Following yesterday’s test of 18-inch wheels and tyres on the Lotus E22, here’s a pictorial comparison of the two wheel and tyre setups. Given the change to a larger diameter format would be done purely because it looks better we’d like to know what you think.
Do you prefer the new 18-inch tyres or the more traditional 13-inch sizing?
16 replies on “F1 tyres: 18-inch or 13-inch?”
Are we going to get spinners next?
hahaha … stick with 13s
18″ for sure.
Although they look a bit funny at first.
18s look weird. I think they should have whatever is faster.
wonder if they will increase the disc (brakes) at the moment it looks silly with the small discs.
The 18s do look a bit odd at the moment, but I reckon they do look better.
Mind 13s look daft too, it’s only because that’s what we’re used to.
Yep, I’d expect bigger brakes if this becomes a permanent move. Larger brakes would be one benefit the teams would embrace. Lotus only made minor suspension changes to the car so there wasn’t a lot of work done to prepare it for the 18s.
Needs dub spinners
Yes aesthetics and road-car relativity are the reasons being cited for considering the 18s, but if the teams redesign their suspensions to suit, there are some significant advantages to using 18s with lower profile tyres.
At the moment the 13″ bags are effectively un-damped air springs that grow considerably in diameter as speed increases. They squirm, they’re heavy and they’re difficult to model from a set-up perspective.
18s on the other hand are more dimensionally stable and in theory give the suspension engineer greater control over all aspects of compliance and geometry.
Of course, the teams have been using 13s for so long that they’ve found work-arounds for their issues and will therefore be reticent to change.
What’s the impact on tire performance? Changing just for aesthetics seems silly…
Can you set up a poll Liam?
Whatever is faster.
Let’s put cool 18’s on, heck go 20’s that will look sic!
Don’t worry how bad their noses look or how crap they sound, so long as the wheels look ok the world is good!
13’s
18s on the rear, 16s with same sidewall height on the front!
Shirley 13″s and their subsequently smaller rotors are lighter than 18″s and mahoosive rotors.. Which is what really matters? Unless you’re into marketing product to the hypnotised unwashed masses as opposed to increasing winning and excitement on the track. Next thing you know PPG will be telling us about the high waterborne paints they use on the mclarens to make them ‘appear’ faster and brighter.
Countries f#cked I tell’ya
Shirley? Mahoosive? Shirley you can’t be serious… 🙂
Just as a matter of interest, Formula 1 technical regulations limit brake rotor size and there have been no suggestions from official sources indicating this dimension will change, particularly as it would reduce braking distances, thus making overtaking more difficult.
As for 18s being heavier than 13s, – yes, but the tyres would weight less and therefore the effect on the combined unsprung mass would be negligible.
18s provide more air-space around the rotors for heat dissipation, so they would provide engineers with a broader temperature management envelope and therefore, more tuning options (brake duct size, airflow optimisation, thermal transfer to the tyres, etc).