Wider tires affecting acceleration?

[Elonheater32]

Hey guys I am about to pick up my 2013 Ariel Atom later this week. First thing to do is to change the tires out for something sticker and wider. It has the K24 supercharged engine so the 245's in the back is adequate, but after reading multiple posts on this message board it is clear that these cars really benefit from wider tires.
When reference is being made as far as wider tires benefiting the Atom.... just about all of the references are being made in regards to handling and cornering. I was curious as to if I put wider tires (going from 245 to 275) would affect acceleration since I am adding mass (reciprocating mass). Maybe I am an idiot for thinking that going from 245's to 275's will affect acceleration, but I just wanted to ask you guys what you thought.

Also, another question that I have is in reference to the front tires. Coming from a e92 M3, it was well discussed on the M3 messageboards that the M3's did not do well with a difference of more than 30 mm from the front to the rear tires. If I have 205's up front and 275's out back.... is that going to be too big of a difference between the front and the rear causing handling issues?

Thanks guys

[Richard Buckingham]

I can't comment precisely on acceleration, an Atom is already so ridiculously fast 0-60 that whilst I can see more rubber helping traction how exactly that benefit outweighs the extra mass and whether that difference is something you can take advantage of anyway... well I would think that's hard to measure and negligible.

I run the 205 and 275 mix at the track, works just fine for me so far. The Atom likes a lot of rear rubber and I would guess if I put more rubber up front all I'd be doing is burning through slightly more expensive tires each time as the traction limit everywhere for me is still at the rear first in that configuration.

[MadMaxAtom]

I run 9.50" (240) fronts and 12" (300) rears and have pretty much settled on that being just right for my climate and track use. Light wheels and soft compounds, and they last a looong time, as they are not spinning or sliding. Wider is not always better..but on a car like the Atom,mechanical grip is paramount. I haven't "worn" out a set of fronts yet..they tend to lose grip from age first!

[FlyPig]

I run 9.50" (240) fronts and 12" (300) rears and have pretty much settled on that being just right for my climate and track use. Light wheels and soft compounds, and they last a looong time, as they are not spinning or sliding. Wider is not always better..but on a car like the Atom,mechanical grip is paramount. I haven't "worn" out a set of fronts yet..they tend to lose grip from age first!

I would like to ask you about the tires.

I use at front A6 225/45/15 rear 275/35/15

And I would like to try a slick tires, but for my rims (rear 10" and front 8") I found only the following in the hoosier catalog
200/580R15 (R35A) Front (Tread width 8.0")
23.0 x 9.5R15 ( R25B) Rear (Tread width 9.4")

Actually my current A6 tires wider
225/45/15 (Tread width 8.6")
275/35/15 (Tread width 10.1")

So, from your expirience may I get the lap time improvment with the slicks, in case if it smaller a little bit than my current A6? I don't know on how much the slicks is better than autocross tires. A6 feels like a good tires and now they start a new A7 model.

[Sagen]

What 10" wide wheels are folks using? I'm curious about updating the wheels on my Atom 2. There seems to be good availability of 9" wide wheels that should work, but 10" seems to be harder to locate.

Just to make for more of a challenge, I have Alcon brakes too.

[FlyPig]

What 10" wide wheels are folks using? I'm curious about updating the wheels on my Atom 2. There seems to be good availability of 9" wide wheels that should work, but 10" seems to be harder to locate.

Just to make for more of a challenge, I have Alcon brakes too.

Mine, custom made by keizerwheels.com

[MadMaxAtom]

You can run the 23x9.50x15 r25bs on all 4 corners,which I have done…but the outer shoulders of the rear tires will take quite a heavy beating,even with 4-5 degrees of negative camber.They don't last more than one event. I like the 23.5"x12"x15" r25bs on the rear (on 13" wide wheels)and you can find them (or the 13.5" wide r25bs) on Ebay as scrubs/takeoffs for cheap money.

I have four 15x9" wheels (not Keizers) that I have been contemplating mounting with the new A7 Hoosiers in 275/35/15, as I have been using that tire on one of my "other" cars and love them. The only thing holding me back is the $1k price tag..and the fact that the r25bs work great for me..

[FlyPig]

You can run the 23x9.50x15 r25bs on all 4 corners,which I have done…but the outer shoulders of the rear tires will take quite a heavy beating,even with 4-5 degrees of negative camber.They don't last more than one event. I like the 23.5"x12"x15" r25bs on the rear (on 13" wide wheels)and you can find them (or the 13.5" wide r25bs) on Ebay as scrubs/takeoffs for cheap money.

I have four 15x9" wheels (not Keizers) that I have been contemplating mounting with the new A7 Hoosiers in 275/35/15, as I have been using that tire on one of my "other" cars and love them. The only thing holding me back is the $1k price tag..and the fact that the r25bs work great for me..

OK, i will try 23x9.50x15 r25bs on all 4 wheels. Will be interesting to feel the difference compared to A6 tires.
Thank you, MadMaxAtom