22-inch Wheels?

I don't like big wheels. There is not much rubber, so it is a stiffer ride. I can't help wondering if traction is affected (lessened) by the lack of give in the sidewalls.

 

In my experience the ride stiffness can vary substantially between different makes of the same size low profile tire but really gets hard with a run flat. Also my experience however that the run flats provide incredible traction upon acceleration but are more likely to contribute to wheel cracking. The 22 inch wheels have allowed me a bit more header clearance at the collector which is still just over 3 inches. Coilovers are also required to accommodate 22's especially to go 12 wide rears.

 

That makes sense, something has to give, either the sidewall, or the traction.

 

I miss taller sidewalls. I was told it would cost me 50 thousand bucks to set up a tire manufactory to make some of a size I liked, and I would have to order a container load or something, but in my opinion, a NASCAR-looking set of wheels and tires would be just PERFECT for our cars, especially now that NASCAR and F1 have both grown up to the point of using 18" wheels of an almost identical design as the 2015 Hellcat.

Center lock NASCAR wheels, anyone???

I would totally rock these if the 365-35-18 tires existed for street use. I see a hole in the market. Imagine everyone being able to run center-lock NASCAR or F1 wheels. I may start a separate thread on the benefits of reduced unsprung mass.

 

shorter sidewall = better handling .

 

Funny how Formula One used tall sidewalls until forced to change by FIA, and same with NASCAR tires.

Interesting how people who had all the money and influence they needed to get what tires they wanted despised the idea of going with 18" wheels.

The beauty of the taller sidewalls is that they allow the tread to stay in contact with the ground more as the tire has forces placed on it by acceleration, braking, and cornering.

Most noticeable with Top Fuel, but with F1, they had 13.5" wheels for decades, when they had actual competition and could have spec'd 24" wheels any time to "have better handling."

Too-short sidewalls do not allow as much of the tread to touch the ground as taller sidewalls.

Imagine the extremes: a rigid rubber roller with NO sidewall flex whatsoever. its contact patch will be a straight line from one edge to the other, or a balloon. The balloon will have FAR more contact patch.

The PROBLEM with older tall-sidewall tires was their lack of WIDTH, not the sidewall height. Also, since the tires were bias ply for many years, they deformed the already-narrow tread too much.

Tall-sidewall wide radials were used in Formula One up until they were forced to change by the FIA.

They also yield a better ride than shorter sidewalls.

The sharpest-handling cars in the universe, F1, had no complaint about their large sidewalls. We have been sold a lie about tire sidewall height, like with many things, such as perforated brake rotors, that ONLY work as intended with a "cooling caliper" of forced airflow ducted from a high-pressure zone on the car to blast 100-plus-mph airflow directly onto the brake rotor face directly after the caliper, force said heated air through the holes, then out the vents.

That is the only place where the perforated rotors are at their optimal utilization. I acknowledge that they allow the outgassing of pad material to escape from the face of the rotor, but so to slots, while weakening the rotor much less. Note: Porsche rotors for endurance racing had TINY holes in them, not the Swiss Cheese Effect holes that many rotors have in the automotive aftermarket.

F1 brakes never have perforations. The second big area where perforations help is when driving through deep pools of water that thoroughly drench the brakes. The perforations help allow the blanket of steam that tries to form between the pad and rotor to escape via the rotor cooling vents in the center.

BUT, as I said, the main use of them is with a customized cooling solution that takes advantage of the perforations maximally.