17" rims

[amalventano1 at tds.net (Allyn)]

> Winnipeg,
>  Remember, larger wheels have only one functional reason for 
> their existence: they allow larger brakes.

Larger, wider wheels combined with lower profile rubber allow significantly greater grip in the corners.  I went from 192/50/15 to
215/40/17 to 235/40/17 and the difference was not only noticable, it was measureable (g-tech gfrc mode - 0.92 to 0.96 to 1.02).
I've found that the larger diameter, lower profile tires deflect less for a given weight and lateral loading.  There is a point of
diminishing returns, but this appears to be somewhere around 17" for a stock 16v front weight.  Getting that contact patch to shift
from narrow to wide sometimes means moving to a larger diameter wheel, since the desired aspect and width is just not available in
the smaller diameter.  Sure there are disadvantages:

- rubbing
- premature bearing wear with non-factory offsets required for clearance of larger wheels
- premature bearing / suspension wear due to larger moment arm
- wheel damage on harsh city streets
- effectively taller gearing (countered by 4k, etc)

...but to say the _only_ functional purpose for larger wheels is larger brakes seems a bit short sighted.  That is tantamount to
saying that any lister with stock brakes should still be running stock wheels and tires, or 14x9's.  The only cars that truly handle
with our stock size wheel and tire, only do so because they weigh half as much as ours (Ariel Atom, for example).  For that weight,
anything above 185/60/14 would probably be past the point of diminishing returns.  If the Atom matched a scirocco in weight, it's a
safe bet it would have also larger diameter wheels, regardless of brake rotor size and clearance.  There is plenty of visible
clearance between brake and wheel at the rear of a Koenigsegg CCX - surely they could have stepped down from a 20" for the added
unsprung weight savings alone, but they did not - because there really is more to wheel diameter choice than brake clearance.

BTW - I have stock 16v brakes, x-drilled and slotted, mintex pads, with the splash guards removed.  The larger wheels cause a
noticable increase in cooling, purely due to the added breathing room.  Air deflectors mounted on the A-arms help as well.  At one
point I actually owned the corrado brake upgrade kit, but with the present mods, simply had no reason to upgrade.

My $0.02
Al