16's on the track??

[NGOLF.U]

guys ,

will the mk4 gti work well with the standard wheels on a track...??

or am i better off staying with the 18's

[Jarred]

16's will give best/better acceleration, 18's will give better top end speed.

depends on what track you're on. Remember Rolling dia. of the wheels, if similar (between 16's and 18's) the end result will be similar, so if you go 16's, go for a low profile (lower than standard)

I'm pretty sure that's how it works, anyone else confirm?

[showoff]

Itd be worse with the 18's.

Its all too do with the tyre and pressure. Ppl have there own personal preferences for pressure etc.

If ur not using the standard wheels, get some track tyres put on them otherwise some nice wide ones. But low profiles on 18's are no good.

if you look on the oz racing wheels. and look at there light weight racing rims u can buy, which are like 60% lighter, im prity sure they only do upto 18's for all cars. Say for a commodore, ud get a set of them that are light weight and put track tyres on them....

But in saying all this, if u have the standard tyres then traction may be a problem because there like 205 and not really designed for the track..........

[Golf Loon]

Put the stockies back on for a track day. Accelleration is king.

[Tim]

Id take option 3.
look out for some nice second hand 17s. They would be your best bet

[gtimk5]

16s will give too much sidewall flex on the track compared to 17s.

[zedub]

I'd go 17's too (and plan to when I find a set I like for a price I like) unless you put on some big arse brakes that wont fit under 17's (I've only changed pads ebc redstuff and slotted rotors and although I could have more braking power, it'll do for the meantime)

[SoVeReIgN]

Get 17s with some stiff sidewalls

Or alternatively, you could get 16s and get some ultra low profile tyres for them - It doesn't really matter if your speedo is out.

[Preen59]

If you've never done a track day before 16s would be fine. The extra sidewall will be a bit more forgiving and if you find the limit they won't break away as suddenly. Lets face it you're there to have fun and an extra couple of tenths won't matter.

Extra sidewall is fine aslong as the wall doesn't tuck under. The standard continentals would be ok IMO.

[twin eng, twin turbs]

16"s are the better option if you are after semi slicks or full slicks to get some great times. A set of semi slicks are affordable these days and have thicker side walls with less flex than all high performance street tyres. If you run around 30 psi in them to get a good size foot print on the tarmac your track times will drop and the level of grip is fantastic!

[NGOLF.U]

thanks guys,

i have done a few track days on my 18's with semislicks on.
i have just have just sold the 18's and now consiering semi slicks for the 16"s for track events.

[nabes]

This little bit of reading sheds some light on the subject:

http://www.wam.umd.edu/~greghess/sizematters.pdf

You have to also consider the unsprung weight for your vehicle, if the 18"s weigh heaps more than your 16"s then they will be heaps slower. The gearing of your car is also affected by the diameter which is a combination of the overall wheel/tyre combination.

Interestingly in this article they say that the 15"s are ultimately faster but they were able to get more consistent times from the 16"s.

Now this is for a Mk3 vehicle which is different to a Mk4 but the same principles should apply.

Cheers,
Nath

[Jarred]

Interesting article.

From a pure physics point of view, I expected that result, that the 15's were the "fastest". The maths could have told you that.

What I found very interesting was: the sidewalls.

For the click lazy, they had 40 (profiles I'm talking here) on the 17's, 45's on the 16's and 50's on the 15's. Funnily enough, they complained about the lack of fine control and 'twitchyness' - "hop and roll" to quote them directly.

Clearly it's because they are running a 50 profile rubber. I would have liked to have seen the different a profile used. also note that the rims were different width's, but the 205 size was used on all the tyres, and as you can see, a d205-50-15 tends to bulge quite a bit on a 6.5" rim!

I would have like to have seen the dfference between 205-50-15 and say 195-40-15 (for example), basically something with alot less sidewall. This would reduced sidewall flex giving it better control and also slightly reduce the rolling diameter, for again better accel.


I think it was an unfair comparison, to compare te "handling" caracteristics of the wheel tyre/combo when the wheels weren't in proportion to each other - ie, just from the photos you can see that the 15's are bulging, and 16's are perfectly fitted and the 17's have a gentle stretch about them - all the sidewalls were different meaning they would have different handling characteristics, even if they were the same size rims!

Anyways. It's late and I'm starting to rant.
Hope you got the general gist of what I've been trying to say.






Frankly, 16's with 205-40/45 semi's or high performance tyres, will be the best combo IMO.

[DubSteve]

If I was to track my car I would be putting my stockies VR BBS wheels on it but with some really good rubber!

[Flaps]

When I track my car I will be putting my stockies VR BBS wheels on it but with some really good rubber!

fixed

You know you want to... I want to hear that V6 down the straight!!!

You'll have to take me for a spin sometime.