Big Island this year for us - Lahaina was too disappointing a couple of years ago - way overrated and commercial. Not a good restaurant in the area save Burgers in Paridise - even the Ruth Chris's sucked. Moulaki - was the place to be last year. Mahalo!

 

Yes, but the weight will be more concentrated outwards with the 19" because the aluminum alloy of the wheel is generally a lot more dense than the tire rubber it replaces. (assuming the same overall profile/diameter)

You have to do an radial integral, it's not as simple as overall weight x overall radius^2 or something.

 

Only the outer diameter of the tire will be the same. Even for 18" and 19" wheels of the identical weight, the distribution of the 19" rim's weight farther from the center (i.e. more towards the periphery) will increase it's rotational inertia and make it more reluctant to accelerate or decelerate - it's basic physics just like Clayman said.

So looking at it from a pure investment return point of view you are spending a small fortune to actually slightly diminish the car's performance in exchange for that all important street cred. Having said that, I think that my car would look much better with those diamond black BBS's.

Tonger

All hat and no cattle...

 

yep, let me just get my wallet.

 

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...ferrerid=43587

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...ferrerid=43587

 

Lol - yeah, Lahaina is tourist hell. It's only good for a few hours of bumming around. My family has a house in Kihei and I get bored to tears after a few days there (unless the surf is going off, of course!)
Three best parts of Maui:
1. Road to Hana (good 1-day adventure)
2. Watch sunrise from Haleakala Volcano and eat breakfast at one of the small town up-country restaurants
3. snorkeling at turtle preservation area on Kihei side.
4. secret hike over lava flow to giant fish pools and ocean (past Waialea resort area near end of main road)

Moloka'i is always awesome

Big Island has such diverse scenery- From black sand beaches to rolling meadow-hilled ranchlands to pine-treed mountains. Oh yeah, and active volcanos up at Kilauea. Love it!
Check out the secret green sand beach on the south point. It is a crescent shaped beach that was once a volcanic cindercone. It spit out green emerald like minerals and the beach looks like it's covered with emeralds. 1hr hike or off-road it with a jeep.
Any of the locals can tell you where it is once you're up in the south point area of the island.

I'm from Oahu myself- I like that island the best. Good blend of paradise and commerce, and good surf all year around.

~aloha

 

Great links!!

 

+1 on the great posts and links. Based on the thread as a whole, I am going to put off a wheel change, for now, and focus on my suspension. I think this may be a first. This discussion board has actually saved me from spending money (at least for a little while) instead of leading to an additional upgrade or Mod.

 

no. actually a better try that you think. if you had read my post more closely before making a smart alec comment you would have seen that i only spoke about the barrel of the wheel and specifically said to disregard the tire. the question that started the thread was about *wheel* size. and, my math was indeed correct.

the overall diameter of the tire should not change, although it usually does by a small percentage, when going plus one.

 

yea i mean sure the metal part does move out.. more metal, less rubber.

but the visual improvement of the 19s far overshadows any thousandths of a second advantage you may have by going with lighter wheels. this is clear everytime you look at the car or your friend or your cousin or the stranger walking by.

game over

 

Ben,

could'nt agree with you more on the overall look of the car with 19" wheels (although I have seen some less than tasteful setups). In an attempt to stagger my mods, I decided my next mod would improve the overall driving experience. That said, every time I look at porsche with 19" wheels I can't help but think to myself that it just looks right. This mod will come just not now. Somthing to look forward too and since I dont track my CAB I can live with the slight reduction in performance.

erubin

 

i don't disagree. 19s look great. and, realistically only race drivers care about small fractions of a second.

but the dude was calling me out on my math and i can't let that slide. the math doesn't lie. I = M * R squared, he can go argue with isaac newton.

 

i would always do suspension first then wheels. i just happened to do just wheels since my car came with pss9s already installed (i bought it from a 6speed member a year ago). 19s look horrible if not lowered. i would in fact advise someone to stay with the factory 18s if they're going to be running 19s for a while at stock height. it's that bad.

enjoy the process.

 

i feel you. i think you and germany were just not understanding each other or something. hairsplit style, going with 19s does push the weight out more towards the edges (centrifugal force) than going with lighter, smaller 18s.

it comes down to what you value and being a practical guy, i like the practical/real nature of seeing the car looking so good on 19s than the satisfaction of knowing i'm rolling on lighter 18s because whenever i see a 996 on 19s, i'd likely be filled with envy. and honestly if that dude on 19s throttled it, my same car on 18s would not catch up ANYTIME SOON or handle any better... as if you're even winning some street trophy ... being faster or feeling faster is overshadowed by many many other factors.

now when you want the satisfaction of lowering your laptimes, sure, i'd most def stick on my stock 18s and put some sticky tires on it. for the street, though, no question go 19s... it's bananas.. peel back.

 

My initial interest was to understand the effect on driving dynamics and handling. When I made a similiar change to my Audi from 17' to 18" wheels the improvement in driving feel was dramatic. This was probably due in some part to the large initial wall profile and stiffer sidewall on the 18" tire.

I took a quick look at you math and agree it is correct. I believe the overall impact is also related to the percent weight change and the overall horsepower available. For example, the relative effect of increasing the size and rotating weight is greater for a bicycle than a 300 horsepower vehicle. It would be interesting to know if the resulting effect would even be perceptable.

I believe you would also need to know the distribution of the weigh of the wheel/tire to do an accurate analysis.

I will now put my pocket protector away and go home for the day.