BIGGER isn't always BETTER... (with wheels) 😮 | Downsizing in the name of performance

When it comes down to choosing a wheel for your car, there's no doubt that you probably want to choose the largest wheel that you possibly can because it makes it look super dope. We get it. We're right there with you. However, are there instances where choosing a wheel that's smaller, downsizing, could actually make sense and maybe even have some beneficial qualities? There are. Let's get into it. What's going on? I'm Scott with Konig, and today we're going to be talking about reasons you may want to downsize your wheels. That means go with a smaller diameter wheel that maybe came on your car or maybe that you're running on your car now. All right, so we're going to cover some of these in no apparent order, so there's no priority to this. However, these are some things that we have found, whether it be the racing community or just some common sense things about running wheels and tires that may make your life a little bit easier or have improved qualities when it comes down to choosing a smaller wheel package for your vehicle. The first one, obviously, is going to be tire size options, and that's because with the smaller wheels, you tend to have more of them. That means if you want to run something that's a little bit wider or a different compound, you tend to have some of these options that will be available in smaller sizes. Now, this isn't always true, but this certainly does hold true for a lot of different options, so it's something that you should consider, and we're going to get right into number two because it makes a lot of sense. This has to do with cost. See, if you're going to be running a smaller wheel and tire package, chances are the cost for these wheels and tires, they're going to be less, so if you're looking to work on a budget, this is something that you may want to consider. Now, as you know, we work a lot in the motorsport community, and that means a lot of road racers, and if you're going to be doing any road racing, you may want to consider going down on the size of the diameter that you're choosing for your vehicle. It's actually been shown many times that going with a smaller diameter wheel and a little bit larger of a tire can actually offer beneficial properties that can make your car faster. So in addition to the overall performance, we're looking at things like quicker acceleration, sharper turn-in, better braking response because obviously you're working with a lighter wheel and tire package generally if you're going down in size. So while I just talked about quicker acceleration, remember that we're talking about unsprung mass, so if we don't have to work so hard to turn that wheel and tire package, we're actually going to feel like the car is a little bit more peppy, but in addition to that, you may see some gains that make the car just overall a little quicker. Now a great example of this, if you want a real-world example, is actually a Speed Academy video where they actually had taken a Civic, one in 17x8, and the other one I think was in 15x8, and they went out and they ran these wheels on the track. This is a 15x7.5-inch Konig Hypergram 225-45-15 front and 205-50-15 rear. These are 17x8 plus 45 Konig Decagrams in their semi-matte black finish. Is it worth making the trade-off between lightness and a shorter tire, which is better for gearing or acceleration, versus a taller and heavier wheel and tire package that has a wider contact patch? If the tire, given all things created equal the best you can with two different diameters, could potentially show which one was faster, and the 15-inch wheel made it much quicker. Now, much quicker is relevant, but it was quicker. In addition to that, we have seen this happen time and time again with many of our racers that are out there, whether performing in grid life or global time attack or different things like that. They have used a smaller wheel and tire package to actually find their car to be quicker. Okay, so I'm going to throw a little disclaimer here because some people are going to argue with me down below in the comments. We've had videos where we've told you before about how some of our racers have run larger diameter in the front, smaller diameter in the back, and have found on a front-wheel drive platform that the car tends to have better turn-in and handling characteristics. This still holds true. However, you have to understand that these cars are performing at their limits, and if you have gotten to the limit, you may find that your setup has different nuances than the guy next to you. So, in most circumstances, I believe that going to a smaller wheel and tire package actually could help you be quicker. All right, so here's another reason that you may want to consider downsizing going to a smaller wheel and tire package, and that has to do with a sidewall. Because remember, if we're downsizing on the diameter of the wheel, we're keeping that same overall rolling diameter, and to do that, we're going to go with a tire that tends to be a little taller or a little bit meatier appearance-wise. Now, that can bring its own benefits, but this gets a little bit of nuance because of the fact that it does require a few other things to make it kind of all jive together. All right, so a meatier tire or running something that's a little bit taller, has some more cushion there, can offer a few different things. First off, ride quality. You're going to get a better ride quality. The car is going to feel a little smoother on the road. In addition to ride quality, we're also going to be looking at something that has to do with mechanical grip on uneven surfaces. Remember, that tire has more flex in it because it's not as stiff, right? So as we go over a surface that maybe has a little bit of terrain to it, now all of a sudden, that tire is going to be easier for it to kind of accommodate and kind of go into multiple areas of depth. And that potentially could give you some advantage, especially when it comes down to grip. Now, increased traction and braking, these are all things that the smaller, lighter tires can potentially do, especially if you're taking advantage to the cost savings and you're finding a tire that has a really good tire compound to be able to give you an advantage on grip. It kind of all goes together. This is something that really does seem to hold true more than not. Just thoughts. Now, if you want an example that you can kind of visualize, think about drag racing. You will see that on the power wheels, they're always running smaller diameter wheels than maybe on the non-power wheels. And that allows them to get a taller slick in there. Usually that comes with some air down, which allows the tire to kind of spread out, increase the contact patch, have some more adhesion to the ground. And no matter whether you're using it for drag racing or it's drift, where they're really working with some low air pressures, the idea is the same here. They're going to air down to be able to get that tire to kind of squeeze out and be able to really get as much contact patch down to the ground and have that mechanical grip that they're looking for. So again, this could help you with that, especially since you're going to have more sidewall in your package. All right. We're kind of rounding out our points here, but I will say I'm going to kind of go back to what I touched on just a few moments ago, where I said to you about the ride quality. Yep, your ride quality is going to increase. Trust me. If you're running a 20-inch wheel and you're at a 16-inch wheel, there's a huge difference. There's one more thing that having an extra cushion really does, and that is help you prevent wheel damage, and that's because that cushion of air that you've just increased when you go to a smaller wheel, it allows you to also help protect the wheel. That is what the cushion is between the wheel and the road, and that tire really does a good job of absorbing it. When you go to a lower-profile tire and you're compensating because you're going to a bigger wheel, so you need a smaller tire, now you have less cushion, and that cushion is what is going to keep you from having wheel damage. So if you find yourself in a situation, maybe your area, maybe your environment, maybe even just the roads that you see in your daily travels happen to be real rough, if you see yourself damaging wheels a lot, this is a good instance where downsizing may be beneficial to you and maybe even be beneficial to your pocketbook. All right, now before we get out of here, I do want to talk about one thing that I have not said and really is very important, and that has to do with brakes. Remember, a lot of these modern-day cars come with some pretty large brakes from the factory, and if you have a large brake or you've put on an aftermarket brake kit, before you go and downsize, work with a wheel and tire professional or contact a manufacturer like us where you can actually make sure that your wheel and tire package, if you downsize, will clear that big brake. That's a disclaimer. It's a really important disclaimer. I certainly wouldn't want to steer anybody in the wrong direction to the point where they get something that doesn't clear their brakes. Just one of those things. Remember, we're here for you. We're trying to help you out. We're trying to save you some ducats, but also keep you running right. So that's it for this one. Thanks for hanging out with us, and we will catch you on the next one.