Does wheel size effect performance?

[Biggie™]

Originally Posted by Turbo&Auto

In drag racing, smaller is better to get the best accel. For road racing there needs to be a comprimise, you cant run 13's and a 70 or 80 series tire and expect it to handle good. You can run 15's with a 50 series or 16's with a 45 on it.

Why in the hell would you run a 70 series on anything? And in road racing it works the same way... The REAL compromise come from brake size, when you run huge brakes you need bigger wheels. And until you throw some race pads on your Yaris and run a few hot laps, you wont have much useful information on needed brake upgrades.

Anyway... You can get a sweet 225/45-13, they are short, lowering your center of gravity and reducing your gearing, improving acceleration. They are also very light, you can get 13" rims in the 8 pound range. This also improves acceleration even more and reduces unsprung weight, improving handling. There is a reason race cars capable of running 13" wheels still do.