About Wheels and Tires

One of the upgrades that I'm thinking about for the future is new wheels and tires. I'm particularly excited about this upgrade because new wheels can really change the way your car works and looks. It is by far the most important single upgrade you can make. It affects handleing and performance as well as cosmetics.

Weight: Wheel weight is extrememly important for both handling and performance. See also unsprung weight.

Size: Since the size of the wheel affects the weight it is important but it also affects the engine speed and handling of the car. A wheel is basically a gear for your car.

Tires: Since tires don't last forever it's important to consider price when determining what size tire, and therefore wheel, to purchase. For example 225/50R16 are $160 each and have a wheel diamter of 24.86 inches. A 225/45R17 are $176 each and have diameter of 24.92 inches. Also, a 225/35R18 are $218 each and have a diameter of 24.2. Also, the bigger tires weigh more and bigger wheels weigh more. The question is because the bigger tires have a lower profile do they handle better?

My Wheels (Subaru Impreza MY02 WRX): 16x6.5 16.5 lbs CAST

Wheels Under Consideration:

Volk CE28n 16x8 12.9lbs

Volk CE28n 17x9 14.8lbs

Volk TE37 17x8 16.3 lbs
Subaru Impreza MY04 STi 17x7.5 (BBS wheels) 16.5 lbs
Prodrive PFF7 18x8 21 lbs (Like looks not size or weight)

OZ Superleggaras 17x8 15.9 lbs CAST
OZ Ultraleggaras 17x8 17 lbs CAST

Sizes I'd Like:

16x8 or 9
17x8 or 9

Tire sizes for 16x7 inch rims:
225/50R16 approved for 6.0-8.0 (7.0 recommended)
225/45R16 approved for 7.0-8.5 (7.5 recommended)

Info on wheel weight
http://www.ssgti.net/tech/wheel.htm

Excellent points from car engineers:
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/eng99/eng99334.htm

Wheel weight "database":

www.wheelweights.net

Take the good and the bad

Good:
The first maintainance has been performed! I got a new (used) tire (Goodyear Eagle) with pretty good tread for $43 last week.

Bad:
When coming coming home from Hoodoo last Sunday I discovered my drivers side headlight is out.

Maintainance is neverending.

Driving Schools

I'm also interested in doing a driving school but haven't figured out which one I would like. Here are some of the ones that I've found.

Primitive Peformance Driving School $320 

http://www.writerguy.com/primitive/nwrallyschool.htm

Cascade Sports Car Club $200 (This is at PIR!)

http://www.cascadesportscarclub.org/training.asp?page=home

Overview

My efforts will consist of the following three major areas of work:

1.) Maintenance - these things need to be done if I am going to drive the car for twelve months or more.

• New Spark plugs
  
• Mirror
  
• Timing belt
  
• Fluids
  
• Tire
  
• Other tune up stuff
  

2.) Cosmetic - these fall into three sub-categories

- Priority - thse things need to done in the next twelve to 18 months

• Hood scoop paint
  
• Bumper dent
  
• Miscellaneous dings
  
• Fog light out
  
• Interior detail
  

Internal - these things need to done in the next two to three years

• Sound dampened
  
• Carputer
  
• Upgrade speakers and deck
  

- External - these things are mostly optional but should be done in the next two to three years.

• Wheels and tires*
  
• Front lip*
  
• Paint whole car
  
• Remove spoiler?
  
• Paint stock wheels
  
• Tint?
  
• Lower?*
  
• Paint side skirts and mirror base
  
• Remove spoiler?
  
• Remove hoodscoop

* could be considered performance

3.) Performance - these are mostly wants and a lot of research must be done to make sure they don't adversely affect reliability.

• Exhaust
  
• Reflash cpu
  
• Suspension
  
• pulley
  
• Fmic?

I'd also like to get a car cover for the summer time in the garage.

Why?

Instead of buying a new car I've decided that I want put the money into my WRX. I really like this car but it is in need of quite a bit of maintenance. This blog is simply a central repository for me to keep my ideas. 

My reasons for this are simply new cars are expensive, I like my car, and I enjoy working on my car (to a certain extent). For a new car I consider a BMW 128i, Audi A3, newer WRX wagon, or a Mini Cooper. The two door cars would be hard to justify with a newborn and a dog. The other cars aren't really that exciting to me. Either way all of the cars brand new are more than $25k so even if I spend $10k fixing up my car over the next five years I should come out ahead, especially after depreciation.