Some Help with Wheels...
 

I have a high horse power application (almost 400 at the rear wheels) GSL-SE. This is primarily a track car and I have racing tires and rims. However, I will use it on the street a couple times a week and I am not trying to kill myself on stock rims and tires.

I kind of like the look of the deep dish Panasport style Rota wheels. I figure I need a 8" wide tire on the rears to be able to get any grip. I had a 400hp FD before, and on stock wheels that thing was great for anyone with sucidal tenancies. My fenders are rolled, if that will help any.

I am looking for something that I can easily find tires for. I need to know what size and offset wheel and tire I should be able to run without rubbing. All wheels are Rota unless otherwise noted.

I can't post ebay links, but some of the stuff I am looking at is:

Staggered 16X7 16X8 +4 offset (1.5" lip Panasport style)

Staggered 17X7.5 17X8.5 +4 offset (3" lip Panasport style)

16X8 +10 (3" lip Panasport style)

17x9 + 12 offset

I think either a gold or bronze will look best with my brown w/ metal flake car. However, I am open to whatever is the best value and lowest weither for the money, this includes ease and price of tires.

Thanks for your help!
XXR 15X8 +15

Anyone?

Also looking perhaps to have some Diamond Racing wheels made. What offset should I use. FYI, my racing tires are mounted on Kossi K1s and are 205/50 15 with no issues.

4.5" backspacing front and rear has worked perfect for me.

Um, you have a widebody in your signature. What size rims?

17x10 front and 17x12 rear

The GSL-SE (green car) in the photo below is on 15x7 wheels with Nitto NT01 tires in 225/45 x 15 size. The fenders were rolled. This car has also used Hoosier 225/45 x 15 R6 tires which are wider than the Nitto's. The Hoosier are also allot faster than the Nitto's.

Honestly, there isn't a tire made that will fit under a stock RX7's fender that will control 400HP. A 225 HP RX7 SCCA E Production car on 23x9.5x15 racing slicks can have traction issues at corner exit. And that is with a suspension that is designed to maximize traction. Hell, I had a Mustang with around 400HP and it would shred 12" wide racing slicks.

That much HP requires more rubber.

http://images49.fotki.com/v1520/phot...DSC5860-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

Yeah, I have a set of DR 13's with Hoosiers on them those are 225/50 but Hoosier is the only one that makes tires in that size so I can't get strrt tires for it.

My bad experience comes from spinning my FD in fourth gear at around 80 mph as I was accelerating to pass someone. Tries broke free and I was going dounts across a five lane highway. I had stock FD rims on and crappy tires--never again.

I know 400 can just about shred anything, but I want to at least increase my chances of success. Do you think 8" wind would fit on your car? What offset are you running?

Thanks for the input!

I wish I could do that. How much did your wide body cost and where did you get it?

The Green car isn't mine - I am in the Yellow car that is leading......at that point! The Green car got by me later. It was pretty good race though.

I'll have to check with the owner. I know that the wheels are a dual pattern wheel (4x100mm and 4x114.3mm) that fits a Miata. So it has a ton of positive off set. They also use some spacers. Again, I will need to check with the owner.

As far as 15X8's....I think so because allot of the tire clearance issues that have been dealt with on the green car in the photo are caused by the extreme section width of the Hoosier tires that they run. When those tires are mounted on 7" wheels the tires bulge at the sidewall more than when on 8" wide wheels.

I think that when trying to fit big tires on a stock fender RX7 the diameter of the tire needs to stay at 23" or less. A tire that is taller than 23" - like a 225/50x15 - makes it harder to find tire clearance.

All that said.....I think you should continue pursue your investigation of a widebody kit and some 17's as Dan suggested. Then imagine an egg under the loud pedal and sqeeze instead of stomp....it's a bitch when you have too much power :)

So, to keep the radius the same what should I be running with 15s? Below 45, tirerack does not even have anything available? Only in 16s.

I bought the car as a rolling chassis with the body work already done. The kit I have is still availalbe from black dragon auto, for about $2000 USD (with spoiler) + freight. Then remember the kit would need to be moulded as it's fiberglass. My rough estimate is near $10k with a really good paint job.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83...g/IMG00117.jpg

I think if you check the specs you'll find that a 225/45 x 15 is usually around 23" in diameter. Which is probably pretty close to the same diameter of the 205/50 x15you are using on the track. Just wider.

