Are 18s bad for a FWD car intended for drag racing?

[GinNBoost]

I was just wondering if it's really really bad to have 18s on my FWD that I plan to run at the track. I've heard that 18s actually help because the weight reduces wheel spin but then I've read that having 18s and a low profile tire is a bad combination. Can anyone give mea little insight....I like my rims, but I also want my car to be quick. Thanks for the help.

 

[leakyfaucet]

The weight reduces wheelspin because it steals power. I don't see any other problems with running 18s.

 

[ELMACHOGERACHO]

those r prolly too heavy and robbin u of time. i would get some steel rims like the kind that u put hubcaps on and get performance tires on that. 16-17's would be quicker. small, wide rims and tires are better than big, thin rims and tires

 

[91TSiGuy]

The more sidewall you have with the tire, the better the traction you will get. A low profile tire will have a stiffer sidewall and cause the tire to break loose easier when getting on it. You plan to go to Island this Wednesday?

 

[Spidey]

Be prepared to wheelhop, I've run with the 18s at the track more than enough to know that they're useless at the strip. Even if you drop the tire pressure, you'll still hop, the tires are just too small.

 

[FiReBReTHa]

if anyone has any insight on 18s for AWD id like to hear, i didnt want to make a whole nother thread, but this was a VERY good topic that i was curious about as well.

 

[SpydermonGST]

got extra 4 wheels for sale if u want them...haha adam

 

[NDgsx]

18s on a FWD drag car are about as bad of an idea as locking R Kelly in a room full of 7th grade girls and a video camera. Yeah that bad

Get some 15s and put drag radials or slicks on them.

If you're not making a lot of power 18s will work ok on a AWD. My budy Matt runs consistent 1.7s on 18" neo gens.

 

[Cirus_93TSI]

the problem with 18s and drag racing, i people want to run low profile 225/35 tires. you need a minium of a 45 series tire to get enough sidewall flex for a good launch. this is the same reason whi the BFG G-force tires suck for drag racing, they have sidewall supports inside that greatly lessen sidewall flex. less is better for road racing and tight corners, more sidewall flex is better for launches and traction.

18s on a fwd might take away some wheelspin, but only because your taking off considerably slower and losing time in the 60 foot over your old size rims. spinning less doesnt nessicarily mean your running faster.
my buddy had a built shep trans, with lsd in his fwd. he has been running better times with my stock rims/tires i lent him, then he did on his 17s. and theres as much, of not more wheelspin. he spins halfway through second with the 16s, but his 60' on a stock turbo and crappy, cheap tires is around 2.0. so like i said, les wheelspin doesnt nessicarily mean better times

 

[TimG]

FWD drag car? Unless your tranny is built beefy, forget about it. Do your transmission a favor and get 45 series tires on 18"rims and build the pressure to 40psi. You won't wheelhop... but spin you will.

 

[UCSLugRacerX]

I was just wondering if it's really really bad to have 18s on my FWD that I plan to run at the track. I've heard that 18s actually help because the weight reduces wheel spin but then I've read that having 18s and a low profile tire is a bad combination. Can anyone give mea little insight....I like my rims, but I also want my car to be quick. Thanks for the help.

If you want to go fast in a straight line, then in no way should you be running 18" wheels. A wheel that size is actually going to DECREASE your acceleration. (Also, this depends on the height of the tire's sidewall.) What you should be looking for, are WIDER wheels, not TALLER wheels. With short, but wide tires, you'll have increased accelaration, and reduce wheelhop and wheel spin, because of the increased traction due to the contact patch of the tire, and by the reduced circumferance of the wheel/tire assembly.
For the front wheels, I suggest drag/race day tires sized: 245/60/15R. (For the back tires, find the lightest tires you can, because your rear wheels are merely being towed along.)

If you don't believe a word I'm saying, go look at Pro FWD drag race cars, and their applications. (most of them are running small wheel sizes, with wide tires.) Or go pick up a drag racing mechanics book, and read-up.


-Good luck!

