Can having bad wheel bearings drastically reduce my gas milage?
Having a bad wheel bearing i rather doubt is gonna decrease that much gas mileage.If a bearing were to decrease gas mileage,you wouldnt even be able to drive the car normally.The bearing would be so worn out that the car would make alot of noise and probably start clanging around like is its gonna fall apart and make the car clunk around.Figure it this way,when you put a passenger in your car,the car is pulling more weight but you are not gonna see it on the fuel mileage part.A bad bearing would just be harder to push.If it were so bad that it would decrease gas mileage,i dont think the car would be able to move period.Check the Oxygen sensor,it is the biggest reason why a vehicle starts to get bad gas mileage.Good luck.
Does putting 24 inch rims on a truck decrease acceleration?
Changing rims and tire size causes a lot of problems. If the wheel and tire combined weight is greater it will definitely cause you to accelerate slower, the heavier the wheels the slower the acceleration. It also effects the braking causing the brake system to work harder possibly overheating the brakes. The rolling diameter or circumference plays a big part too, if your wheels are larger it will slow you down. It has the same effect as going from a final drive of 4.11 to a 2.73, less multiplication means the engine and transmission has to work harder to turn the wheels. Another issue with modern vehicles and wheel changes is the computer will throw error codes and slow you down if the tires are to different from the stock size. A programmer or a custom tune would be required to correct the problem. Todd
What's so special about alloy wheels?
Wheels are made with different metal blends (alloys)—the two most common materials are aluminum and steel. They have different pros and cons, and create varying effects on the driving experience, as well as requiring different methods of upkeep.Aluminum wheels, also known as “alloy wheels,” are made up of an alloy of aluminum and nickel. Typically, these will be cast—created by putting liquid aluminum in a mold. They’re usually nicer-looking than steel wheels, and they are fairly strong while still being lightweight (so that they help with fuel efficiency). Since they’re molded, they’re able to come in a variety of designs. Both chrome-plated and bare polished aluminum wheels tend to be vulnerable to scratches and the negative effects of oxidation.Steel wheels are made up of a mixture of carbon and iron. A con is that they’re heavier, so they may reduce acceleration and fuel efficiency. However, they’re also stronger: they are less likely to be cracked by impact, and won’t be as easily damaged by gravel, de-icers, and brake dust (thus they’re more common in winter driving situations). They’re also often easier to repair. Rather than being molded, they’re generally cut out on a press, then welded together. They offer fewer design choices, so they’re less about the aesthetics of the car’s wheel, and more about the function.
If you keep the wheel size the same but increase the aspect ratio of the tire, does this increase or decrease acceleration?
OK there is a bit of misinformation here.The acceleration of a given vehicle with the same weight and power will be effected by gearing and potentially contact patch area if your wheels are spinning.Taking the gearing first, if you have bigger wheels the circumference increases proportionately with diameter. If your wheels were twice the size they would need to turn at half the rpm to do the same speed. This obviously changes the gearing of the car and in an extreme case could mean your speedometer isn't accurate.If we look at aspect ratio: this is the percentage if the width of the tread so a 250 tyre with a 50 aspect ratio would have a side wall that is 125mm wide/tall. A 50 profile on a 200 tyre would be 100mm. That means for a fixed rim diameter and given tyre width the bigger the aspect ratio, the larger the overall diameter of the wheel the bigger the aspect ratio. This will make the gearing longer and longer. If the gearing was previously optimal, this will make your gearing a bit long and will be unhelpful for acceleration but as the gear changes will correspond to higher speeds, there will inevitably be speeds in 1st, 2nd,3rd etc where you will still be in a lower ratio gear and will therefore achieve higher acceleration relatively at those specific speeds.In terms of traction, contact patch is important. This is the area of tyre actually touching the road. Larger diameters and wider tyres increase contact patch. Reducing tyre pressure does too. This type of thing is essential for drag racers but for your average Joe if you had a 205/55 and swapped it for a 205/60 you probably wouldn't notice much difference in terms of acceleration. If you went from a 205/45 to a 205/80 you probably would.
How does a car's wheel size (17 in vs 18 in) affect the performance? Is performance based on how fast the wheels turn, or how wide the tread can be?
Generally speaking, larger wheels allow for stiffer suspension setups, as they have less sidewall flex. Tire sidewalls can "roll over" during hard cornering, especially as they become tall. Larger wheels allow for lower profile tires, and low-pro tires allow for stiffer suspension setups and better handling.However, there are a lot of moving parts here (bad pun, I know), so there are a few things to consider:Heavier wheels have greater rotating mass, which means they can hamper acceleration. The difference between a 17" and 18" wheel isn't usually too significant, but if you take 15's off an old Civic and put 20's on in their place, you'll note a decrease in acceleration...but you'll look cool as hell!Typically, larger wheels can accommodate wider tires, but that's often because tire manufacturers offer wider tires for larger rim sizes, and also because larger wheels are often manufactured to be wider. ...There's nothing about the wheel diameter in and of itself that dictates width (at least not if we're talking about a normal range of wheels).Tire width helps with traction, at least in normal driving conditions (wide tires aren't too helpful in the rain, for example). Hence, a high horsepower Countach would have wide tires.If you look at wheel diameters, they've exploded in the last 20 years. 15" rims were common in the early 90's, now 17" rims are common. This is mostly about styling, but it's important to note that larger wheels are often needed to fit around large disc brake systems.Still, back in the 80's, a 20" rim was rare on a typical passenger car...even on a Lambo. ;)