New 07 Yaris S need advice on 18's and springs

[OgDogg]

Originally Posted by Black Yaris

yes it would be, but some people are more interested in looks than fuel economy or ride quality

18's with 215/35 tires are nearly the same size as the stock 15's on this car. Having bigger rims will just improve cornering and looks. If you get a set of racing 18's you might even improve fuel economy. I'm going to test my mpg before/after when my 18's get here next week. I'll be surprised if I lose much efficiency. The look of the car will far outweigh any minor decreases in fuel efficiency if there is any. Not to mention those of us who slap 18's on a Yaris are probably doing things to increase engine output anyway. My question is why not put 18's on a Yaris? After more carefully looking over the specs and talking with other custom Yaris owners, I sort of regret not going with 19's and no lowering kit.

[Black Yaris]

Originally Posted by OgDogg

18's with 215/35 tires are nearly the same size as the stock 15's on this car. Having bigger rims will just improve cornering and looks. If you get a set of racing 18's you might even improve fuel economy. I'm going to test my mpg before/after when my 18's get here next week. I'll be surprised if I lose much efficiency. The look of the car will far outweigh any minor decreases in fuel efficiency if there is any. Not to mention those of us who slap 18's on a Yaris are probably doing things to increase engine output anyway. My question is why not put 18's on a Yaris? After more carefully looking over the specs and talking with other custom Yaris owners, I sort of regret not going with 19's and no lowering kit.

my question to you is, what are you on, and why ain't you sharing?
fact (1) is a 215/35 is slightly smaller than stock, to stay exactly stock diameter you would go with a 225-30-18....

fact (2) if you have a wheel, one in an 15 inch and one in 18 inch, exact same wheel only different sizes, the 18 will weigh more, unless you did find the one wheel manifacture that makes wheel out of a substance lighter than air, then I stand corrected, added weight decreases gas mileage

fact (3) a 225-50-15 will corner better than a 225-30-18, why you ask? side wall flex.... I will explain... To keep traction on the road during a high G turn the tire needs to flex to keep the contact patch to the road. A 225-30-18 has 1.5 inches less side wall than the 225-50-15 therefore has less flex in the sidewall, therefore can not corner as fast or as sharp as one with 225-50-15

Ask anyone who truely races they will tell you the same

16's on up on a Yaris, all show, no go

[graywolf_14]

Yea see I like the trd 18's other than the fact they are 18's. If they were 16-17's that would be sweet.

[cleong]

Originally Posted by Black Yaris

my question to you is, what are you on, and why ain't you sharing?
fact (1) is a 215/35 is slightly smaller than stock, to stay exactly stock diameter you would go with a 225-30-18....

fact (2) if you have a wheel, one in an 15 inch and one in 18 inch, exact same wheel only different sizes, the 18 will weigh more, unless you did find the one wheel manifacture that makes wheel out of a substance lighter than air, then I stand corrected, added weight decreases gas mileage

fact (3) a 225-50-15 will corner better than a 225-30-18, why you ask? side wall flex.... I will explain... To keep traction on the road during a high G turn the tire needs to flex to keep the contact patch to the road. A 225-30-18 has 1.5 inches less side wall than the 225-50-15 therefore has less flex in the sidewall, therefore can not corner as fast or as sharp as one with 225-50-15

Ask anyone who truely races they will tell you the same

16's on up on a Yaris, all show, no go

I agree with most points, except the point about sidewall flex. Most track cars run a good amount of negative camber to take tire flex and body roll into consideration. An optimally tuned track car (where I assume you will carry said high G turn speeds) would also have camber set to take into account the car's roll.

Saying that we'll run a higher aspect ratio to help increase the contact patch while cornering just means that you didn't have the camber set up to take that high G bend. It would flex to accomodate the roll...... up to a point.

Then it'd flop over.

A bigger rim means a car handles more precisely because there's less tire sidewall to flex. Which means that the contact patch is better maintained.

Running a footwear size more commonly seen on Porsches and Ferraris is stupid, I must say, but on the track, there are reasons to run big rims - to accomodate big brakes such as to run big brakes.

I use 195/55/15 V-rated tires, myself. I had the choice of going to 16 inch tires for just $50 more, but decided that I did not want to lose the fuel consumption nor labour the engine with more mass to turn. I got better rubber for the rims instead.

And to the threadstarter, if you are going to have to go with engine mods to gain the performance you've lost due to upsizing to 18 inch rims, you'd be right where you started, when the car was shod with 14 or 15 inch rims. A stock Yaris might beat you off the line, though it might not look good doing it. Performing those same mods on a Yaris with a set of lightweight 15s, or even stockies, would yield a true increase in performance and fuel efficiency.

And think of the small front disc rotor and brake looking so lost within the 18 inch rim, not to mention the drum-braked rear...... do you really want to show off drum-brakes?

[OgDogg]

Originally Posted by Black Yaris

my question to you is, what are you on, and why ain't you sharing?
fact (1) is a 215/35 is slightly smaller than stock, to stay exactly stock diameter you would go with a 225-30-18....

fact (2) if you have a wheel, one in an 15 inch and one in 18 inch, exact same wheel only different sizes, the 18 will weigh more, unless you did find the one wheel manifacture that makes wheel out of a substance lighter than air, then I stand corrected, added weight decreases gas mileage

fact (3) a 225-50-15 will corner better than a 225-30-18, why you ask? side wall flex.... I will explain... To keep traction on the road during a high G turn the tire needs to flex to keep the contact patch to the road. A 225-30-18 has 1.5 inches less side wall than the 225-50-15 therefore has less flex in the sidewall, therefore can not corner as fast or as sharp as one with 225-50-15

Ask anyone who truely races they will tell you the same

16's on up on a Yaris, all show, no go

My 18's on 215/35 have about a 1/2 inch more diameter then the stock 15's I have now. Basically, no difference. Also, the racing 18's I bought are slightly lighter then the stocks. I don't agree that you say handling decreases with a bigger rim. Anyone who's ever driven a car with 18's-20's on it will tell you that handling increases with a bigger rim. But that's just my take. I think big rims get a bad rep from racers... But like dude said. To each his own.

I guess I'm just used to seeing people who are 5'8" 150 pounds. Sorry to all the "heavyweights" out there. I had no idea there were so many of us 6'3" 210+ fools driving the Yaris.

[qpid]

Originally Posted by OgDogg

I guess I'm just used to seeing people who are 5'8" 150 pounds. Sorry to all the "heavyweights" out there. I had no idea there were so many of us 6'3" 210+ fools driving the Yaris.

<-6'3" 220lbs and my wife is almost 6'