15"/16" Wheels, favorite tires, Speedo/Odometer calibration

[MrMazda92]

So, I'm finally thinking about my wheels and tires.

First question: Wheels.

From a pure handling perspective, would you say(from your own personal experiences please, I've read all the theoretical opinions I can handle in this lifetime) whether 15" wheels or 16" wheels(with narrower sidewalls to compensate for diameter of wheels) handle better? The application I'm leaning towards is primarily street use, with windy roads and the potential for an occasional autoX event. I live in the city, so street use is a given. I often drive in the country, so wide/sweeping curves are common in my chosen routes. I want to autoX later on, after finishing my car. Also, I have the stock '92 15" Wheels currently.

Second question: Tires.

The tires that came with my car are Hankooks, they've treated me very well and I have had few complaints, other than an odd wear pattern on the fronts(possibly my driving, too many variables to tell).
They have been good in rain, shine, hail(haven't driven in snow, but hail is worse so bleh).
Anybody have personal favorites? Please state why or why not, thanks!

Third Question: Speedo/Odometer Calibration.

Title pretty much says it all, but can the gauges be calibrated for use with different tires/wheels fairly easily?

Thanks everyone, sorry it wasn't more concise.

[MrMazda92]

Does anybody have any input?

Thanks again!

[onlytrueromeo]

Lightweight wheels will be the best performance upgrade besides moving away from all weather tires and going to summer only / winter only tires. Seriously.

15/16 I think is more of a "looks" thing, there are pros/cons to both. A 15" wheel will not really have too much sidewall flex with a well designed tire. It will also weigh less than a 16" wheel, and the "smaller tire" is not necessarily lighter, in fact it could be heavier to compensate for smaller sidewall, etc.

That said, I think I would choose 16" wheels for the look. Pick ur poison on styling, but I'd avoid anything chrome like the plague and would get a 7-8" wheel with 35-38ish offset.


Currently I have Yokohama S. Drives on my car and love them. Confidence in corners and in wet weather is through the roof. The rain channels work terrifically. For winters I have blizzacks for the front and some general snows for the rear.


Use a tire size calculator and get the right size tire and you won't have any problems w/ the speedo. Also, for autocross - if it's 1-2 times a year or something, summers tires will do fine. If you plan to get into it more, on a weekly or biweekly basis, a set of rims w/ racing tires will be more fun and cost effective in the long run, since racing will certainly destroy your street tires.


Again, tires are probably the best performance upgrade besides an engine swap.

[wytbishop]

I find that my car has a noticeably nicer ride on 15's than 16's. In order to make the tire keep its shape with a smaller sidewall that have to add a lot of material to the carcass of the tire and it makes them stiffer and heavier. However, compared to a 17" wheel it's not so bad and well worth the trade off for the improved handling.

16's are the way to go becuase they look better, especially with a nice multispoke wheel, and they handle better. The tires will be a little heavier but if you get yoruself a really nice light rim you can offset the added weight of the tire. Even if you can't afford a light rim, it's not that bad with 16's. 17's the weight is more of an issue.

[MrMazda92]

@onlytrueromeo
Thanks for the tips! Do summer/winter tires make THAT big of a difference? I'll look into it, thanks a bunch.
I am leaning more towards a 16" wheel as it seems a good balance of comfort and handling. I'm anti-chrome on anything that wasn't chrome equipped to begin with. It ruins the look in my opinion, like a 3 foot tall spoiler would.

I'll start looking for some nice wheels, as my tires probably have about 2-3 months of life left.

Oh awesome, thanks for the tip on the calculator too! I figured it would be more fine tuning of the speedo(idk much about that myself), I guess there is enough variation between tires/wheels that I can get almost exactly the same results then.

I'm on a tight budget; however I believe in doing it once and doing it right. I'll wait for the right wheels and the right deal, thanks again!

@wytbishop
I am concerned as far as the comfort factor goes, there are enough bumpy roads around here that any reduction in tire diameter will likely be uncomfortable to say the least.

I do like the look of a larger rim, I need to find a way to test drive a 16" lol. I'll see if any of my local friends have anything close.

Thanks for the replies guys!!

[onlytrueromeo]

Summer/Winter tires DO make that big of a difference. Better acceleration, better stopping, better turning..the only downside is cost. 2 Sets of tires will inevitably cost more than 1 set, and if you don't have a 2nd set of rims, you will have to pay to switch them over every season.

Now there is a flip side as well - if you're looking into getting a set of "rims" then throw the summer tires on those, and winters on 14" steelies or w/e stock rim you have. Wire tires in the summer, and skinny tires in the winter will keep you happy. Also with 2 sets of tires, they will last longer than a set of all seasons.

I don't know how much snow you get in Oregon or how much driving you plan to do in snow. If the amount of snow/ice is little to none, get cheap all weathers for the winter. You won't need the snow tread and high wear rate that most snow tires come with.

I will never go back to all weathers for winter driving. There is no comparison on snow/ice than a good set of winter tires.

[wytbishop]

I will never go back to all weathers for winter driving. There is no comparison on snow/ice than a good set of winter tires.

Quoted for truth.

Up here, winter tires are not really optional.

[RS_OBD'oh_2]

Speedo/Odometer Calibration.

Title pretty much says it all, but can the gauges be calibrated for use with different tires/wheels fairly easily?

No one does this. It was a topic about a month ago. When you get a lager rim, you reduce the profile of the tire. It evens out. If you go to any tire shop, they will do this for you.

