Team-BHP - Does Rim Width Affect Handling ?

guys,
does the rim size play any role ?
i.e does the size of the rim affect the handling in anyway.
every tire can be fitten on rims of different sizes.
for eg.the 155/65r13 of the wagonr vxi somes fitted on 4J rims.but since there is not much available in 4J sizes ,everyone goes for 5J or 5.5J.
will this affect performance in anyway.

satya

Upgrading from 4J to 5J gives you more choices in terms of tyre width. EG : the Vtec comes fitted with 5.5J X 14" rims, this is good for tyre width upto 205mm. Anything more than this will need a wider rim.

A wider contact patch will give you better grip while cornering and braking, but make sure the tyres aren't too broad, or else it might affect the suspenssion.

Shan2nu

SpeedSatya,

Well, the 4 and 5.5 that you speak of is the rim width in inches.

The way it goes is that every width tire has an ideal rim witdth to be mounted upon. You can afford to stray 0.5 of an inch each way without the consequences being too harsh.
But ideally the tires are designed for certain witdh rims.

To quote The Rim & Tire Bible >

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Too wide or too narrow - does it make a difference?

Given all the information above, you ought to know one last thing.
A rim that is too narrow in relation to the tyre width will allow the tyre to distort excessively sideways under fast cornering. On the other hand, unduly wide rims on an ordinary car tend to give rather a harsh ride because the sidewalls have not got enough curvature to make them flex over bumps and potholes. That's why there is a range of rim sizes for each tyre size in my Rimwidthulator above. Put a 185/65R14 tyre on a rim narrower than 5inches or wider than 6.5inches and suffer the consequences.

Cheers
R

It does upto a point - depends on the power and weight of the car. Have done some research and found that for a Honda Ciivic - anything more that 195mm is pointless in terms of improvement. For our roads, a plus size would be more than enough except in the case of a Baleno

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]anything more that 195mm is pointless in terms of improvement

That goes for the Vtec too, anything more than 195 will require the engine to be more powerful. Too broad a tyre, can hamper the performance of a car.

Shan2nu

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Shan2nu @ Nov. 21 2004,13:37)]That goes for the Vtec too,

Forgot to add, that anything applicable for Civics made between 92 till 99 is more or less applicable to City's of course there are variations but floorpan is based on this Civic

well to add a little bit of my own...a wider rim basically stretches the tyre a bit more than a narrower rim thereby increasing the footprint but lowering the height of they tyre so depending on the pwer your car throws out...like aa powerful car can go wider on the tyre and lower on the profile...i know a frriend who has a 7j rim with 185/55/15 on his esteem and it has a 40mm lowering kit on it...car handles like adream and no drop in power too..nor does it touch anywhere

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Rehaan @ Nov. 21 2004,03:39)]SpeedSatya,

To quote The Rim & Tire Bible >
?

according to this link a rim size of 4.5jx13 to 6jx13 is allowed.
so no probs *

.
thanx guys.the tire guy has been saved. *

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (nitroxx @ Nov. 26 2004,14:40)]YUP it does affect handling stick to a 5J n dont go too wild on tyre size either or your suspension will suffer a blow seeing road conditions:)

but i have a5.5j rim with 155/65r13.and according to the Neo site,a 5.5j is ok for the zen.
still,wat do u say.

hey guys...suggestions plz

I got a mpfi zen 2000 model
I recently got my tyres changed...upsize ones..from 145/80/12(MRF-zvts) to
165/65/13(B'STONE B350tubeless) with 4j stock zen carb rims(new)...
After the tyre change cornering grip has improved, steering has become light n very volatile and braking has becoming very ordinary infact scary at high speeds..:mad:

I'm in doubt if this is all because of 4j rim...as minimum of 4.5j rim is
recommended for 165size tyre..
Will this cause any problem to the suspension???

KP

yesterday when retunning from mangalore i hit a crater like pothole and my front left G3:( got torn ....my spare tire 165/60r13 is on steel 4j rims...so when i did change to the spare tire ...the handling was really scary .....the braking was wayward and so had to stick to 80 kph on my regular 160 kph stretches...

so i feel a correct rim size is very important when going for upsizes

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedsatya

Wow! That\'s bad. Exactly where is this potholu? I am taking the same route in 3 days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedsatya

so i feel a correct rim size is very important when going for upsizes

Agree completely. My 195/60 Yokos are on 6J and 165/65 Hankooks are on 5J.