14" tires/wheels + Yaris = Vroom!

[posaunemeister]

I've been riding on 14" Civic steelies with 185/65/14 Goodyear tires for the past week and must say I'm so pleased with the size downgrade. My Yaris has so much more zip to it -- the acceleration is quick and smooth, and my manual is even more fun to drive -- and tight corner turns are a pieces of cake. Of course, there's less weight to each wheel, as well as faster RPMs. I just wish I had gone to 14" a long time ago. Right now, all I have is the NST underdrive pulley, a AEM drop-in filter and Piggies short-shifter. I'll be getting a Dynomax 17777 Super Turbo Muffler welded on in place of the stock muffler sometime tomorrow (just for that tasty sound and a freer upper end on the highway).

But yeah, I just wanted to share this with you all. Thanks for reading... haha.

[SailDesign]

That's how I felt when I had 205/45-16s on the car (and why I'll be going back when the snow tires come off)

[thebarber]

the only issue i found with 14's was the sidewall flex on hard cornering (or when i auto-x'd). it makes the car feel squirmy

however, the reduced weight is pretty great.

im on 14's for the winter (87 mr2 s/c wheels) with 185-65-14 snows....but the setup is quite noticeably heavier than my summer setup of 15" enkei rpf1's

as for the exhaust, i replaced from the resonator back when i did my exhaust....it REALLY opens up the top end. i initially had just an axleback muffler and didnt feel it did much more than make some noise (though it added a bit more power in the higher rpms)

[Viperoni]

I noticed the difference going from 37lb wheels (15x6.5 Drag DR-23 + 205/50/15 Hankook RS2) to my ~32lb winter wheels (14x5.5 Echo RS + 195/65/14 Bridgestone WS-50).

Now for the summer I've got 15x7 Motegi Traklite 2 + 225/45/15 Hankook RS2 and RS3 tires, which should be the same weight as the winter wheels, so we'll see how that handles :)

[thebarber]

with a bit of research, i see that my toyo's are 19.8lbs/tire and my rpf1's are 9.5lbs/wheel

i guess im looking at 29.3lbs/corner for summer

[Thirty-Nine]

I'd rock some 14s if i could get some good performance rubber in a 195mm size. That would, of course, mean I'd have to buy new wheels/tires, though. :-p