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teebes
11-05-2001, 11:15 PM
Yet another question http://www.newcelica.org/ubb/wink.gif man i've just been firing them lately hehe http://www.newcelica.org/ubb/smile.gif

What is the ideal rim size for the celica? Will I necessarily loose performance with 17" rims? even if they're as light as stock?
are smaller rims always better? would the ideal wheel be only one bolt at the the center, 1" of rim and just rubber?

I'm sure a lot of people will tell me that 15" is the best, because it's the smallest rim size that will fit the 7th gen, but... why do supras come with 17" stock? Why do a lot of sports cars (porsches, etc.) come with big rims as well.

The reason why I ask, if you care, is that I'm gonna want to buy good tires soon. I'll keep my Tantrums and Nittos (until they get worn) for daily driving, but I would slap on a second set of rims and really good racing tires for when I go road racing. But first I want to know whether it's worth selling / trading my stock 16" for 15", whether i'd be ok to just keep my 17" on all the time (cheaper tire wise and more convenient), and most importantly why.

thanks

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vvtlikick
11-06-2001, 05:43 AM
First off, you need big enough wheels to clear the brakes you're using. And performance cars have 11" brakes of bigger, so they use wheels 15" or bigger (My rule of thumb is at about a 4" difference, but tighter fits are possible). And I'd imagine a looser fit helps brake cooling, because there's more space for air.

But I think performance cars use big wheels for looks and because more high performance choices in wheels and tires.

There's more choice in large wheel size for rim widths and tires because that's where the demand is. Good luck finding 16&times;10 wheels for your Viper, or the 335/60-16 tires to go on them. But you can find 18&times;10 wheels and 335/40-18 tires (those numbers are pure speculation).

As for your wheel choice, the autocrossers here are much better equipped to comment on that. I think they'll tell you to get dedicated racing rims if you can.

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<FONT size="1"><FONT COLOR="GRAY">2000 TOYOTA CELICA GT-S 6 SPEED</FONT c></FONT s>