94RX74me

My son and I just bought a high horsepower FD. We plan to make a lot of changes to the car to suit our own tastes. My son does not like the styling of rims that are currently on the car. There are lots of options out there, but my question is how do I make sure I am choosing a rim that looks good and will handle around 600 wheel horsepower?


There are currently 18 x 10 in the front and 18 x 10.5 in the rear. Do I need to have rims that wide? It seems like that rim size significantly limits my options. What rim width and offset is typically used on these cars?


Thanks in advance for constructive input!

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

welcome to the board.

i'm not sure how much help you're going to get with finding "rims that look good," because that's purely subjective, and wheels that can handle 600 horsepower will likely fall under a very large umbrella.

what i can say is no. you don't need to have wheels that size, especially when you consider what the car came with as OE. wheels in the size you have typically go along with racing, wide bodies and/or both.

what i would suggest is look to tried manufacturers with a good reputation. so you may want to check the likes of Enkei, Volk, CCW, Fikse, etc. and see if they have anything in their lines that appeal to you. of course, there are less expensive options that would work as well.

as for what is typically used with them, i don't know if there is a "typical" for FDs. again, it's subjective, so options of what has been done are wide open. i will move this to the Gen III forum so you can get opinions from FD owners already in the game.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

Suspension/Wheels/Tires/Brakes - RX7Club.com
Check out the Stickys at the top of the section. Those should get you started. Variables such as coilover size, whether or not you're willing to roll fenders (your car probably already has them with those wheels) and ride height play into the equation. Some other things to think about...stock FD tires/wheels were 225/50/16 so choosing a tire/wheel combination that will keep your speedometer close for a street-driven car is something to be considered. So the larger the wheel, the less tire sidewall (aspect ratio) to keep overall diameter close. At some point ride quality is sacrificed. And risk of wheel and tire damage goes up.
BTW, if you really make it to 600 rwhp, there will be alot of other things that won't "handle" it before the wheels.

As mentioned already, personal taste and budget decide what looks good. I love Fikse, HRE and BBS, but settled for Enkei with the daughter in college.

silverTRD

iTrader: (37)

Do you have pics of the car? More info please.

Mdessouki

iTrader: (7)

Nothing looks better than a set of Fikse. It just happens I have a few sets for sale (shameless plug).

https://www.rx7club.com/wheels-tires...fm10s-1071936/

94RX74me

Finally getting back to the rim and tire project. I appreciate the input thus far.

• The car has Tein DSM32 coilovers
• The fenders have been rolled a bit
• I need to keep the ride height at a point where I can get up the curb at the end of my driveway
• The car is a 3 rotor built by Defined Autoworks. The dyno sheet I have seen shows 648 hp at the wheels

The Volk rims that are on it are nice - I just want a different look and since the car is going to be driven more on the street than on the track I am thinking of going back to 17's (the Volks are 18's).


Based on the research I've done I can run 255/40/17's since I have rolled fenders. I will have to run a 45mm offset in order to run the 255's on 17x9 rims. Bolt pattern is 114.3.


More than anything I want to make sure I am on track in terms of tire size/rim size/bolt pattern. Not sure what center bore size I need.


I'm thinking that I should go with the same size front/back so I can rotate them as I know the rears will get more abuse than the fronts.


Any additional input would be appreciated.

jarr0d

definitely a personal opinion/budget thing, and sometimes vehicle usage type comes into play. when i used to dd my fd i had same size mags 18x10 & 18x10.5 but ended up getting a nice set of 17x9 for dd, much bigger range of tyre choices here for 17's and savings for the never ending 1 more part list (especially when you like being lead footed, tyre rotation isn't just to kill the tyre)

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

FWIW, I have 255/40/17s on 17x 9 +48. They are square. I do have an adjustable front sway, but it's set only slightly stiffer than stock, and I'm currently running an autocross alignment, i.e. a bit more than stock neg. camber. IIRC, it's ~ -1.8 on the front...~ -1.1 at rear. No fender rolling. And no rubbing of front fender liners even on hard lock-lock. I'm at slightly lower-than-stock height on Ground Control adjustable height coil-overs. But it sure looks like (if I wished) I could go lower with no issues. Like you, much of my driving is street and I have a curbed driveway. I've had co-workers check it up to 65 mph and the speedometer is very close.
When I was purchasing my wheels, I was told by the customer service guy that their database actually showed that 265's could be run on the rear of the FD without modification on 17 x 9 +48. .

Also, you'll have to forgive my earlier doubting sarcasm. I help in the New Member Tech section and if you saw how many new owners talk of aspiring to 500 and beyond...and then go on to complain about the cost of premium gas, you'd understand.

94RX74me

Hi Jim,


Thanks for the input. I appreciate it. The project may have changed a bit today as my son really likes the Enkei Raijin rims. Of course the smallest diameter they come in is 18"... So we may end up on 18's after all...


As far as your sarcasm, I totally understand. Honestly, I don't know what the tri-rotor is putting out now, but it is ridiculously fast! It is clearly the fastest car I have ever owned - by a wide margin!


Keep the input coming guys. I am new to the RX7 world so I appreciate any constructive input!


Erik