 

[FiReBReTHa]

good post, just need more info for awd application. decent drag, but moreso autoX and corner raping.

 

[UCSLugRacerX]

good post, just need more info for awd application. decent drag, but moreso autoX and corner raping.

What is "corner raping?" In any case, there are FWD race car dynamics websites out there. But I'm sorry to break the bad news to you guys, but FWD is inferior to AWD, 4WD, or RWD. (That's why I left FWD Honda's.)

 

[97_GSXTC]

No one answered the question about 18s on a AWD. i'm new to the awd game and would greatly appreciate any info about AWD characteristics, launching, drag/street racing, tire usage, etc...

 

[eclipsedelt]

my friend has a GSX w/ 18 and he ran high 13

 

[UCSLugRacerX]

No one answered the question about 18s on a AWD. i'm new to the awd game and would greatly appreciate any info about AWD characteristics, launching, drag/street racing, tire usage, etc...

AWD race car characteristics is very complex and difficult to explain, considering all of the aspects involved such as weight distribution, front, center, and rear differntials, camber, toe, caster, body roll, shocks, springs, bushings, chassis stiffness, center of gravity, etc...etc...
Almost in every case, changing one aspect of the car's suspension, especially a crucial item such as wheel diameter, effects the entire suspension, and handleing characterists of the car.
For the short answer, in most cases, it is BAD :thumbdown if you run 18" bling bling wheels on your 1G or 2G, if your sole purpose is performance.

 

[FiReBReTHa]

thanks for answering.


for My usage, i will be modifying everything and anything neccesary, for ride looks, but in preference performance.

But If you correct and modify everything else as well, then are 18s detremential, like a lost cause, or can you make use of it

 

[NDgsx]

Like I already said Matt pulls 1.7s all day long on 18s.

 

[UCSLugRacerX]

Like I already said Matt pulls 1.7s all day long on 18s.

I fail to see how pulling 1.7s is a strong indication that running 18" wheels is a good idea. If ONLY going fast in a straight line is priority, and the rest of the suspension configuration is adjusted to accomodate 18" wheels, then yes, I suppose 18" is wheels are OK. BUT, this depends greatly on the set-up of the car, and still in most cases, it's better to run 17" or 16" wheels, because the engine, transmission, chassis configuration, as well as suspension configuration were originally designed to accomodate 16" wheels. Although slight increases or decreases of the overall wheel/tire assembly diameter will have minor effects on the car's performance, but upon moving away from ideal diameters, (for an exaggerated example, if I put 22" chrome rims on my GSX) then:

Turning radius would suffer,
Initial acceleration would suffer, (as well as changes in linear acceleration)
The suspension would HORRIBLY suffer, considering the arcing movement of the control arms, and shock/spring travel would be off
Also, with extremely short sidewall tires (to accomodate larger rim diameters), such as 30 series tires, I would have have very little sidewall compression and flex, to aid the suspension.

If this sounds like a bunch of BS, then look at Formula 1, wheel/tire assembly, or NASCAR race cars, or SCCA track cars, or JDM track race cars, or even drag cars for that matter. Very few, if ANY of these race cars, are running larger diameter wheel/tire assemblies than the original stock size.

---------------
And NDgsx, in regards to your friend Matt who pulls 1.7s with 18" wheels, this presents insufficient tangible evidence, because I could just say: "then he could be running a 200 shot Nitrous to spin his big 18's, and it wouldn't really matter what sized wheels he is running because of his immense HP." (IMO, use control variables, if you want to prove a point using data numbers.)
On another note, he could actually be running FASTER times, with SMALLER and wider wheels, with more sticky rubber.

 

[FiReBReTHa]

If this sounds like a bunch of BS,

heck no, your points that you say kick ass! Very insightful!!

i guess its best to keep it in this thread instead of making a new one.

like conceptually, 18s, Up'd sway bars, poly everything, Tein Coilover or Ground Control, Koni Yellows Adj, camber kit.

i cant think of what else i would need to have a good setup.