Tire/wheel setup
 

I am currently doing a whole slew of things to my FD and have been looking into my wheel/tire setup for a while. Most of what I am installing is engine related (oil coolers, v-mount, to4r bb, etc etc), but my suspension setup is starting to come together as well.

This car is not an "exclusive" track car, but also does see a decent amount of city driving. Also, this car is driven to and from track events. I would prefer a wheel size of 17" so I can keep the cost of tires down, but it looks like I am limited to 275/40 and 255/40 for tire size. From what I gather, to run a 275/40 up front I will need to run coilovers, and at this time I have Eibach springs and Koni struts so that isn't going to happen. So unless there is some way to fit 275/40's up front with the stock sized springs (please let me know if that is possible), I am either going to have to go 255/40 all the way around or 275/255 staggered.

At this time I am not sure what would be better for my car at roughly 400whp. I like the steady state corning feel from the equal sizing, but don't know if power will be an issue with running 255's all the way around.

Tires are the other thing. I have been reading a lot and originally wanted to go with a set of Azenis, but have been reading that they get greasy towards the end of a session. I don't want to run track only tires or DOT tires with extremely low treadwear because I do drive it on the street and to the track. So as far as tires go, I am at a stand still and my head hurts from all the research I have been doing.

I guess I am not asking a specific question really, but more looking for comments. I appreciate the help.

bump

I would start with 255's all around. If you don't necessarily have a lot of track experience yet, starting out even all around is a good idea IMO.

I have a friend who is in a similar situation as far as the tires. He doesn't want to run track tires. He basically switches between the Kumho MX and the Falken 615's. Just about all street tires get slippery if you are pushing them the entire time. My buddy did note that he had basically the same lap times between the to tires.

Thanks for the reply. I think the biggest thing right now is what size wheels to buy. If I could get something that could accommodate the 255's or 275's in the rear it would be nice. My original thought was a set of RPF1's 17x8.5 for the front and 17x9.5 for the rear.

I had the Kumho MX's (295's) on the rear of my 350z that had 424rwhp and the straight line traction kind of sucked. It had good cornering grip (hell it was a 295), but I didn't know if the RT615s would be better for power on traction.

I think it would be easier to pick the wheel that you want, and then see what sizes you can get with offsets that will work. If you like/want the RPF1's, those are good sizes to get.

Well, you either want to turn fast or launch fast. There is no tire that does both great. If you are going to run on a road course, you want the cornering grip. Both the MX and the 615's will do that. I would personally pick the 615's. The MX is a good tire, but it starting to get a little old.

RT-615's are the way to go for cheaper performance street tires. I would like to pick up a set of RE-01R's at some point to play with that well. BTW, I think a cheaper R-compound is a bad choice if you don't see too much rain, just a thought.