15 inch vs 17 inch performance

[RGM]

Yokohama ES 100 205/55 15 tires or ES 100 215/45 17 tires. I am more interested in perforamnce and not looks. Should I keep my stock alloy 15 inch rims and go with a 55 tire or buy 17 inch rims and get 45 tires. Is there much, if any, difference in handling performance. Car used strictly on street. No autoX.

[SuuPaSeDan]

Smaller and lighter rims and tires will always be better for performance. However, a 15'' rim may not be lighter than a a 17'' because of the weight of the tire. The stock rims are really heavy so if you really wanna go all out i recommend some SSR Competitions at 17x7.5 (14 lbs each) on some 225/35/R17 Pirelli 7000 Summers. That is the lighest wheel and tire combo you can buy, have room if you wanna upgrade your brakes and still look good. However you are looking at $3000.

[spaldam]

I use 15" wheel's and tires when racing. I've got K1 racing wheels, and BF-Goodrich DOT slicks. They are very much lighter then stock, and the over all diameter is smaller then stock, so I get an overall advantage with a lower final drive ratio.

[JaySong]

is kumho exsta 712 heavy tire?

[GT-S Celica]

ECSTA 711 215/40R17 - 18.5 lbs
ECSTA Supra 215/40R17 - 22.2 lbs
ECSTA MX 215/40R17 - 19.8 lbs

ECSTA 711 215/45R17 87H - 21.9 lbs
ECSTA Supra 215/45R17 87W - 23.0 lbs
ECSTA MX 215/45R17 87Y - 21.0 lbs

ECSTA V700 225/40R18 - 22.7 lbs
ECSTA Supra 225/40R18 - 25.4 lbs
ECSTA MX 225/40R18 - 22.0 lbs

[HilfigerCelica]

Stick with the 15s.

[erok]

I think a great compromise between looks and performance would be 225/45/16 tires on 16x7-8" wheels. You maintain stock overall diameter while increasing tire width and potentially reducing weight by using lighter wheels. Also the 225/45 series tire will ride and protect your wheels a little better than a 215/45 series tire.

[spaldam]

Stock tires are only 18lbs. I've found it hard to fine even 16's that are much less then that. The K1's I mentioned before are really light, and 15's work great for track use, but if you want something for every day use that's light, you'll want to go with 16's, but the K1's in 17's are still fairly light too.

[erok]

If you like the looks, 16 x 7.5" SSR Comps are available in silver, gunmetal and gold from the Tirerack. At around 14 pounds each and an inch wider than stock, you'd see a marked improvement in grip and slight improvements in braking, accelleration and ride comfort over the stock 16" wheels and tires. IMO using 225/45/16 tires with those wheels would be the best performing street set-up. Using 215/45/16 Falken Azenis Sport tires would slightly reduce the overall diameter and would probably offer the best street tire track performance at the expense of some comfort and the odometer and speedo being a little off.

Here's a link to the wheels:

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/DisplayWheel.jsp?wheelMake=SSR&wheelModel=Competition&wheelFinish=Gold+Painted

[spaldam]

They look like nice tires, but the K1's are half the price. How much do the 17x7.5 SSR Comps weigh? With something as wide as a 7.5, I'd think you'd want to stick with 225's, and 215's would be a bit skinny for the wheel, whouldn't thay. What kind of an offset would you want with a 7.5" wide tire, too? I'm actually looking at ASA LS5's that are also a lot less expensive, and 17x7's weight just as much as the stock 16's.

[Sups]

i think the 16 inch ssr comps are less than 14. 17x8 are like 14.4lbs i believe

[GT-S Celica]

r u sure the stock tires are 18lbs? i thought the stock 16" rims + tires weigh over 40lbs. plz correct me if i'm wrong...

[spaldam]

Stock Wheels are 18lbs, pluse what ever your tires are, probably around 22lbs, which would be a total of 40lbs, but we're just talking about the wheels/rims alone without the tires.

[ishido]

Flik Apex are 16x7 and are 15lbs flat. They are the black wheels in my sig. They are $150 each or a little less. You can find them at www.edgeracing.com I highly recommend getting individual pricing on the wheels, tires, and shipping vs. package pricing. PM me if u have any questions.

[DopeCelicaGT]

Damn so u all are saying that a car with 18's on it and 18 tires would weigh in over 50lbs. a piece!!?? damn I am rethinking my wheels and tire choices now!!

Justin

[spaldam]

Originally posted by DopeCelicaGT
Damn so u all are saying that a car with 18's on it and 18 tires would weigh in over 50lbs. a piece!!?? damn I am rethinking my wheels and tire choices now!!

Justin

Unless you want to spend a lot of money on some light weight 18's, but even then, with wheels and tires your looking at around 40lbs a peace (close to stock weight).

Personally I think 18's are too big for a celica.

[hellr]

SSR Comps in 16x8" are only 12 lb and the 17x8" are only 13 lb (a little less if you don't include the center cap). Some of the nicest looking light rims out there. 18" rims also in my opinion are too big for the Celica. 17" rims give the best look and are about as big as you can go w/o losing performance.

[spaldam]

Originally posted by ishido
Flik Apex are 16x7 and are 15lbs flat. They are the black wheels in my sig. They are $150 each or a little less. You can find them at www.edgeracing.com I highly recommend getting individual pricing on the wheels, tires, and shipping vs. package pricing. PM me if u have any questions.

But they don't come in 17s. Do you know how much the Flick Artic, Polar, and/or Wasp (if I can get it in silver) in a 17x7-5x100-ET35 wheels weight? If any are no more then stock 16s, then I'm thinking I'm interested in those. Or how about the Stilauto SR500
that are on sale for $154.

[spaldam]

I guess nobody knows how much the FLIK ARTIC-A's wieght?

I found these on Edge Racing's site, but I want to know how much they weight, and if there are any actual pictures of them.

FLIK ARTIC-A
17x7 5x100 ET35
Anthracite w/Polished Lip
PRICE $150.00

I'm also wanting them to stick out further then stock, so it'd be nice to know how that offset will line up with the fenders.

These also look interesting, but I really wish weight was a standard thing to list with a wheels specs:

FLIK POLAR
17x7.5 5x100 ET35
Silver w/Polished Lip
PRICE $174.00 special $139.00

Stilauto SR500
17x7 5x100 ET37
Anthracite
PRICE $192.00 special $154.00

Looking to buy some time this fall.