Weight Loss Program and Feeling Great

[RacebyDesign]

Besides the reduction in unsprung weight making the vehicle more throttle responsive/quick in a straight line, it also helps braking and suspension agility.

A great practice is to also check the specs of tires when it comes time for replacement. Find current tire diameter and weights from a website like Tirerack.com or from the manufacturer site. Sometimes squeezing a really wide tire on a rim that would better use a narrower tire isnt a great practice:

*Increases weight
*Ineffective contact patch
*Pinched sidewall leads to less responsive handling
*Many times increased rolling diameter

Setting our 2006 Altima SER up for G-Stock we have realized that using a 225/40/18 Hoosier A6 rather than a 245/45/18 is a better match for our 8" wheel. The tire is also 3 pounds less and 3 inches shorter than the 245 effectively decreasing our long second gear. The 245's will look MUCH better but thats not always the fastest way around the cones especially with soft rubber.

Boxster's dont always have the same luxury as tire brands/sizes are harder to come by and more expensive. However, if you can still work a staggered combination and effectively utilize your wheel widths the car will simply be faster than the "steam roller" crowd unless they are running 12" wheels, etc.

Light wheels and rotors help a ton; tires and wheel width can increase/decrease the most rotational mass from your equation since they are on the furthest point from the axles. Narrow and soft is better than wide and hard especially if you can drop some weight.

Then again, on a daily driven vehicle we cant always be replacing tires every 6k miles. There is definitely a fine-line to walk.