Quote:
Originally Posted by cody
I run 245/40/17 Starspecs on 17X8's but they are a +48 offset instead of +45 like the RPF1's so my tires are 3mm closer to center than they would be on RPF1's. I can tell you that I was insanely more competitive this year than any year before. I'm sure that it's mostly me improving as a driver, but a big part of it has to be the new wheels and tires. I ran 225/45/17 RE01R's on lightish 16.8Lb 17X7.5" wheels prior to this year.
I think you'd be better off improving grip than torque, personally, so I'd go with the 245's for sure. I have no torque with my 2L but that doesn't seem to be hurting me.
|
It's not just a matter of torque, the gearing advantage isn't going to make a huge improvement in torque at the wheels... it's more a matter of moving the powerband of the motor in relation to the corner speeds.
Smaller wheels on a 5MT mean you likely have a chance of being in boost mid-corner when you get back on the throttle rather than being off boost. So the actual peak torque isn't really different, but the car is much faster around the course.
And on the contrary, an STi with the closer ratio 6MT may do better with larger tires. Even though you give up torque, it means both 1st and 2nd gears run to a higher mph before you need to shift... which ends up being far more useful than the torque you give up due to the gear disadvantage.
Just food for thought.
Oh, and I would bet you're right about it being driver experience more than anything that helped you this season Cody. But 245 is quite a bit more contact patch over 225. That's 10% more rubber on the road!