LOL... While I did go to 18's my actual overall diameter with tires is slightly taller and wider than stock. While technically a smaller overall diameter would turn more turns per mile only the rear axle bearings are going to benefit from less turns but the bigger heavier wheels and tires would negate the benefit. Crap, I can't believe I am getting sucked into this rediculous thread!

 

Yep, same point I made 6 posts up.

 

Lantana, go start your car and go for a drive......... the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round........

 

It was a slow day with the V8 conversion so I guess that is why I let myself get sucked into this thread.

 

ok, now I will throw a wrench at this...if you wanted to purposely, pay attn Lantana, a question is coming your way in the near future, change your rear gear ratio to a higher #, then you would go with a smaller rim size, and tire size, spinning your wheel more revolutions, thus increasing gear ratio, to maybe 3.55 over the 3.07 in the srt6...but prolly wouldn't be more than 3.27 like what is in the limited...so, if drag racing, a smaller rim size and slick is preferred...now I will ask Lantana my question, but not on here...lol

 

That would be too cool. If Lanatna did that his commute would then only feel like 16.7 miles.

 

PM sent back

 

Lol, why are we even still talking about this!?

 

I knew this was going to be good when I couldn't make sense of the title .

 

I thought you were "Jetsons" son, you know ...... the space cadet.

 

i didnt want to start another thread, another theory that i had with the staggerd rims was that. maybe the reason for different size rims was so that when someone had to slam on their breaks say 60mph to 0. while pressing on the breaks the nose of the car would dip down creating some sort of down force. or even applying the force to the front breaks more then the rear breaks. what were the ferrari engineers thinking with the staggered rims i would think it would have something to do with the breaks right. please enlighten me on this subject and if its unclear what im trying to say i will get into it further

 

Some of the best ferrari cars ever none have staggard rims.. just width and that is for bigger contact patch..
Ferrari FXX - Supercars.net
Ferrari F430 - Supercars.net
Ferrari F40 - Supercars.net

 

Okay, first thing's first, and I just can't help it anymore:

Brakes are the components of the car you use whenever you step on the brake pedal, when you want the car to either slow down, or stop.

Breaking is something that you DON'T want your car to ever do, regardless of which pedal you apply pressure to, and especially not what you want to have happen when you actually just wanted to slow the car down. Think about it for a moment, would you rather have a car that brakes every time you step on the pedal, or a car that breaks every time you step on that same pedal?

Enough of that, on to your confusing question:

No, you're way off base.

The front of the car will always nose dive when the brakes are applied heavily.
This is a combination of vehicle weight transferring from the resting state that the car is in when cruising at a steady speed to the front suspension which is then being loaded, and compressed from the weight transfer. Simple physics.

The softer the front spring are on the car, the more the nose will dive under braking, until the full travel of the suspension is reached, either by a bump stop in the suspension coming in contact with another piece of the suspension, or when the shock/strut assembly hits its limiter internally.

You can actually firm up the suspension to the point that there is no front end dive on heavy braking, but then your tires will have to absorb the loading entirely by themselves, causing them to wear out considerably quicker.

Staggered rims (ie - the fronts being 18 inch and the rears being 19 inch on the Crossfire), has nothing to do with braking dynamics, suspension geometry, or anything else performance oriented. It all has to do with styling.

If it was performance oriented, why do the Mercedes SLK cars, which are virtual twins, have same wheel diameters in the front and the back?

Now, if you were actually thinking about the width of the rims and the tires, that is a performance concern. The wider rear wheels and tires are placed at the rear of the car to ensure that the maximum amount of traction can be gained when the car is accelerating. The more power the engine forces into the rear tires, the wider the rear tires need to be in able to convert the force of the engine into rolling momentum.

Ever seen a late 60's Firebird with the HO 455 engine and its tiny rear tires try to get the power to the ground from a standing start? The tires just light up like a match in a forest fire. Now, you put some wide sticky radials on the back of that car, and the 0-60 time of that car drops dramatically.

The front tires are kept thinner to require less effort in turning the steering wheel, and to allow crisper response to steering inputs. A front tire that is too wide gives a heavier, more sluggish steering feel, and resists changing directions. It does, however, allow for increased braking performance (ie - shorter stopping distances).

But its not all about the tire sizes.
All the rest of the components on the car determines how the car will perform, ultimately.

My Boxster rides on the same width tires front and rear as the Crossfire does.
The two cars feel entirely different from the driver and passenger's seats.
From the steering wheel to the brake pedal, the two cars respond entirely differently to identical inputs.

And thats something to think about when you have two cars that are fairly close in their major stats:

Wheelbase - Boxster - 95.1 - Crossfire - 94.5
Front Track - Boxster - 56.9 - Crossfire - 58.8
Rear Track - Boxster - 59.4 - Crossfire - 59.1

Weight is a major consideration, though.
Boxster weighs in at 2822 lbs, while the Crossfire tips the scales at 3140 lbs.

Lets not even throw in the front to rear weight bias, as that will just blow your mind.

So, for vehicle performance dynamics, there's a lot more to it than just sticking 18 inch wheels up front, and 19 inch wheels in the rear.

BC.

 

I can't believe i just read this thread.........

 

we should also address the differences between "your" and "you're," "loose" and "lose," "here" and "hear," and "there" and "their."

 

Nice write-up, Bladecutter. Thanks for your time.

 

I read this thread after my normal friday night libations. Hope my head doesn't explode.

 

This guy is good, he has managed to run this thread to nearly forty answers and everyone just keeps biting.
This is the end of November 30th not April 1st, way up the thread I said you should read the rest of his/her posts to get the message. Read some of these and you will see the way the posts go. I jokingly called him a space cadet and no one blinked, not even him (her?) The best was the 2x4's and plywood to make a hardtop for a roadster, priceless. Lets face it this guy (gal) wins hands down.
Come out, come out whoever you are.
BOO!

 

"A mind is a terrible thing to waste."

....Dan Quayle