Wheels and Tachometer

[Deshi Basara]

Can you explain to me a bit more of the side wall flex thing because I don't really know anything about it. I am sticking with the little stuff for now like the strut bar, sway, short shifters, small intake, rims (16 or 15 idk yet because I want comfort), suspensions, breaks and tachometer. I'm guessing I'll be spending at least 1500 for all of it. Also, I have a kayak that I want my yaris to carry..lol so yea

[eTiMaGo]

Originally Posted by Deshi Basara

Can you explain to me a bit more of the side wall flex thing because I don't really know anything about it.

The sidewall is the "height" of the rubber, basically. What a lot of people don't realize is that the tires are actually the very first shock absorber of your car, they will bend (flex) when hitting small rocks, imperfections in the road, etc, before your springs have time to react.

When you change to bigger wheels, it is best to keep the outside diameter of the tire as close as possible to the original wheel and tire. So, this means fitting tires with a shorter sidewall.

So, by having a shorter sidewall, you will have less flexibility in absorbing small shocks, and more vibration thus makes it to the car's body and its occupants. When you go from 15" to 17" wheels, you lose 1 inch of sidewall. With 18" or larger wheels, you end up with barely an inch of sidewall, and you end up really feeling every bump in the road!

With 15" (or smaller, people have managed to fit wheels as small as 13"!), you have more of a "cushion" to ride on.

16" wheels are a good compromise between good looks and comfort, as Kimona mentioned.