Wheels and Tires

The AE92 came from the factory with 185/60R14 tires, although this size is a good compromise between fuel consumption, comfort and performance, for the use i give my car, it´s not enough tire.

The three main reasons that made me change the size of the tires were: 

Firstly the performance increase a larger tread width and smaller side walls give;

The bigger the tread width is the more contact patch the tire has with the ground, thus increasing grip. Bigger may not mean better, as too big of a tire makes the car slower and if the car hasn't enough weight it can't heat up the tires, causing them to not perform at their best. 

The smaller sidewalls allows more information from the street to be passed to the driver, as allowing for sharper inputs from the steering wheel because the tire deflect less.

Secondly the availability of different tread pattern and rubber compound;

Tire companies don't make all their models available in all sizes. So in order to have a bigger number of tire choices between tread pattern and rubber compound, you have to use a common size of tire that suits your needs better.

   

And lastly the look;

This is very subjective, but I much prefer looking to a corolla e9 on 15" rather then 14" or 13" wheels.

(picture of the car with 15" wheels)

In this moment I have two sets of wheels and tires, one is a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 3 in 195/50R15 mounted on a set of OZ Fittipaldi Indy in 15x7 and the other a set of Nankang NS-2R in 205/50R15 mounted on a set of Japan Racing JR-5 in 15x7.

(picture of the two set up´s)

This set up means I can have a set of tires for rain and daily use and another for track days/canyon runs and summer daily.

The Michelin has a contact patch of 165mm, that provides lower rolling resistance that translates to better mileage. The softer side walls (compare to the NS-2R) gives a more comfortable ride, maintaining a good enough sharpness and road feedback for daily and casual canyon runs.

The Nankang in the other and has a contact patch of 195mm and a tread wear of 180. This gives the car alot more front end grip shifting the balance more towards oversteer which, when controlled, improves the cornering agility. The firmer sidewall allows the driver to have alot more feedback of the road and provides sharper steering inputs.  

The Japan Racing JR-5 are the wheels with the best light-to-price ratio I could find, that still has a good construction. The pair of JR-5 and NS-2R weighs only 15 kg nearly the same as the Indy with the PS3, which is a smaller tire with lighter sidewalls.

Lighter wheels and tires means less rotational mass, which means faster acceleration and braking. 

JR-3 with NS2R 15KG.

Indi with PS3 14.3KG.