An interesting side effect (no pun intended) of larger rims and tires, seldom discussed, is rotational inertia. One of the Canadian autosport type shows "Sports Car Revolution", did up a road racing Acura. When they fitting larger rims, and lower profile rubber, they stayed very close to stock rolling diameter. They found however, an 11 HP loss to the wheels when dyno testing. The reason? The larger rims and brakes added more mass, farther from the center of rotation, and thus required more power to accelerate. Granted, once accelerated, the main issue is driveline and aerodynamic loss, however most of us don't drive very often in a steady - state situation. Being that HP is at a premium in most vanagons, it's got me thinking in favour of just keeping LT (truck) tires on my 14" alloys. Food for thought? |
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