Off-Road Wheels - How They Can Reduce Spin-outs, Improve Handling and Overall Stability

[DavidCore89 7,402]

Hi, guys.

I wanna talk about the off-road wheels, what they do in land racing, what vehicles benefit from them, how you can reduce spin-outs, improve handling and overall stability over any uneven surface.

Of course they look ugly on any road car, but they're very useful.

Many of you guys would have seen the winner screen after a land race and notice that the winning car is running off-road wheels. This isn't because the driver likes the look of them, actually the driver knows that the wheels are improving their car.

Certain cars in certain classes have a single characteristic in the handling files known as 'Tyres Can Clip'. What this means is the tyres will visually clip into the ground, absorbing the bumps, you can see it happening from the side view.

When you're using a car with the 'Tyres Can Clip' characteristic, all wheels will clip, but the off-roads will clip much more than the others due to the larger sidewall.

When the car encounters uneven ground such as curbs in the Downtown area or bumps all over Los Santos, the wheels will clip into the ground and allow your cars to stay much more planted to the road instead of reacting badly to the terrain, possibly spinning out or causing you to crash.

Now I will list the cars in all classes that benefit from off-road wheels (which can be fitted at LSC), not using them is putting yourself at a significant disadvantage, while using them on the wrong vehicle will do absolutely nothing.

Super: ETR1, RE7B, FMJ, Osiris, T20, Reaper, Turismo, Tyrus, X80 and Zentorno.

Sports: Both Jester's, both Massacro's, Omnis, Tropos and Feltzer.

Sports Classic: Stirling GT and Stinger GT.

Off-Road: Both Insurgent's and both Sandking's.

Muscle: Nightshade.

IMO they have the greatest effect on the Feltzer, it turns into a fantastic car 

Tyres clip on some motorcycles too (hence the random bounce after landing a jump in a Stunt Race), but off-roads cannot be fitted to a motorcycle at LSC.

Using off-roads on coupes, sedans, compacts or any car not listed above isn't helping you, it's simply making the car less attractive (hence why I don't use them on many of my cars). It's not in the files to help other cars so it cannot be possible.

I'll keep this updated as newer vehicles are added into GTAO.

Hope this helps!

 

This post has been promoted to an article
Edited August 1, 2016 by DavidCore89

[Fido_le_muet 5,197]

Put off-road tires on my Massacro RC. Will see how if it's a significant improvement.

Turns out I already had them on the Stirling. They don't look too ugly on this car cause the stock wheels already look like offroad wheels.

Still not ready to put them on the RE-7B though

[DavidCore89 7,402]

20 minutes ago, Fido_le_muet said:

Put off-road tires on my Massacro RC. Will see how if it's a significant improvement.

Turns out I already had them on the Stirling. They don't look too ugly on this car cause the stock wheels already look like offroad wheels.

Still not ready to put them on the RE-7B though

Test on a real bumpy track such as Do You Even Lift, Bro? By @no_snacks

Or any track where you'll be hopping over many kerbs.

Also look at the car from the side view, you'll see the wheel clipping.

[ScottyB 2,086]

@DavidCore89 I thought you didn't use them? Also, Doesn't tuner wheels have a similar advantage, just not as much as offroad and look better? (That's what I thought you used)

 

Snacks and I have discussed this many times before and it's stupid that they have this bug in the game. Technically, yes, offroad tires would improve your handling over the bumps but that would come at a HUGE reduction in traction which would produce significantly slower lap times overall.

I personally refuse to use offroad tires on any car that wouldn't have them (no tuner wheels either) and I'm still very competitive with most people who do use them. I'm sure it will help a lot of inexperienced racers avoid spinning out on certain tracks but I've learnt to handle the bumps now and I'm sure I could make up a lot more time in other areas before I'd notice a difference using offroad tires.

[DavidCore89 7,402]

3 hours ago, ScottyB said:

@DavidCore89 I thought you didn't use them? Also, Doesn't tuner wheels have a similar advantage, just not as much as offroad and look better? (That's what I thought you used)

 

Snacks and I have discussed this many times before and it's stupid that they have this bug in the game. Technically, yes, offroad tires would improve your handling over the bumps but that would come at a HUGE reduction in traction which would produce significantly slower lap times overall.

