hey guys been talking to rishie at autord. he is setting me up with a set of enkei rp03s for my fd. there is one issue with selecting the front rim that i am struggling with. I really want to run an 8.5 up front as oppose to 8.0 simple because i want the rim to match the rear. the rp03s are pretty convex. the inside is deep and the spoke bows from in to out. as a result as u can imagine the rears which are 9.5 will be pretty convex thus i want to go with th widest up front i can fit.

Now here is the question. would a 8.5 x 17 +35 fit up front. Rishie said it woul be 5mm out of spec. that doesnt sound like alot to me. Do you think it will work? if i do have to roll the fenders what is the result of that? is there any other way to make them fit....can i run more camper? what would be the effects of that?

oh yeah the tire size is 235 x 45 x 17 kumhos.

 

I would trust Rishie.

You might be able to get away with it using a smaller (stretched) tire. You will have to roll the fenders for sure. If you aren't planning to hit some road courses with those rims, then 17x8 and 17x9.5 wouldn't be bad. Depending on the rear offset, you might not get anything larger than 255's on it anyway which would work fine with a 225 or 235 sized tire up front.

IMO, if 235 is your target tire size for the front, just get the 17x8.

 

2 things to look out for:
1. You risk chipping the paint when you roll the fender.
2. Even a roll might not be enough depending on road conditions and ride height.

I caught the lip of my fender recently going up a driveway while turning to the right for the first time ever. I'm running 17x9 +45 with 255/40/17 all around. Slight damage to the fender lip which I worsened (paint chip/flake) when I tried to fix it by rolling the fender slightly using a bat.

More camber can equate to more tire wear on the inside of the tire. It also makes the car a bit more twitchier on the highway.

 

tks guys.

 

one last question.....what are u guys liking on the fd 17s or 18s? i always thought 18s looked big but broswing around i am starting to think 18s in a 5 spoke dont really look big.\

is there a performance difference?

oh yeah keep in mind these are on a stock bodied FD..wi a 99 front lip.

 

It'll be mostly a matter of personal preference.

I prefer the extra sidewalls of 17s to help on rougher roads. Other people say they don't notice a difference between 17s and 18s in that respect. I'm sensitive to that kind of stuff though.

From a looks perspective, I can't tell the difference from a distance. I'll tell you this though - bigger wheels make the brakes look smaller.

Good luck.

 

Here's a shot of my car with 17's next to another FD with 18's. It's not a direct comparison since the cars are not equal distance apart, but it can give you an idea:

http://mahjik.homestead.com/files/FD...3/MVC-006F.JPG

Two FD's with 18's and mine (stock body with 99 spec lip) with 17's:
http://mahjik.homestead.com/files/FD...3/MVC-002F.JPG

My car to give you an idea of 17's with a stock body and 99 spec lip:
http://mahjik.homestead.com/files/FD...4/MVC-001F.JPG

 

damn those are nice rims on your car!!what are the exact specs and tire sizing? i like the fitment alot.

what about performance other than comfort? does the increase in wheel diameter slow the car down (ie change the gearing)? i think the weight difference is modest like 1-2 lb difference or soemthing...so i doubt that matter much.

also here are the rims i aminterested in:

https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...40&postcount=8

 

Those rims are 17x9 +43 with 255's all around. They aren't what I use on the track, so I haven't noticed a difference driving the car around with them (and they are much heavier than the stock rims). I would probably notice it if they were track rims rather than "cruising around the street" rims.

 

FWIW, quite a few guys have run 18x10 +50, and your fit should have ~4mm more room to the lip. Note that the 18s are a bit shorter, so you wouldn't be able to lower as far.

 

Is that with stock diameter springs or 2.5" diameter springs used on coilovers?

 

Definitely coilovers. Also aftermarket trailing arms IIRC.

But the OP won't need to worry about inside clearance.

 

now i am struglling with the 18 vs 17 debate. not gonna worry about it today...having a horible disaster at work.

 

hey guys...i need to order this wednesday. do 18 inch rims effect the handling of the car? i am very concered that tjhe 18s will make the car less responsive. is this true? or is there little to no difference in the feel of the 18s vs 17s?

again i really dont care about comfort.

 

why not order the 9 or 9.5 for up front?
you can still run a 235 tire on there and have plenty of clearance at a good offset.

go wide on the wheels at least, if you want to run a 235 tire it still works out well and gives you good clearance, later on if you want to run a 255 or 265 up front then you still can without needing new wider wheels.

nice wheel choice too btw.

 

tks for the advice.i want to run the widest rim posible, however i dont think offses are availble that will work with a wider rim. here is a link to sizes available. would really appreciate if u glancedat it real quick......

whats your view on 17s vs 18s from a perfoamnce stand point?

http://www.autornd.com/catalog/produ...e748f349af30bd

 

There won't be much of a difference, if any, in the handling between 17's and 18's of the same rim/width. IMO, with a fairly stock body FD, 17's look better. But its up to you as its your car.

Also look at tire selection. I still find it easier to find 17" tires in the sizes and brands that I want. 18's are getting better, but still some brands don't have useful sizes in 18's.

 

You can find better offsets for the FD. I'd ask Rishie about other 5-spoke wheels in 8.5-9.5" width and 43-50mm offset. He might have a lead on a fit that's not listed on the website...

Performance difference between 17 and 18? If the wheel & tire packages have similar overall diameter & weight, any performance difference will be small. Very, very small. And if you don't have the budget to buy both for testing, stick with 17s and buy sticky tires (e.g. RT-615s). The tires will be a little cheaper, and you'll get far more performance with fresh tires than bigger wheels.

 

alright back to gettign 17s. hehe

 

17x9.5 +38 all around or you can "wuss out" and go with the supermegalightweight setup with a 17x8 +48 up front, it will save you 2 pounds whcih is a good thing but I dont think it will look as good or perform as well as the 9.5 +38 up front.

go for it, 17x9.5 +38 all around. 235 or 245 tire up front and a 255 or 265 out back, nicey nice, if you want to roll some fender lips then you can run a wider tire up front.

you may have more fun for less money on the 17x8 front with a 235 and a 17x9.5 out back with a 255... but I want you to go bigger and wider!

have you decided on tires yet? some of the 18" wheels offer better sizes/offsets and the tires may be shorter in overall diameter giving you more clearance (like why I run 18's on my FC... 295/30r18 are shorter but wider than 275/40r17.

 

interesting tks. didnt think i could look at 9.5 fr the fronts as Rishie was saying the 8.5s wouldnt even fit.

 

18x10 +50 fits FDs up front under certain scenarios.
a 17x9.5 +38 will be half an inch outboard (50-38=12mm).
but the 9.5" is also a quarter inch less in width on each end of the wheel (6mm)
so with the 17x9.5+38 you are only outboard 6mm more than the 18x10+50.
people have run a 285/30r18 on a 18x10+50 up front (WOW!)
if you run a 235 or 245 or 255 tire on that 9.5 wheel you should have plenty of clearance with a low sidewall / aspect ratio tire and a small O.D.
and it looks GREAT!