Please explain wheel size differences.

"Bryan" > wrote:

>
>"Lanny Chambers" > wrote in message
...
>> In article >,
>> "Dustin" > wrote:
>>
>>> And they're right--few buyers of these cars know or care about
>> handling. They bought image, not performance.
>
>Yet the Corvette continues to outperform the Miata's handling despite our
>lovely car's nimbleness.

By what measures does it outperform the Miata's handling? "Handling"
does not have an objective definition as far as I know, so I wonder
what this means.

Leon

> Could we possibly be over-exaggerating the wheel
>issue here?

--
Leon van Dommelen Bozo, the White 96 Sebring Miata .)
http://www.dommelen.net/miata
EXIT THE INTERSTATES (Jamie Jensen)

In article >,
(Dave) wrote:

> I'd expect a shorter sidewall would require
> less thickness for a given spring rate and strength, thus lighter.

I'd expect the sidewall to be much thicker (and thus heavier), to reduce
the odds of bending wheels in potholes. Folks with 35- and 40-series
tires report plenty of bent rims anyway, but I guess it could be even
worse.

They also must be stiff enough not to roll under at all. I recently
heard of a kid with some cheap, flimsy bling tire rolling it under in an
autocross and actually catching the rim on the pavement. Cars have
flipped from that!

--
Lanny Chambers, St. Louis, USA
'94C
the alignment page:
http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html

In article >, says...

>I am not disagreeing, but why do corvettes and vipers run such large tires?
>To keep the Hp down on the ground? The miata's I have seen at the SCCA
>races usually run 14's, but with really wide rims and low profiles.

The bigger cars need bigger brakes. So you need bigger rims to allow
bigger brakes.
--------------
Alex