[_-Night-Shade-_]

There are a lot of things to consider. In the end it all depends on your application and even then it will come down to personal preference on a lot of things.

I'll start with tires first. Unless you've got racing compounds, tires in the 50-series aren't too stiff and will have sidewall flex when you do hard cornering. For something like autocross you'll find you have to run rediculous air pressures (like 50 psi) just to have them hold their form, or else you'll get extra body roll. Lower profile tires will help with this, and although they have thicker sidewalls they will also contain less compressed air because of their size, so I wouldn't say weight is an issue. Technically ride quality IS affected since low-profile tires don't absorb as much impact but suspension plays a greater role in that.
As for rims, obviously you'll need to go more than 15" if you want lower profile tires. In any case you want a lightweight rim but the problem is that the larger you go, the more they tend to weigh. But it's not all that simple. It also depends on how the weight is distributed. If more of the mass is on the outside, it's actually going to be harder to accelerate the wheel. If you have a 16" rim/tire and a 17" rim/tire and they have the same total diameter and weigh the same, chances are the 16" will perform better just because of the weight distribution (in an extreme case it's even possible for a smaller, heavier rim to be better than a larger, lighter rim). This is why I currently want to switch from my 17s to 16s (that, and there are more tire choices).

[MrMazda92]

Summer/Winter tires DO make that big of a difference. Better acceleration, better stopping, better turning..the only downside is cost. 2 Sets of tires will inevitably cost more than 1 set, and if you don't have a 2nd set of rims, you will have to pay to switch them over every season.

Now there is a flip side as well - if you're looking into getting a set of "rims" then throw the summer tires on those, and winters on 14" steelies or w/e stock rim you have. Wire tires in the summer, and skinny tires in the winter will keep you happy. Also with 2 sets of tires, they will last longer than a set of all seasons.

I don't know how much snow you get in Oregon or how much driving you plan to do in snow. If the amount of snow/ice is little to none, get cheap all weathers for the winter. You won't need the snow tread and high wear rate that most snow tires come with.

I will never go back to all weathers for winter driving. There is no comparison on snow/ice than a good set of winter tires.

I'll start looking immediately. Thanks! I'll keep my stock alloys for winter, as they're curb-rashed from the PO. I'm going to hold out for some Enkei RPF1s. Used, new, not picky. Just have to be in decent shape. Looks aren't as important as performance, as long as they aren't fluorescent.

There are a lot of things to consider. In the end it all depends on your application and even then it will come down to personal preference on a lot of things.

I'll start with tires first. Unless you've got racing compounds, tires in the 50-series aren't too stiff and will have sidewall flex when you do hard cornering. For something like autocross you'll find you have to run rediculous air pressures (like 50 psi) just to have them hold their form, or else you'll get extra body roll. Lower profile tires will help with this, and although they have thicker sidewalls they will also contain less compressed air because of their size, so I wouldn't say weight is an issue. Technically ride quality IS affected since low-profile tires don't absorb as much impact but suspension plays a greater role in that.
As for rims, obviously you'll need to go more than 15" if you want lower profile tires. In any case you want a lightweight rim but the problem is that the larger you go, the more they tend to weigh. But it's not all that simple. It also depends on how the weight is distributed. If more of the mass is on the outside, it's actually going to be harder to accelerate the wheel. If you have a 16" rim/tire and a 17" rim/tire and they have the same total diameter and weigh the same, chances are the 16" will perform better just because of the weight distribution (in an extreme case it's even possible for a smaller, heavier rim to be better than a larger, lighter rim). This is why I currently want to switch from my 17s to 16s (that, and there are more tire choices).

I'll keep that in mind, thanks! The 15" Enkei's I mentioned above appeal greatly to me for multiple reasons. I'm going to keep my eyes open for a set. Thanks a bunch!

[onlytrueromeo]

You probably just picked the best wheels you could have, but they're not cheap! They come in both 15" and 16".

Good luck!

[MrMazda92]

Thanks =)

I'll wait for the right deal, or enough savings to justify the expense.

[RedAutobotMX3]

I'm definitely looking at this exact same issue with my build. I'm settled on the Enkei RPF1's in black, as their reputable, super light, match the stock enkei's i have, and are the EXACT shape i want(6 dual spoke flat centered). My problem is weighing the options of $$ vs. size, in both the wheel and tire areas. Im leaning towards 15" with either a 195/50/15 Fuzion to keep costs minimal or keeping stock width and trying the Yoko S. Drives in 205-50-15.

Cheapest combo would be under 1200 shipped, mounted and balanced from tire rack; affording me some room to buy either wheel spacers (H&R) or really keep lightweight and grab some RAYS engineering alloy lock/lugs.

The other side is the 16's with a 215/50/16 Dunlop or Kuhmo coming in at around 1400 shipped. This setup would more than likely mimic the setup i have now in weight. However, there certainly is a BLING factor in having the larger rims, as well as more room to see brake goodies (in the plans for the future) and would have higher resale value when possibly liquidating as compared to a smaller 15". And really, for the money, i could spend $20 and get the same wheel in 17's with possibly another $80 for tires in bigger size; digressing on that is the fact that i recently lowered the car, and dont believe 225's and 17's will fit in the wheel well, especially with my crappy roads.

Some pertinent info from Enkei's product catalog
Enkei RPF1 15x7" 35mm offset weighs 9.9lbs
16x7 35mm offset 13.7 lbs
17x7 43mm offset 14.6lbs

I usually believe in Go big or Go home, but in this instance, i think it might pay to go minimal and take the rewards.