I suggest that when you are specing tires for an application, always review the manufacturer specs for tread width, section width and diameter that are listed in inches. Also pay attention to the measuring rim - meaning the wheel that the tire was mounted on when the width and diameter specs were determined. This makes a difference. The Tirerack provides this on the site. The manufaturers usually do too.

In my experience P-metric measurements are inconsistent between brands and generally cannot be used for comparison. For example a Hoosier 205/50x15 is wider than allot of 225 section width tires. I used to sell and service racing tires at race tracks in the midwest. One companies 225 is another companies 245 and diameters can be all over the board.

THAT CAR IS SEX ON FOUR WHEELS!!!

Nice piece!

Sexual!:drool1:

I appreciate the feedback. The 225/45 x 15 seem like a great size. The problem with them is that only Hankook makes one type of street tire for them. If Hankook discontinues that tire, I am left with (another) set of unusable rims. What about 16 or 17s as there are many more tires available?

The 225 should be about 8.8 inches wide which is pretty good and about an inch narrower than my other set of track wheels (the unusable ones due to being 13's).

Sexy, yes. However, I am trying to reduce my bills as I am going back to school and $10k plus rims is way more than I want to spend right now (Anyone want to buy my M3?)

One of the most available sizes I'm finding is 255/40 17. The average diameter for those tires is 25" which is 2" more than the 23" although this should translate into a fraction of an inch on any given side. The 255 would also be laying down considerably more rubber and the face that they are 17s' should clear up more space for a BBK. The obvious question is the width and what offset I would need for something that wide to fit.

17s may look stupid on an FB (I really do not know as I have never seen one), but I am all about function and ease of finding replacement tires and tire options.

Anyone with anyinput on a setup like that, offsets necessary, or any other opinion positive or negative?

I think I have seen 17x7's on an FB on this site before. Looked okay to me. I think they were running a fairly narrow tire (205 or 215) with a really short profile. Not a very wide tire so no help in my opinion.

You can get a Nitto NT01 in 225/45x15 and if it is not shaved it has enough tread to work in wet conditions. That said, the Hankook is a new tire and should be popular in SCCA solo II. So, I think you will see these tires around for awhile. In fact, since no one else offers a 15" tire in the same width and diameter it may end up being so popular it is hard to get!

I run 205/40vr17 all the way around, works great! Basically same height and width at the stock 205/60r14 with a lot less sidewall.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ock/scoop3.jpg

I need to install my new rear suspension to drop it a bit......

another angle

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ock/scoop2.jpg

Alright, I gave up trying to figure out if it was going to work and took the plunge.

I was trying to get wide 15's, but there are not many tires available. I had to go with 17's just for the practicality of finding multiple tires. Afraid that I may get rubbing in the front, I went staggered 17X7 on 215/45 35mm offset, and 17X8 on 225/45 rears.

These are what I ordered:
http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...r=2&wd=17&rw=8

I like the bronze look and I think it will bring out my do-do brown car.

I know someone is going to come on here and say they will not fit, and they may be right. However, my car is almost done and I needed to at least try some rubber on it. If they do not fit, I am out of the return shipping.

Good news, I just saved money on my car insurance...

Seriously though, the 17X7 and the 17X8 with 215 and 225s do fit. It is a tight fit and I have to use a 5mm spacer up front. I may have to roll my rear lip a little more, but as least I can put down some pretty serious rubber without going widebody.

I just drove up to the shop to make sure they fit, after which, I pulled them back off, so no pictures yet. Hopefully, my car will be done in the next week or so and I can post some pictures. I think they look pretty good.

Did you ever get around to getting pictures?
Do you think you could fit more tire under there if you wanted to?

I'm looking to fit 245 wide tires with no fender flares and rolled to the max. I am not having very much luck regarding searching.....

17x9 rims for the front and 17x9.5 for the back?
 

Hi guys. I have been searching the forums and couldnt find a response for the question im about to ask. I saw a set of rota RB rims for sale and they are 17x9 with 13mm offset for the front and 17x9.5 with 19mm offset for the back. Assuming i can fit a low profile tire on it would this rim even be able to fit on my car with stock fenders? I have full coilover suspension with camber adjusters for the front. What do you guys think?? Here is the link http://www.racinglab.com/rota-rb-280z.html



Thanks in advance!!