Wheel/Tire Size & Grip Comparison to HP and Torque Options

[Inferno]

I was reading an article yesterday in the latest Sport Compact Car about their project 350Z and a thought popped into my head. Let's say you have a high horsepower and torque vehicle, maybe 300-500 HP after the 3S-GTE swap and some engine work. Now, let's say you have 17 inch wheels and tires. If you have a decent amount of HP and Torque, would 17 inch tires and wheels actually decrease your launch/acceleration ability? I was wondering if they'd slip/spin more, due to smaller wheels with more HP and Torque. 18-19 inch tires are bigger and also might decrease acceleration due to weight gain, but would they outweigh the weight factor by having more contact with the ground and actually give you more acceleration? I could just be rambling on about something that isn't that important to most. And I could be wrong on my thoughts. Someone with knowledge help me out, cos I'm curious about this!

[Pvc99gT]

actually, someone correct me if im wrong cuz i very well could be, but i remember in physics i figured out exactly how much of your wheel actually touches the ground if you have the air at the proper level(and not having the air at the proper level degrades performance, so dont think letting some air out or pumping more air in will leave you better off), and bigger tires got canceled out, so it doesnt really matter. if your obsessed with racing or something, get some really light rims and by my last check rubber was lighter than metal, so some small, light rims would be the best for racing. but i think we all agree that big ass rims look sweet. and this is the usual difference between looks and performance. performance rarely looks good. and things that look good rarely have any performance value. but dude, think through this logically. the actual total diameter of the rim+tire has to remain about the same so the speedometer doesnt get screwed up. so the only thing that is happening is that you are putting more weight onto the car and making the contact spots long instead of thick. but if your pushin out 350 hp its not gonna make that much of a difference. if your only pushin out 135 like a stock GT or 110 like an ST, then that extra weight on the drivetrain will weigh u down a bit more noticeably than on a firebreathing monster. the rule of thumb is pretty much if you get bigger rims your going to experience a decrease in acceleration/speed but better handling. but both are pretty small changes. the people who tell u that its a huge change are the same people who say putting a short ram intake on makes a huge change. so on a high power application like that, it doesnt really matter unless you go crazy over performance.

[Inferno]

Thanks for your reply!

[kuya1284]

If we're basing your question on 300 to 350 HP with a FF (Front mount engine / Front wheel drive) car like our Celica's, regardless of what tire size you use, you will definitely spin out.

That's a lot of power and torque that a FF car can handle. Even with LSD, the wheels will burn out. LSD will help, but the driver will still have to gradually push on the gas. Once the car gets to about 4000 RPM's, he/she should be able to floor it.