I always thought I was old school. I guess not.

I didn't think my air dam was part of Uncle Ben's Racing Team Type-R.

 

Not to insult, Felix...Not to insult!
Guess I did'nt catch you Dam(n) job! Direct me to a pic so I can tell if you are Old School or Type R!

What's the biggest tire I can fit on the back with RB springs, and rims that are 14 x 8 with a 3 1/2 inch backspacing?

How do you jack a car up one inch, and how unhealthy for handeling can just one inch really be; Especially if I'm widening the track by 2- possibly 3 inches?

 

Up an inch?!?! Every one else is lowering there cars. Are you trying to be a 4x4?

Every man his own, but if you ask me, big rims and a slammed car look best. Ok, everyone can call me a Type R man. [puts on flame suit]

 

13x8" Diamond Racing Wheels with Hoosier DotR 225/45/13's. Wide, sticky, light, cheap wheels, high performance, and shorter which helps gearing unline those way too tall 17"'s people seem to like lately.

http://www.nrx7club.com/gallery/viewpicture.asp?id=88

BradP

 

I didn't catch any insult



I had to lighten the picture for the airdam to show.



A 235/60/14 might fit out back with some creative fenderwell clearancing.

 

Can't see it. Did you fab it yourself, or is it kit?
I can see that it's not "over-done".
Ehh. The Panasports prove you're not type 'R'!!
Sharp.

 

This one, the Mazdatrix/Wings West one is it.

 

I do like Panasports. Those look great on Felix's car. I have heard they are soft. Any problems with them bending?

 

i think the wheels on the racing beat's bonnevile car are sweet.. it would be cool to have a set of those on the road

 

Hey I have kosi racing rims on my 82 rx7. If you want to see them My car is posted on the first gen forum somewhere. I like them but if I could get other rims I would get 16s. My friend mike with the orange first gen has 17s and they look a bit too big. So I think I like 16s the best. But the kosi rims I have only came in 14s or 15s

 

sterling, the largest i've ever heard of being put on the back was 245's on stock 13 inch rims. i don't think the guy had his fenders rolled either, but it's been 8 years, so i could be wrong. i definitely know they were 245's though. and they sure looked funny on there! on the fronts, a 205 seems to be the widest you can go. mine are 205/60 13's and have no rubbing at all.

 

How hard is it to do a 5 bolt conversion? I have seen pics of cars that had it. There is a black 1st gen with 3rd gen wheels. It looks real cool.

 

245s on stock rims?!!
That's crazy! Sounds down right dangerous, too.I have adjustable Konis on her. Maybe if I just go with the 225 50s for the 14x8s, and tweak the shocks real tight...
Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, eh?

 

Mine aren't bent, but they do scrape easily.

 

So how did this tread get brought to the top if there are no other replies (it was here before I added mine thank you...)

For what's it's worth, here are 235/45-13
they fit.... Kinda....

 

I like my 16" as far as looks go, but the bigger you go becomes a point of diminishing returns until you actually lose performance. 15"-16" offer better cornering due to the stiffer walls of the low profile tires, but any larger offeres so little sidewall flex you 'hop' over bumps in turns and have to steer with a firm grip with both hands over any road regularely travelled by, and rutted by, semis.

 

IMO, 17's destroy the look of a car that was designed around 13 or 14 inch wheels.

FTR, several years ago Road and Track published an article investigating the effects of wheel diameter on handling. I believe they tested several different types of cars - fwd and rwd - all modern vehicles. They concluded, that for these cars 16 or 17 inch wheels were optimum, with a noticable dropoff when hitting 18 inches. If I remember correctly the main discriminating factor was the change in unsprung weight from size to size.

 

i love the stock aluminum 4-spoke 13's the best ... in fact i gave up my SE suspension for the regular GSL.

but if i had to get rims, i like 15 inchers - NOTHING BIGGER!!! and i've always fancied the Panasports ...

 

im trying to find info on the conversion myself..
there is a guy on here called Guru that does a whole 2nd gen brake & hub conversion so you get the big brakes and the 5 lug pattern..

 

I would try to get a 16" rim, maybe 17" so long as it was under ~14lbs. I bought my 15" TSW Hockenheim R rims way back before I knew what to look for. I think weighing in at 18lbs is a bit much for a 15" rim considering my 16" rims on my miata weigh 13lbs and didn't cost too much(~$800 no tires).

Bout friggin time someone brought this up!
Unsprung weight and rotational mass often get worse in terms of handling when bigger is used without spending the money on a quality rim. Some tires are strangly heavy as well (kuhmos come to mind, with their stiff side wall, decent performance, and LOW cost).

It will USUALLY come down to bigger is heavier which quickly negates the use of the shorter/stiffer sidewall.
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Look wise, I'm a big fan of the bigger is better, but you can feel the difference if you buy crappy equipment so choose carefully. I think that may be why so many people love those panasports, though those look so old school.

PS: what's our Stock 14"se and 13" rim weigh in at?

 

I am 100% with you! My daughter laughs at cars (not just RX-7s) with those aluminum deck wings. They look like a cross between pieces of an old Erector set and salvage parts from an airplane. And the front air dams almost always look heavy... they ruin the beautiful stock lines. THe "stock" rear spoiler isn't any better.

One exception... for some reason, the early 1st Gens (79 and 80) seem more accomodating to these mods. Not sure why.

However, the stock alloy wheels, which I liked back in the early 80s, look tired to me. Panasports or BBS wheels (if you can find 'em) look great and timeless.

 

Actually I chose my rims to look 'old school' (7 spokes, 3 piece rim look) They weigh about 16 lbs each, but they sure dress up the car...

 

Here you go....16x10s, Revolution, 3pcs, 13lbs.

 

16 X 10 would require fender flares to fit without scuffing over every bump in the road. My 16 x 8s barely have enough clearance.

 

Hey Mantis, I've never actualy seen the full picture of your car... Looks very nice.

How tight are those 16x8's? Where do you have clearance issues? your's are 38mm offset right? Can you run 215 or even 225 up front?

Lookingat getting some 16x7 or 7.5's... Haven't seen too many 16x8.