say it, but probably the best thing I ever did was take a job driving all day. I used to spend 4+ hours in the car, driving around just for work. No joke, it was tedious, but at some point, I stopped driving the car. I started wearing the car. Now I have a 48 minute commute to work, and a 56 minute back home, and it barely feels like anything at all.

The best thing you can do, and I'm repeating myself just to underline this, is go to a driving school. You'll learn stuff you had no idea about, no matter how long you've been driving. I saw a 45 year old there when I went. He wanted to learn how to drive his porsche. You know what the instructor did to him? He put a block of foam under the gas pedal.

Stop wasting money on you car right now, and learn how to drive what you've got. You'll thank me later. I'm pissed that I spent so much before learning how to really drive.



To answer your question, use 15" or 16", but preferably 15". Unless you're pushing over 200HP, there's no reason to go larger than 15.
 
I know my car very well and I drive a lot...I also have been driving for a while, and I was a pizza delivery guy for years, so thats not the problem. I am looking more for what I would learn from a racing school. The actual technics of racing, which the article from above had a ton of usefull information by the way. I did understand about the speed limits and no traffic thing, that goes without saying for me. I was actually practicing some of the things that I learned from the article today while driving back and forth from work.
 
This is somewhat on topic...kind of...and not really thread jacking...I hope...but in everyone's opinion, am I a bastard for getting my dad a set of sweet looking 17's for the Civic that my mechanic just found him, even though I would never want to own 17's for either of my Civics? I KNOW he is going to LOVE THEM. I'd go into further detail but this is not my thread. haha :D
 
Learning how to rev match, for example, is extremely useful in every day driving. The part about where you hold your hands is also extremely useful.

Those tidbits are probably the most useful parts you'll ever learn.

But honestly, go to a performance driving school. Spend the money on yourself, instead of spending the money on something that could easily be stolen/destroyed. Thieves can't take your knowledge. End of story.
 
This has been a very informative thread for me so thanx to those of you who contributed info. I guess I better start looking for a new set of wheels.
 
As long as he doesn't care about the lose of a few ponies, it should be fine. :)

That doesn't bother him one bit, Scott. He's just happy to be getting the car and the rims along with it. I really wanted to do something nice for my dad, so I got him a few other things from the junkyard to go along with the car. However, this is not my thread so the details will have to be posted elsewhere. haha

This has been a very informative thread for me so thanx to those of you who contributed info. I guess I better start looking for a new set of wheels.

Indeed it has been. Best of luck to you, wikedeye. :thumbsup:
 
Just got my rear disc conversion...after I get the rotors I will be nearly rid of my bad brake problems. Just have to order the front brakes next week and I will be able to stop.
 
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