Whats up racers? Well I asked this question in the suspension section with no replys, and I figured u dudes would have a better idea anyway. I am in the middle of putting my 5 lug hubs on my car, and I need new rims. I am torn between a super cheap 15x8 steel rims(19lbs apiece) with a 225/50R15(anyone know of a decent performance tire in 225/45R15). My other set-up would be a mustang gt rim 17x8 alloy(17lbs apiece) with a 225/45R17.

I am looking at what would perform better for an N/A street/hpde car. The 15" set-up would way a total of 39lbs per corner(19lbs wheel, 20lbs tire) while the 17" set-up would weigh a total of 40lbs per corner(17lbs wheel 23lbs tire). Now I am guessign the 15" set-up would perform better, since it would give me a gearing advantage, and the fact that it is a overall lighter weight that has a smaller polar moment of inertia(isn't that what you call it since the wheel/tire combo has a 1 inch overall diameter?

 

You can get lighter wheels in the 17" and wheel/tire sizes are more common.

Example: Kosei K1-TS 17x7 are <14 lbs and the 17x8 are ~15lbs costing about $200 per wheel.

My SSR Integra A2's 17x8 are supposed to be 18 lbs, however, with mounted 235/40 A032R's the combo weighs approx 39 lbs. Wierd.

Steering response will be better with shorter, stiffer sidewalls, and the tires will generally weigh less unless you are going for something wider.

For auto-x, I want more tire on the ground for lateral grip, and so I run 275's. I wish I had the nibble feel of 235's, but it's a tradeoff, I'll have to fix something else to get that back.

 

The reason I am going this route, is because both the those set-ups are hella cheap, the 15x8's are steel rims, and the 17" rims are off a mustang gt, also very cheap.

If I had more moeny I would just get some 15x7 wedsport rims, they are under 11lbs.

 

If I could only choose from those two setups, I would pick the shorter tire, the 15" set in this case.

 

Just about anything will be better than what came with the car, hit has 235 tires on phone dials

 

You could also go with some 15x7 Mustang wheels (a set can be had, shipped for under $100 on ebay) with 225/50/15's or 225/45/15's. There's a number of R's in the 225/45 size, but only one street tire, the Hankook RS-2. The 45 series gives a CG height and gearing advantage. The Mustang wheels I've got (17x8) are the GT ones supposedly that weigh 17lbs, but it's more like 20. The 15's are about 16lbs.

The problem with the steel wheels is that they've got too low of an offset to be good (or at least from what I've seen).

 

FD 16x8's are 12.5 and 15lbs depending on when they were made.
fc vert bbs wheels are 15x6 or 6.5 i forget, but theyre about 11lbs.

kosei t1-ks and enkei rpf1's are both very cheap for some lightweight wheels.

I think that Rota makes some lightweight "copies" of various wheels, like te37 copies and others.

 

^ good call on the Rota's and FD wheels :bigthumbs: rotas are what all my buddies run (mostly boosted hondas), and another guy i know is using FD wheels on a drag MR2. all the wheels are very light, and relatively cheap.

 

Hey black91, you brought that up in another thread, but I found a company that makes a 15x8 with a 5 inch offset, that should be just about perfect.

 

15x8's with the 5" backspace will fit, but it's not quite ideal, but then again neither are the Mustang wheels. I'd rather have something with a little higher backspace (5.25 or something).

The FD wheels aren't the greatest choice, and aren't really a budget solution because they require such large spacers to work properly on an FC.

You can get some Rota Slipstreams made in a 15x8 40mm offset from 18wheels.com (I think that's it) but you'll probably have to wait for them to get other interested parties and wait for them to be built, and there's another site offering comepletely custom rota sizing if 5 sets or more are wantes (don't have the site on hand now, will post it later). With that I'd go for a Slipstreams in a 15x8 30mm offset that are hubcentric to the FC, to me that'd be perfect. I'd buy a set of those if 4 others wanted some too, that way we could have some really good track wheels for the FC. I think the 15x8 Rotas are about 14-15lbs.