Best/Worst OEM Wheels
Discussion
Sebastian Tombs said:
Has anyone mentioned Aston DB9 sportspack alloys yet? Just lovely!
The DB9 was my favourite car for a long, long time but I always thought it only ever looked right on the original wheels.
The slight lip on them from this angle always fit right with the sill/skirt line IMO.
They're probably quite old fashioned now, but I have always liked the OEM Jaguar 16" forged wheels made by BBS fitted to my old Sovereign.
P1120635-70 by *D*B*, on Flickr
And the Campagnolo wheels fitted by Maserati to the glorious Khamsin:
and one of my favourites also by Campagnolo, fitted by ISO to the Lele and Fidia:
P1120635-70 by *D*B*, on FlickrAnd the Campagnolo wheels fitted by Maserati to the glorious Khamsin:
and one of my favourites also by Campagnolo, fitted by ISO to the Lele and Fidia:
Matt-il77s said:
Never liked these on the Mondeo, 16" wheels just look far too small on such a big car
b]
I deliberately changed the standard 19" wheels on my X sport, which has the lowered, and stiffened suspension for 16" ones. They might not look quite as fashionable, in the current trend to massively over wheel cars but I care far more for ride, handling and acceleration.b]
These are 215/55 16 as against 235/40 19 as issued. The radius is smaller by just over 4%. 215/60 16 on this would actually match the larger wheel radius. This has the overall effect of improving the ride by a significant amount, with the far deeper more supple tyre walls.
Also it has the effect of slightly lowering the gearing improving the acceleration, theoretically it could increase MPG but for many reasons it won't, the lower gearing, allows me to potter in fifth at less than 1000 rpm on the daily, 30 mph, town commute, the 450 Nm of torque allows it do this. A higher gearing would need me to be in fourth raising the actual revs.
These wheels and tyres are 7.5 Kg lighter than the 19” ones, this is a very significant 30 Kg saving in unsprung weight.
It will be faster to accelerate in any gear and lowering the car relative to standard Mondeo’s and the standard X Sports, as the engines torque can spin these lighter wheels up much faster. Probably will increase the overall top speed as well, as the thinner tyres offer less wind resistance overall, as wheels and tyres are a major contributor to a cars aerodynamics, there is not much manufacturers can do to reduce wind resistance from the wheels.
What stops this car travelling faster is when it runs out of power in order to move more air out of the way and this is way short of peak revs. With less air to move it can achieve a higher speed.
On handling with the smaller tyre, the contact area is the same size as on the wider tyre as this is decided by weight and tyre pressure. The contact patch is a different shape though, being longer and thinner. Given a perfectly smooth road surface this tyre should start to lose grip earlier due to the bigger slip angle of the higher profile tyre and the fact the tyre will start to slide from the slimmer front of the contact patch. The wider contact patch of the bigger lower profile tyre will therefore hang on longer but will break away less progressively as it is a shorter contact patch. The driver gets more warning about reducing traction with the slimmer tyre.
It all presupposes a smooth surface though, on a bumpy ridged surface, the suspension will be able to keep the lighter wheels in contact with the road surface more readily, so through any particular corner you might well have an overall higher average traction than with the heavier more bouncy wheel.
The advantages of smaller, lighter wheels in a road car are so pronounced, it is surprising that fashion so overrules logic and utility.
Edited by Tigger2050 on Saturday 16th March 14:52
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