82streetracer

iTrader: (1)

I want some cool big silver ricer wheels for my silver 82.
I was looking at tirerack.com the kosei k1 racing but 15 inch seems kinda small. I realize that it is a small car and they probably wouldn't look all that small. But I still want 16s at least

I dont know what model I have
But I have no power anything

No powersteering
No powerwindows.
steelie 13 inch wheels.

Gizmo

IMO, first gen wernt made to have 16 or 17 inch wheels
I'm sure you will say after installing them (supposing they won't rub and fit nicely): wow, they look nice!
let's try them now...
"Holy ****, that dam thing isnt accelerating! dam, turn turn TURN!!!"
oh wheel.... oh well

Max7

I sold my 16's so I could get some 17's
Oh thats right I forgot, hehe, I got a 13B to make rolling them huge 17's a little easier
Honestly, 16's were great, as for slowing you down, I doubt a 1/10th in the 1/4 really means much to most people.
I AutoX, and Drag my car but 95% of the time I'm on the street.
So to me they look nice. and ride well. I ain't driving no Caddy.
I got R compound and big rims. and I like it, its all personal pref.

PaulFitzwarryne

The real problem is that there are very few large wheels around with a 4 lug 110mm pattern and the right offset.

You need to keep the right rolling radius and that means goimg for a very low profile down to 35 series. At that level you are talking high performance high cost tires which is OK if you are a new Porsche owner. As a general rule you can add 25-30% wheel and tire cost for each inch you go up.

There is little evidence that performance will go up unless you are into drag racing and are going to leave half your rubber behind. I would suggest you may loose performance due to extra rolling resistance unless you have modified up tp 250hp

Will it look cool? Depends who you are trying to impress, the real car experts will think its a joke. My view it will look out of character for a near classic 20 year old car.

I use 205-60-14s and they look and handle well I borrowed 16 inch and the performance on typical roads went down, while they had a rougher ride. I use Yokohamas which have just dropped 205-14s from their high performace range. Trying out their 195=14s gave me identical performance as the tread width is almost identical in spite of the 195/205 nomonal rating.

On reflection I would go 205 55 series on 15 inch with the right width size. If you are just cruising around town you could go for 205-50s on
16 inch . The fundamental problem still remains most good looking wheels are not available in RX7 hub patterns. It may be best to look around for a local wheel manufactuer who produces blank hubs who can drill to what you need. But know what offset is required.

Have you read the tire and wheel section of Mike Ancas's RX-7 Performance Handbook to see what he recommens? For the SCCA street prepared category he says 13 inch gives the best performance.

peejay

Actually, large diameter rims with low profile tires is just about the worst thing possible for drag racing. The contact patch is very short and wide, and the tires are so stiff that traction is easily lost. The best thing for drag racing is TALL tires with small rims and very soft sidewalls, that way when you launch the sidewalls will wrinkle and the tire will coil up and you'll have a very nice, long contact patch.

The only reason there is more, if any, percieved straight-line performance with big rim/low profile tires is because of the rubber compounds used. Of course, that also means they don't last long at all, and the same compounds can be used on more normal tires for absolutely stellar performance.

Heck, even when you use the grippy rubber on stiff tires, it can still suck. I tried using R-compound race tires, 205/60VR13s, at the dragstrip. I couldn't get them to hook up. I got my best times with 185/70-13 tires with less grippy rubber, but nice soft sidewalls and a proper contact patch.

And then there's the arguments about flywheel effect, both accelerating rotationally as well as laterally. (Spin a bicycle wheel held in your hand and try to move it around quickly. Not easy is it?) And if you have performance brake pads, unless you're at the track, large wheels can keep the brakes TOO cool. I know someone into VWs who ran 13" wheels and Metal Master pads on the street with no problems, switched to 15" wheels and suddenly his brakes need more warm-up time. Hmm.

I agree, for our cars 13" wheels are the best for performance, anything bigger is for looks or for big brakes. (I'm also biased in that 13" wheels look better because they're more in propertion to the car, but anyway...) Once you're okay with the thought that the big wheels are more of a performance liability than an improvement, and a certain look look is the only reason to go with them, your choices become more clear.

PaulFitzwarryne

Peejay We both agree that 16 and 17 inch look out of place on a gen 1 and performance would suffer.

Thanks Peejay for helping me make a decision on my wheel/ tires. My car came with 205-60-VR14s and I have traditionally used Yokohama on all my vehicles. They have now dropped that size from their high performance tire [A539] when they changed to the new silicon tread, Their excuse was modern sports cars use 16-18 inch wheels. I borrowed a set of two different 16 inch set ups and disliked their performance. The Yokohama rep lent me a set of 215s in a different pattern but they rubbed without a change in whwwl offset

My test is a drive to work, a 750 mile distance starting with an expressway and ending in 300 miles of winding poor quality roads. I bought a set of 195-65-14" last month which I thought was a backward step, but got good all round performance in the 4,000 miles travelled. I have been considering moving to a 15 inch to get 205s, taking some thought due to the cost of a new set of alloy wheels and discarding 4 good tires.

