Do 14" wheels = poor handling?

Brian68GT · Nov 23, 2004

I ask you this because i have 14" Torque Thrust D's with 235 60 tyres on them. I now need a whole new set of tyres and was wondering should i go the whole way and get bigger wheels?

As i live in Ireland getting new wheels requires a considerable effort and wait, so if the only difference is the look, i'll stay with the 14", but if there is a major handling imporvement with bigger wheels i misght go the whole way.

By the way, what is the correct size tyre for 14" wheels on a 1968 mustang, and what is the biggest tyre i can use?

Thanks,

brian

HistoricMustang · Nov 23, 2004

The key is not to increase the overall diameter of the wheel and tire combo as this will raise the car and the center of gravity. The 15" will be an improvement but try to keep the overall diameter the same or even less.

My combo puts the overall at 24 1/2" using 15" wheels and Hoosier Street TD's. This set up also keeps the vintage look.

HistoricMustang
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Cobain03 · Nov 23, 2004

i have 195/70 on a 14 inch magnum 500

Brian68GT · Nov 23, 2004

But does the fact that there is so much rubber between the car and the road with a 14" wheel mean that there is exessive play, or does it really matter?

Route666 · Nov 23, 2004

The bigger the sidewall, the more flex it will have, all other things being equal.

Steering response will be quicker with lower profile tyres, all other things being equal.

Accelerating (and I assume then decelerating) traction, however, benefits from more sidewall flex, but this is mainly found on drag tyres, not street radials, although going from a 60 series to a 30 series of the same wheel size will most likely be less tractive WRT acceleration.

Cornering traction with big, flexible sidewalls however is not as good as small, stronger sidewalls, because the tread can roll under the car (front outer tyre is most stressed in cornering), leaving less tread in contact with the road, and I've heard in extreme cases can pop the bead and deflate the tyre.

For me the cornering advantage outweighs the straight-ahead traction you might lose. If you don't find yourself thinking you need more traction, your tyres are probably fine for what you do. If you cruise, it's probably better to have the more cushy ride of the larger series, and they most likely will have more braking grip than a similar width, lower-profile tyre.

WORTH · Nov 23, 2004

YOur present tires have 136.5cm of sidewall, the new ones have 141, you wont notice the difference in the sidewall flex, and you will have more tread on the ground.

Hack · Nov 23, 2004

A larger diameter rim will allow larger disc brakes to be installed on the car. In my opinion, that can make a very significant improvement in handling. However, Granada discs are plenty for street driving. Anything larger is overkill for the street, mostly looks pretty and gives bragging rights.

So, IMO 14" wheels do not equal poor handling.

nosaj122081 · Nov 23, 2004

I ran a 14" wheel with a 26" overall diameter (245/60/14s) on the Mach 1, and thought it handled pretty dang well for a old car. So my answer is no... I'm going with a 15" wheel with a 26" diameter on the Cougar, and expect to see no difference. Factory discs have plenty of room behind a 14, but I can't vouch for anything aftermarket. But I like more sidewall, I don't like low profile tires at all.

Brian68GT · Nov 23, 2004

So you ran 245/60/14, yet mine are 235/60/14, which i think means the diameter of my wheel with tyre is less than yours? So one of these sizes must the wrong size as a difference in wheel diameter results in an innacurate sppedo, correct?

reenmachine · Nov 23, 2004

12" wheels don't seem to hurt F1 cars that much...

Then again, they're running million-dollar tires.

Really though, with the right tire you can still make a car with 14" wheels handle like it's on rails. It looks like a lot of sidewall by today's "bling-bling" standards, but think back to the production race cars of the sixties and how quick they were on 14" and 15" wheels.

The minimum weight for the class I race in is 2300 lbs. We have to run 13" wheels, and with 205/60R13 Toyo Proxes RA-1 tires the thing will corner like you wouldn't believe. These aren't exactly practical tires for the street, but you get the idea.

nosaj122081 · Nov 23, 2004

Brian68GT said:
So you ran 245/60/14, yet mine are 235/60/14, which i think means the diameter of my wheel with tyre is less than yours? So one of these sizes must the wrong size as a difference in wheel diameter results in an innacurate sppedo, correct?

Yeah, your tires are shorter than mine were, but not by much, like 12mm. I've never been real worried about getting a speedo dead on, as long as its within a couple miles per hour its good enough; I forget what gear I bought to go with that size and a 3.89 gear. It was pretty close though, I'll take the time to get it real close on the Cougar. I went from a 255/70/16 to a 265/75/16 on my Explorer and I forget what I figured the difference out to be, but it was just a couple MPH at 70, not enough to get me to climb under it to start swapping speedo gears.

Rumble · Nov 23, 2004

Brian68GT said:
By the way, what is the correct size tyre for 14" wheels on a 1968 mustang, and what is the biggest tyre i can use?

Brian I have the original GT rims with--if memory serves--215-70-14 tires. This size is the closest to stock (F70-14) as I can compute with my meagre math skills.

rbohm · Nov 24, 2004

there is more than just wheel diameter that goes into handling. tire width, diameter, compound, tread pattern, center of gravity, etc. since this is a street car, you likely would never notice the difference in handling going from a 14" wheel to even a 17" wheel, except for the large difference in tire width if you maintain the same tire diameter.

Brian68GT · Nov 24, 2004

So, has anyone got pics of a 245/60/14 set up? My total wheel diameter is around 24.5", which is considerably less than the 26" mentioned above, and i must admit, the whole thing looks a little small for the car.

Can someone even measure the diameter of thier wheels for me?

ForceFed70 · Nov 24, 2004

WORTH said:
YOur present tires have 136.5cm of sidewall, the new ones have 141, you wont notice the difference in the sidewall flex, and you will have more tread on the ground.

Where do you get this from? You know that 136cm is more than 4 feet right?

Maybe 13.65 and 14.10 cm?

Do 14" wheels = poor handling?

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