RX7Club.com - Mazda RX7 Forum - Wheels and Suspension Geometry vNeverBeenDoneBefore

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Quote:

Originally Posted by aws140 (Post 8951663)

I may have missed it, but what are you going to use the car for?

I am going to assume a weekend car? maybe autox?

If thats so, then you dont need to worry about the rearend too much. Its hard launches with sticky tires that kill rearends. Dont you have the moser axles? I have a SE rearend with moser axles, GSL gears(thicker teeth), and i dont plan on swapping it out unless i HAVE to. ill just keep upgrading parts as they brake. i just hate the idea of adding all the weight of a big rearend if i can avoid it. if i do have to upgrade ill go with a toyots 8" as it should be a good bit stronger without being too much heavier.

if i were you i would probably think about two different sets of wheels. one set that looks good and one set thats functional more so than appearance. i have my Work Equips that look good, but are also functional. I just picked up a set of convertible FC wheels that I would like to put sticky thread on and use for functional, but they also look really good. :D

one BIG factor you need to consider BEFORE you buy wheels, it tires. you need to decide what size you need and check out the price and availability of tires in that range. you could end up being stuck with extremely limited choices and very high prices. just some advice.

The car is going to be for...fun. Haha. I've never done anything autox, track, or otherwise, so this will be my first experience with anything like that.

I do have the Moser axles.

My first attempt at wheels, before I understood what would fit, was a set of FD stockers. I still have them actually, but the offset is terrible up front!! I'm saving them for my FD chassis.

This is probably a little bit extreme, but I would really like a set of forged wheels. The SSR Type-Cs are 12-13 lbs. Like I said, maybe this is just a bit extreme, but it's what I want. Talk me out of it if you think it's crazy!

I did a quick survey of "Extreme Performance" tires in the 16" range:

Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
205/50R16 V rated
205/55R16 ""
225/50R16 ""

Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R
205/45R16 W rated
205/55R16 V rated
225/50R16 V rated

There's a lot more selection with 17" tires. That's a given. But isn't it slightly crazy to run 17" tires on this car?

Keep in mind that I do Have Eibach Pro-Kit springs and Tokico blues...

Help :(

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattmaclennan (Post 8952756)

Here are a couple of pictues of my '85 with TII BBS wheels on. I've got some Toyo R888's to go on for track use. I need to bring the track at the back out because I'm running ReSpeed TII brake conversion with 25mm bolt-on spacers up front. I'll only take it out by 15-20mm because my Toyo's are 195 front and 205 rear.

They are definitely functional and that might be what I have to do, but it's not exactly what I want.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj55b (Post 8952985)

you know there's always the option of doing custom rims like I will be doing in a month or two. I'll be getting mine from http://www.kodiakracingwheels.com/ and will cost around 1900$US but you get exactly what you want.

I tried contacting RS-Watanabe (http://www.watanabewheel.com/contact.htm) because they have a form online now but so far I haven't received a response. I know they're definitely not "light" but I know they're strong and they look damn good. But judging from what my car looks like right now, "looks" are not really what I'm going for...haha.

Thanks a ton for the responses guys, it's really helping me to think about all of these different factors when choosing a wheel/tire combo.

Agreed, the issue with the spacers doesn't lie in the overall unit but the way its applied.

Its simply a matter of leverage. A properly sized spacer will have minor impact on the bearings, but if you decide to go all crazy with it (I look at you Appliance Tuners! AkA Honda lovers) then you'll be setting the mounting surface that the wheel mates to so far out that the weight of the vehicle is resting on the bearings in damaging ways...

Or at least that's the Logical point of veiw...

I know Im a bit late here, but I just wanted to comment about how surprised I am at how conservative everyone seems with rear tires.

I am running 245/45/17 falken azenis in the back, and it only took minor rolling of the fender...

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...n/DSC01809.jpg

Rims are Tenzo 17X7 +42 offset... nice oldschool tire stretch and raked look to it. LOL

I guess the key is just not going too wide on the rims...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gen1onr (Post 8956159)

You're definitely not late. I think I need to go wider than 7" in the back and I'm just worried that over time I'll start to dislike how far off the ground the car sits if I bought 17s. The tire selection for 17s is leaps and bounds better than 15 or 16 though.

on my stock 14s i scrape when i'm coming up or down my driveway... i hope to fix this with my suspension.

i don't really like how 17s look on first gens, i think 16's the limit for me

have you noticed any gains from the mosers? are they heavier much?

The SSR Type-C has gone out of production and Tire Rack no longer has them in stock. I'm trying a few other places but I've also investigated 15s because Volk TE37s are available in 15x8 and 5x114.3.

The search continues. What a headache! As if the economy wasn't enough...

Quote:

Originally Posted by thunkrd (Post 8956344)

have you noticed any gains from the mosers? are they heavier much?

My car hasn't been running since I've had the Moser axles and I no longer have the stock axles or I would give you a weight comparison. There should be a sizable number of people with Moser axles in running vehicles though.