does it make sense to go down to a 255 tire?
 

Well its time to get a new set of tires and I'm really considering a new set up. I'm currently using 245/40/17 and 275/40/17 but from what I hear a staggered set up may not bring out the cars real handling potential. I have been thinking of switching wheels to accommodate 255/35/18 for street use. Is there any reasons I shouldn't run this set up?

Don't believe everything you hear ;)

Having said that, I've been running 18x9.5 +45 F, 18x10 +38 R Enkei RPF1 with Yoko Advan AD08 tires (255/35 and 265/35) on the track and been pretty damn pleased. Tremendous grip. I'm uploading pics that I can post shortly.

For many years I ran 17x8.5 and 17x10 Fikse FM5 with various 245/40 and 275/40 tires, S02, S03, BFG KD. The car felt very stable with this staggered setup, and more forgiving due to the added grip out back relative to the front.

It all depends on what you're doing with the car, but for the street there is nothing wrong with staggered.

Personally the only square fitment I'd consider would be 285/30 on 18x10 for the track..... but I also don't want 255s in the rear b/c of traction issues.

Do you think a 18x5 with a 255 will fit the fronts? I'm using koni yellows with eibach springs and my alignment is -1 degree in the front and -2 in the back. I'm still unsure what offsets would be nice and aggressive but fit as well.

Does anyone know if an 18x8.5 with a 48 offset will work for both the front and rear with 245/40/18?

That's a weak offset for such skinny wheels, they'll be sunken in pretty badly. Those tires also are way too tall at 25.7 inch overall diameter. I say 'fail' on both points. Next :D!

255/35 all around wouldn't be a bad setup. Ideally, you'd want to mount them on some 9" wheels though. 18x8.5 will work, but it won't look great (sunken), and the tire would ideally like wider.

If budget is a concern, you might look into some used wheels. It seems like wheels are tough to sell, so they go comparatively cheap. Check the forum, or call Fritz or AllRotor.

What style of wheel are ya looking for? My RPF1 and Advan AD08 track setup will be on the block soon.

Well the price for an 18x5 and 1
8x9 is the same so I could go wider I was just worried that in that size they couldn't fit them on the fronts. So are we at least in agreement that an 1
8x9 (48) with a 255/35/18 would fit both the front and rear?

The style I was going for is almost the same as the new wedssports but seeing as how I'm on somewhat of a tight budget I'll just end up getting the rota g-forces. This car is a 1
00% street car daily driven on Va's crappy roads so I won't mind hurting a rota when I can pick up a whole set for pretty much the price of one of the nicer wheels. As for tires I have to get rid of my current summer only tires for an all season that can grip the road with our freezing temperatures =(

I am looking to purchase these wheels today, can someone please let me know if they will fit?

Yes, I believe 18x9" +48 with a 255/35/18 all around should fit.

http://oi35.tinypic.com/24dmy5c.jpg

Have you seen this thread Justin? ->https://www.rx7club.com/suspension-wheels-tires-brakes-20/maximum-wheel-tire-width-fitment-guide-fd-892901/

I was thinking about the 6ULR as my next set. But If I know you, you're probably going for a specific look. Good luck, and can't wait to see them on Ronald.

What are you doing with your current wheels?

He's selling them, check the wheels/tires for sale section. (I never did like those yellow MS-01s)

Yep in the for sale section! :)

I liked the MS-01's. Its a clean wheel thats damn near indestructible but after having them for so long I felt I needed a change. Plus with my new cym oem hood there was just too much yellow going on.

You trying to go back to a more stock look?

I really liked the carbon hood but absolutely HATED the hood pins. I ended up getting really lucky being able to pick up a free cym stocker from turbodrx7(real cool guy btw) and just liked that look so much more. Ive been wanting to change the wheels for a while so with this little "make-over" it was the perfect excuse to try a wheel Ive been looking at for a while. In the end I just want it to be clean with a hint of aggressiveness.

I think it will look much better with the stock hood as well, you get it to latch yet?

Don't listen to these silly stock body guys :suspect: :rofl:

Yep I got it to latch but Im going to need to do a little more work to make it perfect. I love to see a clean FD but my dream set up would be the full RE widebody kit they use on their touge car. MMMM that just looks so good.

[Sigh] our resident ricer :icon_no2:

Justin,
17" wheels are much better for daily driving. Your current wheels are very nice wheels so I'd have them reconditioned and powder coated black which would look cool and clean up easily. Mount some http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

265 40s rear and 255 40s front

Fritz, I'd agree on the 17" size being better for daily driving and all the potholes. But, are you sure about the Star Specs? They are a great tire (don't get me wrong I love mine) but are they good to drive around in the winter too?

