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Tire change. Is the car slower?

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Old Jul 28, 2005 | 10:14 AM
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Default Tire change. Is the car slower?

I just went from a 245/50/16 all around the car to, 245/40/17 in the front and 275/40/17 in the back. Will my car be slower? I don't think so, but I was just wondering. I think the new rims I got are lighter also. I went from salad shooters to 02 SS rims. (the 10 spoke) Thanks for the help
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Old Jul 28, 2005 | 10:34 AM
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maybe a few hundreths, unless you needed the extra traction of the 275 REALLY badly
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Old Jul 28, 2005 | 11:06 AM
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Well, I used to have 245/50/16 new street tires on it and I spun like crazy. I ended up putting my old drag radials on it and it was nice, but stil spun slightly. I haven't ran at the track with these tires yet, but I couldn't imagine it hurting me too much. It wouldn't make me go like a tenth slower or anything, would it? Because that is kind of a lot, you know?
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Old Jul 28, 2005 | 02:01 PM
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when i went from a 275/40/17 to a 315/35/17 i lost almost 1 full mph..... thats when my car was bone stock.....
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Old Jul 29, 2005 | 12:06 AM
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Originally Posted by FIREHAWK #07
when i went from a 275/40/17 to a 315/35/17 i lost almost 1 full mph..... thats when my car was bone stock.....
Well, that's a pretty big difference. I just looked up the rim weight and the SS rims are lighter. So, everything should be fine.

If anyone has time, take a look at my other thread. The moroso fitting one. I have some questions in there. Thanks for everyones help.
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Old Jul 29, 2005 | 02:13 AM
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i didnt notice anything besides better traction.
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Old Jul 29, 2005 | 02:57 AM
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yes it can be slower, it requires more work to get the car moving. think about a mountaine bike and a race bike (like lance armstrong, super skinny tires) which one requires less energy to get to the same speed? the one with the thinner tires takes less energy. i experienced this with my dakota, last summer i had 285 40 17s and 245 55 17s front and the traction was good, however i could feel the truck trying to move those wide tires up the road. then for winter i put in 215 70 15s all around and the truck moved like a hot knife thru butter. also my mpg increased nicely. so u have to look at the positive and negative, better traction, better stance, but slightly slower and a drag on mpg.
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Old Jul 29, 2005 | 04:41 AM
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just get some slicks and say **** it!
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Old Jul 29, 2005 | 09:37 AM
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Rear tire diamiter is almost exactly the same. The only real difference that you would see is in weight. if your that worried about it get a set of racing wheels for the track.
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Old Jul 29, 2005 | 11:08 AM
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Most people forget that when you add weight to something that rotates it is effectivly heavier than just the static weight. Its called rotational weight.

Roughly its like 3 times the normal weight so if your rim and tire weigh approx. 45 pounds (1 tire 1 rim) then effectivly as far as performance it is like 135 pounds.

Hence lighter rims and less tires make you go faster, less weight you need to get rolling.
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