You have convinced me to stop with the 14 inch Enkei with 195s.

I prefer driving the RX-7 which is a 1984 convertible for that trip, rather than my Nissan R34. This has 245-40-18"s, up from the previous R32 fitted with 225-50-16" which had similar 1/4 mile times of high 12s. As you say the trend to larger wheels is one of looks not performance.

Max7

I agree, it still comes down to personal pref.

I also don't belive in the set of tires for drag racing, and a set for autox, then I have to change them all the time, and where is money savings?
I buy 1 set that is a tradeoff for all 3 things I do.
I know that small sidewalls suck for dragracing, but I've also had a tranny crap out on me from hard launchs.
I'm not the best drag racer. need much more practice.
At the AutoX I do rather well, I have a fighting chance there, granted I don't have the R compound 0 treadwear rated tires some do.
Last 2 years I ran one with a 100 Treadwear. and they still have tread!
granted most of the treadloss was from drags, gotta luv them burnouts. hehe.
As for street performance. WOW, hell of a differance. I would never go back to a 80,000 mile tire, yea they may cost a little more up front. but so did my Shocks, Coils, sway bars, exhaust.
And yet the ride can be a bit more bumpy, thats why I've got adjustables. and as always, I ain't driving no Caddy

moremazda

iTrader: (4)

what you need to do is find a Discount Tire Co. or Les Schwab or some other big chain, because all most all of their store have the abillity to get a hold of the manufacturers and place custom orders. I have 16x7 Team Dynamics on my 1st gen, and I belive the look is fitting to the car. I ordered them through Discount Tire who had them custom drilled for the bolt patten by the manufacturer. Shipping time was two-three days longer but the price was no different than a more common bolt pattern.

And the offset, to make the guy behind the counter look less confused, is 18mm. It is not published on any of their books in the stores but the manfactureres will have all the info.

Ryan

AJC13B

Sorry guys, i 100% do not agree with you that 17s look out of place on a 1st Gen. A crap looking rim, whether it is 13 inch or 20 inch, will ruin a car. The 17s I put on my car set the car off big time!



As for the loss of performance, I don't suffer that problem, and even if I did, the loss would be minimal at best!

And traction? Well previously I had Falken GRB 225,45/17s on the back of mine and they held up reasonably, until we were getting 400rwhp on 15psi and pump fuel and the car was gutter to gutter through 1st and 2nd gear and most of the way through 3rd! Now I have 225/45/17 Yokohama A032Rs on the car shudders a bit in 1st then hooks up and takes off!

Powerslave

Yeh 16inch wheels would be totally useless! itd be like having running on 1 rotor!!!! Hell I cant wait to ditch mine in favour of me old 14's. No wait! I could use my old mans Coooper S mini wheels, 10 inchs!!!!!! FD's would run in fear!

82streetracer

iTrader: (1)

AJC13B
those 17s look tight as hell. I am definatly going with 17s now.
I am thinking of something with more than 6 spokes. they need to be a similar silver to my car.

Is your speedometer off at all. They are 17x7

AJC13B

streetracer - The rims I have come in polished or silver and can be ordered with any rim offset or stud pattern you want.

My speedo doesn't work at all and the fronts are 17x7 and back are 17x8. Tyres are 205/40/17s front and 225/45/17 back.

Rotorious7

iTrader: (1)

ajc 13b

i saw a video of your run, What type of slicks and what size do you run at the track

82streetracer

iTrader: (1)

Thanks alot I am thinking 205/40/r17 all around on 17x7 inch rims.
I was thinking Yokahama parada tires. 8s on the back would look tight but I am not putting down the kind of power you are and it would ruin the perfect balance my car has right now. I oversteer just a little and that it the way I like it.

AJC13B

A video of which run?? Where abouts??!

The slicks are 26x8s on 15x8 rims. They are American Racer full slicks.

Streetracer - Sweet!

yayarx7

try http://www.xtremeperformance.org/ for those big rims in 4x110mm.

The brand is "big daddy billets" Not everyones style but some look good if you like the california hot rod thing.

Just my $02

smnc

Didn't we already have this debate?
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...ght=which+size

It was a toss-up between the 15 and 16" but I got the 16's myself.
I personally feel that 17" is too big, and 15" isn't enough of an upgrade from my stock GSL-SE 14's.


Just my opinion...