Hi ~ Guys ~

Just wondering if having a smaller wheel , will help to accelerate faster

than having 19 or 20" wheel . I mean if you are car does 700rwhp , I think

it wont really matter but, what is good for having a smaller wheel ?

I know that it gives you a better fuel economy , and buying tires are

cheaper since its smaller size .

Thank you and any input is appreciated.

Wheel size is not the determining factor. It will be overall weight of the wheels and tires, and if there are any changes in the overall circumference of wheel and tire combo.

Weight is the key! If your wheel combo is heavier, it will be slower!

the larger the diameter the wheel the more rotational resistance will hamper acceleration ...It’s called the radius of gyration, which is defined as the radius from the center point where you can theoretically imagine the entire mass of the rotating assembly being distributed for the purposes of calculating it’s energy, momentum…

Since the force, momentum… are all proportionate to the square of the radius, the amount of force required to accelerate your wheel assembly goes up exponentially as it’s radius of gyration increases.

Also, a smaller than stock rolling diameter of the driven wheels has the same effect as lowering the gearing of the car, which improves acceleration.

not 100% true ... it depends on where the weight is distributed on the wheel...

2 wheels of the same weight with one having 70% of the weight close to the hub will accelerate quicker than a wheel weighing the same except with 70% of its weight at the outer edge of the wheel...

simple physics

the further the weight of the wheel is from the hub, the more amplified that weight is.... take a 5lb weight and put it on a metal rod and hold it out in front of you with the weight 1 ft from you on the rod and then slide it 5 ft further away on the rod and see how much heavier it becomes..

same concept when going to larger wheels... you car has to do extra work to start the rotation of mass that is further away from the hub

Thank you so much for a lesson ! I learned a lot !!!

For performance 18" is the best and for look 20"
Sure the weight makes different but overall the diameter is more important.

gaspam, i realize that. I just wasn't going to type up a huge explanation. When people ask general questions like this on forums, they are just usually looking for a quick answer. If they wanted an all out answer, most would use a web search

Some people appreciate the one paragraph comment (reply) to a question. If you don't like it or think its too long it's only a click away to - MOVE ON.

+1000 ^ thanks

and i am still also looking for an answer for a noise coming from my dash that i posted in another thread with video and i would love a long or short answer, as i am stumped

Good thread. I have my stock 18's and I'm all about speed so this helps me a bit.

Thanks.

Alex

Stock 18s will absolutely make your car faster. My car hauled *** and broke loose everywhere on the 18s.

Yah, but my Titanium SL6519s look better than stock 18s

This is why I went with 18"s but with an extra half inch wider up front and full inch wider in the rear. Also the Forgestar F14's are a lot lighter in my configuration than the stock E63 Chrome heavy 18's that was OEM.

Yeah the AMG Style IV splits are heavy as lead...

The new AMG lightweight "option" rims look the bananas

Isn't it better to have a heavy rim with e63 ? Since is has so much power !

I think with forged rim ~ Car will power slide all over the place !!

As mentioned earlier it is about the rotational weight of the rim (assuming you keep the overall diameter more / less the same)....Most judge the rotational weight by the static weight and the stock rims are pretty heavy. If you bought a great rim (e.g. HRE) in an 18 or 19" and dropped your rotational mass by ~5lbs per rim, you should see an improvement. Now if you go bigger and wider and your rim and tire combo weigh more, then you will be slower in straight line performance.

NO....

As mentioned earlier it is about the rotational weight of the rim (assuming you keep the overall diameter more / less the same)....Most judge the rotational weight by the static weight and the stock rims are pretty heavy. If you bought a great rim (e.g. HRE) in an 18 or 19" and dropped your rotational mass by ~5lbs per rim, you should see an improvement. Now if you go bigger and wider and your rim and tire combo weigh more, then you will be slower in straight line performance.

Maybe, but my E63 came with the chrome option on the wheels, which made them WAYYYYY too heavy, and my front right ended up cracking. Instead of paying $1080 for the wheel and extra $400-600 to get it chromed, I picked up a full set of Forgestar F14's for $900 brand new made for my car from Forgestar!

Maybe the stock E63 wheel would be ok, but the chrome process I'm sure adds a lot of dumb weight you don't necessarily need. And because the other three are chrome I would have to buy all 4 new rims at $1080x4!!

Also, my tires weigh a little more now that I stuck 285/35's in the Rear. So it is right under the same weight as a normal E63 wheel without chroming and 265's. I also get the extra traction to not "power slide all over the place!"

how much extra traction did you notice going from 265 to 285 in the rear? I am thinking of going up to 285 next set of tires as i am now on 275's and they are a little better than the stock 265's i had but it still get a ton of traction blinky blinky all the time lol

$900 for F14 brand new set from Forgerstar ? good deal ! I am also looking to get a set with 285 rear tires. My 265 tires doesnt have enough traction, my blink until 60 -70MPH !

Well you guys have E55's so I'm sure your torque comes on a lot harder and lower in the RPMS which is what causes you to break traction.

I do have some problems with my ELM v2, and I can't really make it go any lower otherwise I will start burning off the corner of the tire with my rear fender. So the car is a bit angled toward the front lower and the rear at or near stock height.

The big difference in traction wasn't too crazy, but it did help me get away from the horrible 265 tire sizes we are offered that are way overpriced, like the Michelin PS2's on my stock wheels, those are horrible at launches, but very good in the twisties.

I ended up going with Toyo T1R's for a bit, until one blew on me around 12k in. Now i'm sitting on the Hankook Ventus RS3's and they aren't bad $$$ wise. I think the toyo's hook a bit better. But overall those 20mm's will and should help you get off the line without spinning them as hard as any 265 tire as there isn't many to choose from.

I'm going to slap on some Nitto NT-05's all around for my next tire. I just think the PS2's are overpriced and everyone gives them high praise! I only got 8k out of my rears on the PS2's and it's no fun to replace $300/ea tire.

im pretty sure that the taller rim and tire combo increases your rear gearing by increasing the total revolutions of the driveshaft for every one time the tires make a full revolution . hence it would give you some more out of the hole .or was it the other way around ?

dont forget its not rim height but total overall height that matters

Other way around...a smaller diameter tire will increase torque multiplication.