18"wheels=slow m3

[m3f_salty_80d4b8491b]

yes both cars are '99 verts. The only differences are the wheels and Dinan upgrades.

Sounds to me like the dinan upgrades are typical marketing hype.

[m3f_bmw4life13_0098c1d2b1]

Sounds to me like the dinan upgrades are typical marketing hype.

As i've said before...cai, chip, etc are a waste of money and does not give the car significant upgrades. :chair: Of course this statement does not pertain to changing the diff or adding a supercharger....btw the later will greatly shorten the life span of the car.

[m3f_DesmoBob_e0fc43b145]

larger wheels produce the same effect as taller gearing. slower acceleration, higher theoretical top speed.

[m3f_///M3 FX_c539798270]

Say I get this great deal on some Wheels and tires that are 18x8.5 Would I be running into any problems putting these on the M ? I would lose some power Off the line but hopefulyl planning to Supercharge it sometime anyway.

[m3f_ndehlinger_2176e6913e]

Larger wheels do not equal a lager gear ratio. The outside tire diameter should be the same. The issue is rotating mass, but I think the driver, slight variations in the car, and crappy Dinan mods (I have them too, unfortunatley)can make one car slower than the next.

[m3f_Ty Vil_fe6451789c]

The only thing I don't like from Dinan is their software (it's not agressive enough) everything else they make is literally the best of the best.



Just because two cars are the same model doesn't mean their equal and no one is seeing the big picture here.



How can you ever account for the variances in motors and what they've been subjected to over their life time and which one is stronger? I'm not talking about miles here I'm talking about subjective things. I bet you don't have dyno or leak down numbers for either motor, even they wouldn't tell the full story.



I could drive two brand NEW exactly the same down to color and options E46 M3's off the lot and they won't feel like the same car. Some cars just will feel stronger then others for so many various reasons I can't explain. Did one car have more gas at the time you compared?



Blaming this on Dinan or 18" wheels is absurd, my friends 18" Fikse's have 5 lbs on the M Contours I used to have and they're an inch smaller.

[m3f_The Fly_6a68e922d2]

The possibility of the rotational mass affecting acceleration is hardly absurd. 5lbs/wheel is 20 per car, and it's further from the center. Don't forget the tire is further too.





The only thing I don't like from Dinan is their software (it's not agressive enough) everything else they make is literally the best of the best.



Just because two cars are the same model doesn't mean their equal and no one is seeing the big picture here.



How can you ever account for the variances in motors and what they've been subjected to over their life time and which one is stronger? I'm not talking about miles here I'm talking about subjective things. I bet you don't have dyno or leak down numbers for either motor, even they wouldn't tell the full story.



I could drive two brand NEW exactly the same down to color and options E46 M3's off the lot and they won't feel like the same car. Some cars just will feel stronger then others for so many various reasons I can't explain. Did one car have more gas at the time you compared?



Blaming this on Dinan or 18" wheels is absurd, my friends 18" Fikse's have 5 lbs on the M Contours I used to have and they're an inch smaller.

[m3f_kchildre]

The rule of thumb is each pound of unsprung weight that you save "feels" like five pounds of weight taken off the car. That means five pounds per wheel feels like the car weighs 100 pounds less. The difference between my 22# contours and the 16# RK's was immediately noticable.

[m3f_DesmoBob_e0fc43b145]

Larger wheels do not equal a lager gear ratio. The outside tire diameter should be the same.



"should be the same" yes, but in practice, no.



i will try to find the picture i took of a side by side comparison of 18" SSR vs OE 17" 10-spoke (both with tires mounted, of course)... side by side. while the sidewall aspect was correctly matched to account for the larger wheels, the net result was still a larger diameter. in fact, this was one of the reasons i went to 18" in the first place, to better fill the wheel well gap without having to drop the ride height.

[m3f_bmw4life13_0098c1d2b1]

Blaming this on Dinan or 18" wheels is absurd, my friends 18" Fikse's have 5 lbs on the M Contours I used to have and they're an inch smaller.[/QUOTE]



I'm certainly not blaming the Dinan products on making his car slower. I just think that their products are over-rated. In fact cai & chip will not make an e36 m3 much faster. Most people can not tell the difference in 10-15hp gain if they were to drive the modded car.

[m3f_M3_AV8TR_09262c9aba]

Lots of right and lots of not-so-right in this discussions, sure lighter wheels will give you faster acceleration but you will not notice it, if you can notice 50lbs less in your car, even 100lbs kudos to you, avarage humans can't unless you see it on the board at the track, and still it's going to be a very small number.



You want 18's and have the same performance? Simple....don't buy a S/C, spend 1/3 of that in a higher ratio differential, not cheap but solves the problem, I did on my Mazda, running 12.64sec....ufff (oops sorry, had to brag, lol).

[m3f_M3AN_5f4dc0ba80]

My forged 18" RC's are lighter (with tyres) than my forged 17" M wheels (with tyres).



With tyres my 18's are about 10mm in diameter larger than my 17's with tyres.



Sometimes (read: often) my wheels are dirty which makes them heavier and more resistant to air.



Will my car be faster than Jims?

[m3f_jboat]

What am I missing here, why is the covert heavier?

[m3f_astan100_7ef66fbe89]

What am I missing here, why is the covert heavier?



All the mechanical junk makes the car heavier. They generally add a couple hundred pounds to a car depending on type.

[m3f_bmw4life13_0098c1d2b1]

What am I missing here, why is the covert heavier?

The convert is heavier because it lacks a roof and needs additional structural reinforcement. However, the 0-60 times between the coupe and convert are negligible. A very minor sacrifice in order to enjoy the open roads IMO.