I personally refuse to use offroad tires on any car that wouldn't have them (no tuner wheels either) and I'm still very competitive with most people who do use them. I'm sure it will help a lot of inexperienced racers avoid spinning out on certain tracks but I've learnt to handle the bumps now and I'm sure I could make up a lot more time in other areas before I'd notice a difference using offroad tires.

Well, I thought the changes weren't big enough to wanna use them, that was until I put them on my Feltzer. Now I have them on 5 cars. They only work with certain cars, perhaps I was using them on the wrong cars at first. All my other cars have chrome wheels (free).

Tuner wheels will also help, you're right about that, but not as much as off-road.

Some people are fine with any wheels (I still can be too), but there will always be that real bumpy section of kerbs that makes your car very unstable.

 

 

[zmurko 7,622]

I believe off-road tires, while they do improve stability over kerbs and bumps, actually cause a bit of an understeer. So for example, if you use them on the hills tracks, you will be at a slight disadvantage.

[DavidCore89 7,402]

9 minutes ago, zmurko said:

I believe off-road tires, while they do improve stability over kerbs and bumps, actually cause a bit of an understeer. So for example, if you use them on the hills tracks, you will be at a slight disadvantage.

I've heard this, but until anyone finds anything in the files to back it up - it's just hear say.

If anything causes understeer on the initial turn-in it'll be the front anti-roll bars (which cannot be changed in GTA).

Massacro would be the last car I'd test these wheels on since the car does nothing but understeer .

I've been running these wheels for a few months now, haven't noticed any more understeer (pushing in the States) than before.

Of course, I'm not telling anyone what to use (nor do I care), but if 1 person can improve their racing then i'll consider it worth the time to post.

Edited August 4, 2016 by DavidCore89

[Sinister 2,578]

I put these on my Massacro RC and noticed a big difference on Do you even lift.

[DavidCore89 7,402]

11 hours ago, Sinister said:

I put these on my Massacro RC and noticed a big difference on Do you even lift.

Glad it helped.

Probably isn't gonna help everyone. If you're already used to how your cars handle, you're quick and winning races then the difference will be minimal and maybe not worth making your cars look shit.

I think it'll help the guys running mid-pack and below in the crew PL's more than the front runners.

[DeaD_GooN 1,312]

25 minutes ago, DavidCore89 said:

Glad it helped.

Probably isn't gonna help everyone. If you're already used to how your cars handle, you're quick and winning races then the difference will be minimal and maybe not worth making your cars look shit.

I think it'll help the guys running mid-pack and below in the crew PL's more than the front runners.

I put the off-road wheels on my Massacro, and I can tell there's a difference on bumpy tracks, but it does seem to corner differently. I'll probably go back to high end wheels, cause that's what I'm used to. 

Oh, and the whole looks like shit factor.

[DavidCore89 7,402]

25 minutes ago, DeaD_GooN said:

I put the off-road wheels on my Massacro, and I can tell there's a difference on bumpy tracks, but it does seem to corner differently. I'll probably go back to high end wheels, cause that's what I'm used to. 

Oh, and the whole looks like shit factor.

Yeah, that's why I posted that above .

Like I said before - the Massacro has catastrophic understeer, so if anything you're gonna make it worse by adding off-road despite the wheels clipping. Cars that typically oversteer (Feltzer, Turismo, Stirling, etc) are improved quite a bit IMO.

You're already dominating races (won the most in the crew) with whatever wheels that you use, so I wouldn't change that.

Vehicle handling is a personal preference, what works for one racer may be shit for another, there's no right or wrong I guess.

Edited August 8, 2016 by DavidCore89

[Beez 5,091]

I remember @DavidCore89 posting about the benefits of adding a spoiler way back and I said, "Well I hate the way it looks on my Entity XF and I don't win races anyway so I won't use it." I eventually added one and it was a big improvement and it's helped me place higher and win races. 

