Kev946

Yes.....and no, its not quite that simple, although the wheel is lighter the rotating mass is further from the hub, so it affects the handling, acceleration and braking performance. I know it is the extreme but ever notice that F1 cars and karts dont have low profile tyres (but they dont have much suspension travel either and much of this movement comes from the tyre). Touring cars on the other hand have fairly low profile tyres but on *very* lightweight magnesium rims, try finding these in 20"s though....... If you want performance stick with the 18's, for looks go bigger. If you want both, have both and swap them for track days, trying to compromise is exactly that, a compromise. +1 and well put.. BTW; do you live at your own circuit? Looks like a tyrewall in the background? :envy: or are they haybales? That's the Hethel Test Track....

Yes.....and no, its not quite that simple, although the wheel is lighter the rotating mass is further from the hub, so it affects the handling, acceleration and braking performance. I know it is the extreme but ever notice that F1 cars and karts dont have low profile tyres (but they dont have much suspension travel either and much of this movement comes from the tyre). Touring cars on the other hand have fairly low profile tyres but on *very* lightweight magnesium rims, try finding these in 20"s though....... If you want performance stick with the 18's, for looks go bigger. If you want both, have both and swap them for track days, trying to compromise is exactly that, a compromise. +1 and well put..

Trev, I know someone who could re-map the Gixxer engine for a lot more power. Pm me if interested. One of his customers has 221 bhp at the rear wheel of his bike...

Some good advice already. Must remember to wear ear plugs, got some but I always forgt to take them. I use ACF50 for corrosion protection. I've just had some paintwork done on my R1 to get rid of stone chips, so I've put some Paintsheild paint protection film on the leading edge of the fairing. Just a 1 inch strip. PM me if you want me to explain more.

Can't say I know the name. Maybe see you out there sometime Looks immac Trev. Keep us posted on your events. Went to an hill climb a couple of years ago for the first time and really enjoyed it...

But the point is lighter wheels will improve handling, less weight means less stress on the suspension, less gyro effect so quicker turn in etc. When I fitted 19's to my Zed they were heavier and the ride and handling was noticeably worse when the car was pushed. Normal driving was fine. I had to compensate by upgrading springs and dampers, so the overall gain was purely cosmetic.

Pics of the lotus with new rims Kev?

My 2p. If it's performance you are looking for then go lighter. 18's are more than adequate for handling with modern tyres, in fact 17's would be equally fine. Weight is the enemy, particularly unsprung. If it's looks then, 19's are probably the limit. When I had my Zed and upgraded I was so dissapointed with the effect wide 19's had on the standard suspension, I upgraded the whole lot, springs and dampers. I've just upgrade my Lotus to forged rims and saved around 12kg unsprung weight which is a lot.

Thanks guys. So where are you Jonanthan in the UK?

Saph Cossie. You'd then have a car quicker than the zed....

That's disgraceful. I could end up in prison if they put one of those near me....

Cool. Make sure you are watching qualifying today at 12:45 on Eurosport and the race is on BBC2 tomorrow.

Why's it got a tow bar on... I like the stylying but like all american muscle cars it will weigh 2 tons so will be slow and won't be able to go around corners..

IMHO is all just a political statment, the government wanting to be seen to be green. You could of course beat the barstewards by driving something like a lotus, e.g. small engine and light. My Exige S is £205 pa.

As the thread? Cheers

CF and the fit was awful, but heard they have solved this now. Wheels are Work Miester S1 3 piece

Fittedmine myself I love the way you had yours painted, Kev. Thanks mate. It looked too much all black against a yellow car. Painted makes it look factory I reckon..

Fittedmine myself

I used to have one of those...

You were right about the extra work in the evenings Kev. They helped me understand a lot more than i orignally thought from the class notes. You had both on the friday! Wow that is madness, we had the full course monday to wednesday, foundation thursday 12am, recap thursday afternoon, then practitioner exam 9am on the friday! I had such an headache by the Friday afternoon. I was forced to drink loads of beer to compensate on Friday evening and I'm not joking.... You do know you are supposed to re-take after 5 years. Think it was about 5 years ago for me....

Well done Louis. Hard work indeed. I did the theory and full exam all in one week. Both exams being on the Friday.

I agree and Max too, 2 old farts who are totally out of touch with Modern Motorsport..

I can remember an article I read about 15 years ago which predicted some of the major mergers of recent years, and I thought it was all speculation. Now we have just an a handful of major manufacturers. This is of course because of buyer pressure demanding better cars, which makes the development costs for a car now so high, e.g. the only way to make it economical is share the cost. This was the start of it when cars were developed jointly, remember the Honda/Rover cars, (the were great...not). Anyway this is the future unfortunately. We will all be drinving almost the same car with a different body stuck on. The worry is the control they will all have in the future. The barstewards could decided to stop making performance cars and make us all drive hybrids. There's talk in this weeks MCN of a total ban on motorcycles being likely at some stage in te future. All that will be left will be the specialist manufacturers making low volume cars......like Lotus funily enough but even they are part owned by GM..

Not sure, but I reckon it will happen. I think the retiring to give more access to his children is a smokescreen. He's only 61 and look at Fergie, (Man Utd). Like Fergie this guy lives and breaths F1 and McLaren. It's more about external pressure. PS: Went past the McLaren factory entrance in Woking on Sunday...wow impressive and that's just the sign at the entrance...

From The Sunday Times March 2, 2008