From a thread discussing Formula 1 wheels/tires...
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According to Mercedes' Technical Director on this article (
Formula 1 set to keep 13-inch wheels rather than going to 18-inch)
"The subject of bigger wheels has been raised many times over the last five or eight years," said Mercedes executive technical director Paddy Lowe.
"The broad consensus is that going to bigger wheels is not a good direction. From a grip point of view it's not positive.
"Like for like, such tyres will have a
lower grip and the
weight will go up considerably, so it's not an attractive direction performance-wise."
As a car corners its tyres deflect a little to keep in contact with the tarmac - stiffer sidewalls will mean less deflection and therefore less contact with the tarmac.
The size of the wheel rims will also increase mass at the hub - it takes more effort to spin the larger mass; also increasing the unsprung weight (
Unsprung mass - Wikipedia)
" The amount of movement, for short bumps, is inversely proportional to the weight - a lighter wheel which readily moves in response to road bumps will have more grip and more constant grip when tracking over an imperfect road."
So it makes sense to keep the weight down and the tyre-wall height up from a performance point of view.
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