upgraded my wheels....performance thoughts

[Jcomnislash]

well, i changed my stock rims today to new 14" alloys...and i took it to the highway to see how it feels....and i'll tell u one thing, it feels wierd. Accleration has drop A LOT when i'm in 5th gear, and i can feel the car struggling. Also there seems to be A LOT more vibration now that theres a lot less rubber on the road (tires are toyo proxes..pretty thin compared to stock). The car does look better...duh!. Also, cornering is a lot tighter, i can actually feel the tires fight back, its not so smooth now.....the wider tires would definitly benefit from an engine with more horses for sure. Anyways, just thought i'd post my experience.....just wondering if anyone else noticed anything when they swapped their tires>>>>

[floydiancomplex]

By changing to larger wheels and tires you are increasing your rolling resistance and adding unsprung weight
your suspension now has to deal with. Also moving the edge of the rim 1" all directions increases centrifugal force
acting on the wheel. If you enlarged the overall diameter of the wheel and tire combo you have effectively
raised your gear ratios. All this amounts to going slower in straight acceleration. The plus side is the
handling benefits. Lower profile tires give you increased turn in and more responsive steering. Having a wider
contact patch will raise your dry cornering capacity and general road holding ability. The key here is
keeping up momentum, staying smooth. High revs and precise inputs will keep you going fast even if
your buddy's Geo now can now take you in the 1/4 mile. - Chris

[mattswabb]

what size did you switch to?

[Jcomnislash]

i went from stock to 195/45/14....and the tires are between 6 and 7 inches wide, as oppose to 4 1/2 wide for stock.

[muscle_Car1]

As said before the lack of "power" can be attributed to the increased rolling & aerodynamic resistance.

[Sho_tyme_psi]

As said before the lack of "power" can be attributed to the increased rolling & aerodynamic resistance.

What, we have the most aerodynamic cars going :lol:

[muscle_Car1]

:roll:
Wider tire = more frontal area = Increased aero drag.

FYI the drag coeffiecent of a 92 gl is .36
Which is the same as the 1st gen neon. We dont have much sqaure footage so the aero is less effected.

[Jcomnislash]

either way way...at least it looks nice...lol...actually i think i can drop the car like 1 1/2 inches now, i just need to either cut the springs (bad) or find really hard springs that are that small.

[Jcomnislash]

one more thing,,,,the car seems a lot noisier now...the rubber on the toyo's is a lot softer so u'd think it'd be quieter, but its not. Anyone else experience this?????

[Sleeper]

Brampton I see.....

I'm in Stratford Ont....

Nat form Waterloo is running your same tire size and he loves it...he does auto cross and has a BP swap....

Make sure you sign in to the list at the Canada East Section of the site...

What are your future plans for your car????

[muscle_Car1]

Yeah you do get more road noise with the toyo's

[Jcomnislash]

Brampton I see.....

I'm in Stratford Ont....

Nat form Waterloo is running your same tire size and he loves it...he does auto cross and has a BP swap....

Make sure you sign in to the list at the Canada East Section of the site...

What are your future plans for your car????

i wanna get a 1.6 in there hopefully, a little more power would be sweet. The b6 swap sounds doable, but i wouldnt do it by myself for sure. Depending upon the extra cash i have, i wanna make the little guy look nice and run well....and definitly get some sound insulation...the damn thing is LOUD now...lol

[SimonTuffGuy]

Lower it... It'll look 10x better with a set of 14's and those tires on.

[Jcomnislash]

Lower it... It'll look 10x better with a set of 14's and those tires on.

u had that orange festy right??? what suspension did u have on there the thing looked like it was 2mm off the ground...lol. I wanna lower mine for sure, but i'm limited in funds right now. How much would it cost to lower it (about 1 1/2 inches - 1 3/4) anyway??????

[Gforcefd]

he had air ride when it was that low, and after that he had a set of teins from FMS ($900 US dollars) I have the car now and just have hard lowering springs that take alot to get used to driving, my car is on 15's 195/50's though. I am going to lower it another inch once I get some camber bolts.