I read a topic on off-road wheels somewhere else a while ago and it was based on the game code so the info was accurate but at the time I didn't have any the cars mentioned. Currently I have a bunch of cars on the "wheels can clip" list. I will likely add them to my T20, Omnis, Jester RC, and Stirling GT. I'm good with how my Massacro and RE-7B are plus I love the stock wheels and wide slicks of the RE-7B. Ditto the Tropos and its big fat rear tires. Not messing with my Nightshade but it's not a competitive racer anyways. I am most excited to try the off-road tires on the Feltzer due to DC's suggestion.

Good topic.

[DavidCore89 7,402]

29 minutes ago, Beez said:

I remember @DavidCore89 posting about the benefits of adding a spoiler way back and I said, "Well I hate the way it looks on my Entity XF and I don't win races anyway so I won't use it." I eventually added one and it was a big improvement and it's helped me place higher and win races. 

I read a topic on off-road wheels somewhere else a while ago and it was based on the game code so the info was accurate but at the time I didn't have any the cars mentioned. Currently I have a bunch of cars on the "wheels can clip" list. I will likely add them to my T20, Omnis, Jester RC, and Stirling GT. I'm good with how my Massacro and RE-7B are plus I love the stock wheels and wide slicks of the RE-7B. Ditto the Tropos and its big fat rear tires. Not messing with my Nightshade but it's not a competitive racer anyways. I am most excited to try the off-road tires on the Feltzer due to DC's suggestion.

Good topic.

I think you can visually glitch the spoiler off, so you get the added traction without reducing the good looks of the car, not exactly sure how that's done though.

I still see some guys running towards the back of the pack without spoilers, not sure if they're unaware or just don't wanna use them 

[Arruda 718]

Is this still uptodate? 

I had only one RE-B7, and kept it with stock wheels, but the bug has been patched right? In this case I should now switch to off-road wheels then.

[DavidCore89 7,402]

Yeah, it was patched a while ago. Switch to off road wheels.

[Squirrel 5,180]

I'm also a big fan of if the car looks shit then I won't go for the tyre/spoiler exploit. The only cars in the list that I have with off-road tyres are the Insurgent, Tropos and Sandking. Also have them on my Kuruma but those tyres don't have an effect.

Do SUV tyres have a similar effect? I use those on many cars as the bigger rims have look good on some cars plus I have the free chrome ones.

As for the spoiler, I love the Penetrator but hate how the spoiler looks. In the end I actually bought a 2nd one. I can keep the stock one for looking good for free roam but I now have a GT Racing version with full body kit and in my racing colours. 

Edited February 13, 2017 by Squirrel

[starmonkeykiller 493]

Dc thank you since coming across this thread my win ratio is much improved even against crew, i don't use off road tyres on everything listed but it has certainly help me handle the cars better in tricky areas.

[Lann 10,838]

Noo..  Not the Tropos,  i love my black stock wheels. I will have to get a second one. 

Edited February 13, 2017 by Lann

[Crawford1872 2,581]

Didn't think the tropos needed them, damn

[DavidCore89 7,402]

I actually keep the stock wheels on Omnis and Tropos, the tyre itself seems as deep as off-roads and it says rally on the side, that sealed the deal for me 

5 hours ago, Squirrel said:

I'm also a big fan of if the car looks shit then I won't go for the tyre/spoiler exploit. The only cars in the list that I have with off-road tyres are the Insurgent, Tropos and Sandking. Also have them on my Kuruma but those tyres don't have an effect.

Do SUV tyres have a similar effect? I use those on many cars as the bigger rims have look good on some cars plus I have the free chrome ones.

As for the spoiler, I love the Penetrator but hate how the spoiler looks. In the end I actually bought a 2nd one. I can keep the stock one for looking good for free roam but I now have a GT Racing version with full body kit and in my racing colours. 

SUV wheels are basically high end. I do use the better looking wheels, but not on cars that have wheel clipping.

[Lann 10,838]

Well now i have a second one with off road.

[Beez 5,091]

Seriously FUCK ROCKSTAR and their shitty programming.  I have to ruin the look of my car in order to make it work right. 

[Lann 10,838]

I agree,  my RE-7B and T20 just lost their spots on the showroom floor. They will be kept with the fuglies musthaves down on Supply Street.