Did you miss that word in my statement? nope. Got it. Read it several times I didn't say the bigger wheel tire combo would be the same, I just said with the increase in wheel diameter you can't just directly add the additional weight of the wheel. Why not?, both size tires weight 21 lbs and are the same diameter -within 2/10th inch or 1%. The 2.5 lbs difference is from wheel weight There is a SMALL reduction in tire weight that goes with it. 21 lbs is 21 lbs Rubber is less dense than aluminum but steel belts aren't. Same diameter would mean same circumference which would mead the same length/ weight of steel belt, right?
Otherwise, Agreed. Gets back to my "just big enough to clear your caliper'... or what rules dictate. Years ago I bought some 16" ROHs from a World Challenge team when rule change mandated 17" rims. They finally gave up the series because bigger wheels meant other teams were using bigger brakes. Couldn't afford to keep up.
Bigger brakes, bigger wheels, BUT if you still have standard Mustang brakes, 17's clear and can have less rotational mass which is a good thing.
Economicswise, if you have 18 rims and can get the tires used AND cheap, of course, go for it.
But if rules allow shorter, physics (and economics) sez that's the way to go.
Yeah, for some reason I was thinking about belts being in the sidewall:??: Sorry about the brain fart:burn: Last tire I cut apart I remembered the steel cable in the bead and it made me think stupid:bash:
There are arguements about 17/18 but it really depends on what you want to do, how fast you want to go and how much money you want to spend doing it. I have access to Continental scrubs so I chose to go with 18" wheels because I get the tires cheap. I'm not that worried about the performance hit of an extra 10 pounds since I'm not actually racing anyone anyways.
EDIT: And because the Continental scrubs are so much more sticky than the previous tires I've ran, I'm actually faster anyways
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