Hey Fritz,

I was thinking of having the MS powder coated in black but felt with it being a 17 and black naturally being a slimming color it would make the wheels look way too small. That and with everything Ive seen out side of America everyone from pro drivers to regular track junkies use these tire sizes. Apparently having the same sizes in the front and rear brings out the FD's balanced handling. Heres to hoping their right!

That was my thoughts exactely, as it is my S-drives are on a mission to kill me. :lol: Ill end up getting a high performance all season tire. It sucks but I guess I have to make a sacrafice with all the crazy weather we get here.

If it were me, I'd buy the 949racing.com 6ULR 17x10 +52 wheels and Kumaho Ecsta ASX 255/40/17 tires. Total cost all new $1600 (There are no 265/40/17 all-season tires on Tirerack)

That way if you ever want to go to a BBK you still have options that will fit your wheel and you can always put Hoosier A6 295/35/17 tires on them if you want more tire to hit up the Track/AutoX in the future.

I think the sizing im getting is just right for a street car. It can fit the rubber I need and looks pretty good too ;) Im not too worried about fitting a bbk seeing as how Ill never make enough power with this car to overwork the stock brakes on the street. Im just looking for a fair ballance with the power/tire size/suspension settings.

SHIT! now they are telling me the offsets are 30........I have no idea if these will fit..... these wheel calculations are a real pita!

From previously posted link:

FRONT
Wheel Width Offset range Ideal
10 +50 to +52 +52
9.5 +44 to +56 +48
9 +37 to +63 +45

REAR Offset range Ideal
11 +48 +48 (will require fender roll)
10.5 +42 to +54 +48 (will require fender roll depending on tire size)
10 +35 to +61 +44
9.5 +29 to more than+60 +40



looks like rear yes, front no

18x9 +30 will be tight you will have to roll your fenders.

Do you think the fenders will need to be rolled even with the -1 degree of camber in front? I'm having trouble finding what the current offsets of my mazdaspeeds are but from what I gather its either 35 or 30 offsets. I would think these new wheels would fit about the same in the front, but I could be completely wrong!

http://www.wheelspecs.com/MazdaSpeed-MS-01_wm1511.aspx

Heres where I got my information. Mine are 17x8 in the front. These new wheels shouldn't be a problem then, right?

I would need the full specs on your MS-01's to be able to tell. What is the width? You can measure the offset pretty easily with the rims off the car. Just measure the distance from the mounting surface to the back side lip of the wheel and subtract half the width of the wheel.

Either way with 18x9 +30 according to the spreadsheets and seems to correspond with my experience you are around 3 mm into the fender lip.

17x8 +30 is roughly 71.6 mm from the mounting surface to the outer edge of your wheel.
18x9 +30 is roughly 84.3 mm from the mounting surface. So they will stick out almost 13 mm further then your current set up.

So from what your saying is it will stick out an extra 1.3cm?

1 inch = 2.54 cm
1 cm = 10 mm
1 inch = (2.54 x 10) mm = 25.4 mm

Little more then half an inch yo.

yes

Sweet baby Jesus my math is so fail....


Well I measured the distance from the fenders edge and my current wheel and Id say I have just about an inch. This might be a close fit, do you think I could pull it off without a fender roll?

It's to tight to say for sure. You could possibly get away with it, but I would plan on rolling your fenders.

Do you think its worth it to run a 9 inch wide wheel if its going to be this close? Im not really going for any of that hellaflush stuff.

Thats really up to you on what you want. You can run a 255 on a 8.5" rim so you could step it down in the front. However the Rota's only come in 18X8.5 +48 which is gonna be pretty sunken in in the front. Thats about 12 mm further in then your current set up. I'm not sure if the g-forces are concave or not, but if they are the wider they are the more concave they will be. Cast wheels like this will only have a couple "face designs" so offset will not affect concavity only rim width will. To achieve varying offsets they back fill the mounting surface.

if you plan on running no spoiler i think your better off with a staggered setup. If you plan on running a spoiler of some sort then by all means run the same size around. The same offets and size tire all around is almost guaranteed to cause over steer. A spoiler providing down force would balance that out. A staggerd setup can cause understeer depending on the the difference in tire sizes. i personaly do not like the feel of a staggered setup but if i had to pick a one i would do 17x10 and 17x9.5 both with 255/40/17s........ if u want same size all around and dont mind a bit of oversteer i would say 17x9.5 or 10 all around with 255s or 18x10 all around with 265s. there is almost no point in running 18x9.5s because you can easily produce similar results with 17s for almost half the cost.

Thanks for sharing:nod: