i run 18x12 rears and 18x10 fronts, but ive also got well over the 400hp mark and the wide body to do it. just MO.. 18s with a nice fat lip on em set off the look of the car as unique, but not in chrome.... gunmetal, black.. ANYTHING but chrome

 

I am running 18x10.5 on the rear & 18x9.5 on the front... These are old school Fittipaldi Tubolares.. check the following images:

 

^ very nice Vert, didn't i talk to you a while back about targa FC's?

 

wow! are these FC's the uber rare Oregon Trail Editions? guys, if your gonna get big wheels, make sure you have the proper suspension mods so you dont look like a damn 4x4. please.

 

Staticguitar.. yeah you spoke to me then i referred you to my friend Mike in Texas.. now with respect to VICE and your comments.. I am not 4x4ing.. in fact i am using the factory gas shocks on my vert with stock springs .. and the ride is nice and the look is just as nice.. My vert is not Ghetto at all.. Aight ?

 

I like those wheels. Those were the ones that originally came with my car... Since sold them back to the previouse owner. Wish I woulda kept them..

 

IMO, wheels that are wider than the tire are fugly...

 

18's are just a little to big for my taste

 

I was noticing that however that car does look very clean, props to you man.

 

yeah it is very clean but still needs the front turn signal lenses put in.

i'm not a huge fan of lambo doors either but on a black FC it is tolerable.

 

yeah unfortunately turn signals are pretty damn necessary and again I agree with the lambo door compent as well, usually they look ricey however looks nice on that black fc. Now here is the big question, do you have some go to backup all that show

 

omg...all the 18" wheels in here are so cheesy. RICE baby RICE!

I ordered 16" bbs rg's a couple days ago, 7.5 and 8.5. ill get pics up when i get them.

 

those rims are sweet... nice fc too

 

i realize the fact that rotational inertia can increase with a larger rim..

but if u maintain the same outter diameter of tire, by reducing the sidewall thickness and increasing the rim, it shouldn't make much difference..

having a smaller stiffer sidewall will improver the handling of the car immensly, and if it improves handling i'm sure it will improve braking as well

not to mention, many times when upgrading rims, ur also increasing the size of ur contact patch, since generally ur getting wider tires too..

 

i actually liek your car a lot. very clean. but i like the lower profile look. get some lowering spring and your car woudl be double teh sex. they dont cost that much.

 

There is absolutely no reason in the world to run 18's in an FC. If you can't hook at the drag strip with 16's, you need to run real race rubber (slicks), ie. 26-10-15 goodyear or hoosier drag slicks on some light 15x10 drag rims.

For autocrossing, even the FDs, which are far more capable than our FCs when it comes to cornering thanks to their double A arm suspension, do just fine on stock 16's.

Just face it, big rims get attention. Small rims can be wide just like big rims, and small rims can be very grippy if they're real race rims (8" or wider). The FC bodystyle was not made with huge fender bulges like the RX8 and looks goofy with anything larger than 17" rims in this old boy's opinion. The money spent on those rims could have bought some real mods like an exhaust system for an NA or an FMIC for a TII..........................

 

While you are correct that smaller profile sidewalls improve steering response, moving the rim weight out further increases the rotational moment of inertia of the system proportional to the square of the radius............ Smaller sidewall tires don't = lighter tires for the same total diameter, but larger rim does = more weight for the same width in most cases. I guarantee you won't set yourself up with a 17" or 18" rim / tire combo that weighs 30lbs ready to run, like what can be done with FD rims and the right brand tire, or my cheapo BBS 15" Vert rims and old Hoosier race tires, which are damn heavy for tires.

Just face it, it's a big compromise going to bigger rims. They look cooler (to some people anyways) but they increase rotational inertia in most cases, and cost of tire replacement. Running spacers and increasing scrub radius increases steering effort and makes the car follow ruts in the road more. I've been down that path and am glad I'm back in stock offset territory.

If you want grip, stock rims and decent compound performance tires are the way to go for the best overall performance IMO.

 

18s make the car look f'ed up. come on guys we're not driving stangs here atleast drop the thing

 

you people act like 18's are soooooooo much heavier than 17's.... take the exact same wheel in both 17 and 18 inch sizes, and its not going to be THAT much heavier... at least not enough to make your "loose 15-20whp" comment reasonable. yes, heavier wheels do make the car slower, and generally bigger wheels are heavier, and I even agree that bigger than 17's can look to big on FC's in most cases. but to say that 17 is fine, and then totally blow up about how much 18's suck and are super heavy, is absurd.

IMHO, tires that stick out farther than the wheel are gross.

who cares....


and wtf happened to this thread? the guy asked who had 18's, and about autocrossing with them.

well, to answer your second question, you'd be best to stick with the smallest diameter wheel you can for auto-x. you can't really have too small of overall diameter for auto-x, so you can run a 15" wheel with like 50 series tires and be good. you'll have a super light wheel/tire combo if you get good wheels, the sidewall will be low so it will still be stiff, and you'll actually improve your acceleration due to the smaller overall diameter. however, this won't be good for the street as you'll have less ground clearance and get worse gas mileage. so, if you're using the same wheels and tires for both, I'd recommend sticking with 17's, or even 16's. and don't go cheap and get bad tires - they'll make more of a difference than any other part on the car(not saying that I think you would, just warning).

oh, and as to why supercars and the new top dollar sports cars run 18 and 19's... look at the brakes. they still barely fit under the wheels. they're not some small rotor/caliper than can fit under a 15", with a 19" stuck around it. the fact is, with the huge brakes, they can't make the wheels any smaller.

 

haha, shut up... lol.

BTW, I've got some B&G springs that are just waiting to be installed...

But yes, I totally agree with the monster truck statement... Although I think that most FC's with 18's look *pretty* good with stock suspension. You noooob-ahhh, lol.

 

for those of you saying that 15 16 or 17" rims only weigh a little less than 18 or 19+ rims, keep in mind it is ROTATING mass, which is very important, they may only be 3lb heavier on a scale, but that is multiplied during acceleration, causeing the loss of 15-20 hp. (typically)

 

what ever happened to normal doors?

 

i think 17's is ware its at but 18's are ok

 

I never race with my 18's. They're just for looks for me. But when trash talks comes my way, I always come out with my vert wheels that I have in my garage ready for the slay.

 

i had 18" on my 7 blew out 2 tires tho running over a bunch of nails someone left on the road!! grr!!! so im back on some 14" right now.
i had 215/35/18 tires and im not sure what the rim width actually is. no rubbing or anything and maintained stock over all height
boy they get rid of all that nasty sidewall flex i get with my 14" tho.

tho id have to say

handling vs ride quality/practicality id say 17 is a better choise, or i need to lower car and go with a plus size ( taller tires)

cause man you hit a bump to hard on 18" with low pro and you might bend a rim or damage a tire.