big wheels

Oversized wheels are becoming increasingly popular, and you may be asking yourself if bigger is better. As always, when you’ve got a question about your car, there usually isn’t a simple answer—it’s dependent upon what you want out of a set of mag wheels.

Your mag wheels should be appropriately sized for your vehicle and the loads you carry. For example, the wheels on a commercial vehicle are larger because they typically carry heavy loads. If you just want big wheels for their looks—go for it—but you should remember that they’re heavier and they’ll raise your vehicle’s center of gravity.

Lightweight Wheels Outperform Heavier Ones

For performance, lightweight mag wheels can’t be beat. The logic is simple: As they rotate, your wheels, due to inertia, want to continue going at a constant speed in a constant direction. The heavier your wheels, the more difficult they are to control. As a wheel’s diameter increases, its perimeter becomes heavier. The wheels get harder to steer, and shocks have to work harder to keep your car on the road.

Your Tyres Must Stay In Contact With The Road

Good road handling is attained by keeping the tyres’ contact patch on the road at all times. If your mag wheels bounce or if your tyres don’t remain on the road’s surface, your car will lose grip. It can be difficult to keep the rubber on the road at high speeds or on uneven roads.

The greater the weight to be handled by your vehicle’s suspension, the harder it has to work to keep your mag wheels Brisbane from bouncing. Sports car makers focus on minimizing unsprung weight in order to keep tyres on the road.

Get Lower Profile Tyres for Better Performance

The main performance advantage to larger wheels is that it allows you to fit tyre with stiffer, lower sidewalls without a change in ground clearance and wheel perimeter. Low-profile tyres keep more of the tread on the road than a flexible, high sidewall does. To an extent, the improved handling makes up for the disadvantages of using heavier, bigger wheels.

Big Wheels: They Need to be Light

Steel barrels become prohibitively heavy at approximately a 16″ diameter. For everyday use, cast mag wheels are a good option in sizes up to 20″. In performance applications, forged wheels are superior when sizes reach 18″. A forged wheel is much lighter than a cast wheel, as the construction process alters the metal’s molecular structure.

For increased performance, the most important factor is the weight of your mag wheels. Replacing standard wheels with an equivalently-sized alloy will gives you improved road handling and braking, with no decrease in ride quality. When plus sizing your wheels, your car will handle better—but you may see diminished comfort. While big wheels look better, you’ll have to choose carefully to see the benefits.