17" wheels

[ritch_w]

can anyone explain this;

took the 17"s off the galant as the ride was awful and they looked silly - 205/40/17 gives the wrong rolling diameter - need 215/45 or 225/45 tyres, and the gap between the tyre/wheel arch made the car look like it needed lowered (which it is.....)

so anyway I put them on the wifes spacestar and they looked very smart.
they are the correct diameter to replace the OE wheels/tyres - 195/55/15

now heres the bit, with the 17"s on the spacestar felt really crap low down (no power) and crap to drive before the boost kicked in (its DID 102bhp TDi) so i was looking at taking it mitsi for a re map / software update, if they did them (ford TDCi diesels seem to need software updates every week... ) anyway never got to do this as wifey said there was strange noises coming from the back when cornering so i swapped the OE alloys back.

so now with the OE 15" alloys the low grunt has returned!!! hows that work - the 17"s are exactly the same rolling diameter???

[enigma]

Its all about inertia!

the inertia of the 15" wheels is much less than that of the 17" ones as a greater proportion of the weight is closer to the pivot point. I imagine that she would experience a similar anomoly under braking as the higher inertia 17" wheels act as a bigger flywheel taking more effort to stop.

There is a reason that F1 cars have small lightweight rims

[Quail]

Yup! Its also the reason why (imo) 20" Chrome Spinners are teh gh3y!!

[Kieran]

So, assuming brembos aren't on the menu, a nice ultra-light set of 16s is good for the VR, right?

[Physician]

There is a reason that F1 cars have small lightweight rims

Yep, I believe they are a diminutive 13 inch

[enigma]

Yep, I believe they are a diminutive 13 inch

Yep they are tiny!