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      10-24-2012, 04:55 PM   #4
1speedbike
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Drives: 2022 X4 M40i, 2008 135i
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: MKE

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I agree with what was said. The weight of the wheels, tires, brakes, etc is unsprung. It's connected directly to the ground without your springs and shocks acting as a mediator. Also, the wheels and tires are spinning and have a certain inertia to their spin, which is directly related to their weight/mass. The motor will have to work harder to overcome that inertia whenever you want to change your speed, and this will be easier to do with lighter wheels/tires. You want your wheels and tires to be as light as possible for the best performance, but need bigger wheels to clear the brakes, and wider wheels to put as much rubber to the ground as possible. Unless you're going for looks, the smallest possible diameter wheel that you can fit over the brakes, with the widest possible width to give you more traction would be ideal.

As froop said, if you go with a 17" wheel versus an 18", you're likely going to end up with a 17" wheel with a slightly taller tire, and it will end up being the same overall size as an 18" wheel with a thinner-profile tire. In this case, your speedo won't be off more than like 1%, and it's already off by something like 3-5% anyway so you won't notice.
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