velohead66

I'm thinking of buying a 2nd set of 4 wheels for track day use only.
I'm currently running 16" Goodyear F1 Eagles for the road, but I want 17" Dunlop DZ03G for the track.

What would be the pros and cons ?
Any advice/comments appreaciated, thx.

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Generally, like for like you want as lower unsprung mass as possible, and 16" wheels / tyres would be lighter than the 17". But if a particular tyre isn't available then its not going to adversely affect the car going to 17", but its best to get as light a wheel as possible in your price range.

funnily enough I do the opposite to you, run 17" on the road (with 215/45 F1's) to get the rolling radius up a bit (and ride height for speed bumps) then run 16" wheels for track - currently 205/50 road tyres but I am looking at getting a 45 profile to reduce sidewall flex and lower the car a bit more.

velohead66

so do you notice a handling difference in the 17" vs 16" ?
I've been told the car will handle differently, but how much ?


And I presume, lightweight 17" wheels may actually weigh less (or the same) than the standard 5 spoke 16" gold wheels currently on the car (MY98).
Would that be right ?

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

I can't comment on the handling difference, yes there is one, but on track not only do I change wheels, but also tyres that will have an effect (different on limit characteristics) - not only that but I change ARB settings and damper settings, too many variables to comment solely on the wheels.

Yes indeed, some lightweight 17s are lighter than some 16s. There are a set of Kei 17" in the For Sale section if you're interested, not sure on their weight compared to OE 16's - but the MY00 OE 16 are the lightest OE wheels according to my research.

velohead66

Thanks for the info so far, but one last question.....

Given that you set up the car very differently for the track, the car must behave very differently on the track. And of course give a quicker lap time.

But the question is, can you feel the difference, and how would you sum it up, eg sharper turning, more/less over/understeer, more/less likely to spin at the limit etc ?

The reason for asking is that i've been told that the road setup should be as close to track setup. But this seems nonsense to me.
Surely it's better to have a sharper track setup, even if it requires a slightly modified driving style, eg more awareness that the limit for a spin will be a finer line, with less warning that a spin is about to happen.

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Basically i'd rattle my teeth out if my track settings were used on the road! In fact I've got softer springs than ideal (for track) since this car is my daily driver. But I try and keep the balance of the car the same regarding oversteer by increasing the ARB stiffness and hardening the dampers proportionally front and rear. Yes everything is sharper but for my setup its not a night and day change, IMO changing to a different make of track rubber is the most significant change to driver feedback regarding on limit handling.