Bigger wheels/tires do not necessarily equal to faster times...
 

Ironic that they chose the FR-S/GT86/BRZ to prove the point when the whole point of the car is not to have too much grip or chase lap times.

To be honest, it's a load of bollocks.

Advertorial at its best!

Clueless.

Yes, the stickier rubber will improve lap times but going to a +1 wheel (18in in this case) would not change the gearing unless the owner was a complete idiot and didn't select a correspondingly lower profile tire to keep the overall circumference between the 17in wheel/tire and 18in wheel/tire the same. Same circumference = same gearing and no loss of acceleration.

As usual for a magazine test, they cocked it all up! They increased the radius almost 1 Inch by going to a 18" wheel. Had they gone wider, but kept the same rolling radius, the results would have favored the wider tire. They also chose an under-powered car to help prove their point.

Magazines rarely do an apples-to-apples test to answer a question. They start with the results they want to prove, and arrange a test to make it so.

Ah, you beat me to it!

Sounds to me like they were trying to prevent people from making similar mistakes by installing the biggest wheel & tire that fits.

I suppose it's POSSIBLE they had good intentions! :)

I might give the authors a pass if this was Consumer Reports or some other magazine whose readers are not likely to know much about performance tire sizing but this is from Car and Driver magazine whose readers are highly likely to know better and have an expectation for a reasonable level of technical excellence.

When I just got my car .. the first 'upgrade' was to put on a set of 19 ( 10" in rear ) .. yes, the car looked great, but I think for me .. it upset the balance of the car. There is a bit 'too much' grip now and the wheel was a bit heavier than the stock 18" chrome ( not much heavier though ). The result was a slower, lazier feeling car.

I guess Porsche did know what the hell they were doing when matching wheel size to car. Now after my full NHP exhaust upgrade which added some power to balance things out .. feels much better now IMO.

I believe these 2 guys are with Road & Track who recently announced they are closing their office in Newport Beach after 60 years there. The office is moving to Detroit, this should be the final move to get rid of the few remaining longtime journalists left at R&T, & C&D. I would guess the online tire test was targeted at increasing subscriptions from younger readers than the traditional audience. I'm out! :barf: