Quote:
Originally posted by md951
That was my thought. but with the 18in wheels,I notice a big improvement on handling at least on the street. This is why I am not sure which way to go. The big wheels are about 16lb more than the 16in wheels. Plus the weight of the spacers.
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handling on the street and autocross are different. the main advantage of smaller wheels is less rotational mass, which will give you quicker acceleration, which is very important in autocross. since (i'm assuming) you usually don't mash the gas down all the time on the street, you most likely wouldn't notice this difference.
bigger wheels would give you higher top speed (because they are taller), and possibly better cornering (because they are wider). the top speed probably won't be noticable in street driving, but the better cornering will.
it seems given identical cars with the only difference being wheel sizes, in autocross, the quicker-accelerating car with the smaller wheels will usually beat the better-cornering one with bigger wheels.
every competetive autocrosser i've ever met prefers smaller wheels with the widest, stickiest possible tires they can fit.