Doing my full setup and was looking for some help as I have a few questions. Car is a street/Occasional track car. Suspension mods is low mileage stock struts with Tein S-Techs, R1 strut bar, Superpro rear toe bushings and all new pillow *****, RE Amemiya AW7s 17x8.5 17x9.5 with 42 offset I believe.

1. Im trying to figure out tire sizing on my wheels and according to Howard Colemans suspension sticky the tires should be just as wide as the rims which is 225 in the front and 245 in the rear? I was also reading Jimlabs tire sizing and wheel sizing and on his he recommends 245 front 265 rear, which would be better in a handling perspective?

2. If I get a alignment with my stock wheels would it affect the alignment when I put on my RE wheels? I assume it wouldn't but I may need more camber to fit the slightly taller wheels? Going with a 40 sidewall since those performance tires are readily available.

3. What would be the best alignment settings for my cars uses? Also have any of you took your car to a firestone, bigo'tires or anything like that for alignment and was happy? Only way id take it to them is if I can get them to not do their after alignment road test, ill never let them "Test" my car.

TIA and sorry if these questions were answered already.

 

1. I doubt you'll find a 265 wheel with the correct sidewall height in a tire brand you'll want.. If you want a little stretched look, you can go with 225 Front/255 Rear. If you want some more rubber on the road, 245/275 would be your next combo.


2/3. You'll typically have different alignment settings with different diameter wheels. I would do the alignment with whatever wheels you plan to track. With that, start with Pettit's settings and you can adjust from there:




As for a shop, I would talk to some people local to you to see who they use. It really depends on the location rather than the chain. For instance, the Firestone in my area wouldn't touch my RX-7. The others that would did not want to use my alignment specs. I ended up using Goodyear because the specific location I found had proper ramps for lowered vehicles, and the equipment (as well as knowledge) to set more aggressive track focused alignments.

 

Thanks for the info. I do know that my local lesshwab would touch my car, they just said their not responsible if the settings I pick shred tires lol. And I know my local bigo'tires do sports cars. I gotta find if any of them allow a lowered car.

Also is a 40 sidewall height a good height? In 17s I can only find one tire with a 35 sidewall. Majority of them are 40-45

 

Where are you located, jay? I know a great shop in Santa Cruz.

 

I live in antioch area, Far East Bay Area. I might just drive my car down to AutoRnD and have them align it.

 

For a 245 or 255/17" wheel, sure. Use this calculator to see what tire sizes will work (using the stock tire size as your base):

Tire Size Calculator - Discount Tire Direct

 

So I'm thinking 245/40/17 front 265/40/17 rear. Going use Pettits alignment settings for long track, with my drop I shouldn't need to roll fenders with this setup?

Also not sure if I'm going to track with these or stockers. Stockers are lighter but I'd have better tracking with the aftermarket wheels.

 

What's better for a road course, squared, not staggered wheels or staggered fitment?

 

Are you picking those based on sizes, or what tires come in those sizes? I'm not sure you are going to find many good performance options in that combination. You are likely going to have to switch the rear to either 255 or 275 for a better selection.

I would recommend rolling the front fenders for any car that is either going to run on the track, and/or use aftermarket wheels.

Stock wheels are fine for the track. That's actually all I used on my car. However, you will be limited on size which may or may not be a big deal depending on what you want to get out of the car on the track.

Better is subjective in this space as it depends a lot on your suspension and aero setup. Larger rear wheels means more rear traction. That also means more understeer but that may or may not be desirable depending on the rest of the car. In general, unless you know how you are balancing the car, go with a square setup which will also allow you to rotate wheels.

 

I like a squared set up for the simple reason that I'm always broke and I want to be able to rotate my tires.
My wheels are 17X10 +50 with 265/40 tires and coil-over suspension. My fenders are rolled and there's no rubbing unless I'm at full lock.
Here's a pic that kinda-sorta shows the fitment.

 

I'd do 235 or 245 front and 255 rear. There are no 265 width tires in 17" fitments. With the fronts, you want to ensure that the overall diameter is correct for the FD at around 25".

For alignment, go to AutoRND in Fremont area right off 880. Rishie at AutoRND is a forum vendor, RX7 enthusiast and can get you awesome prices on wheels, suspension tires and do alignments as well.

Mahjik is correct on all his points.

 

You must mean not many 265s. I have a set of Falkens on my car right now. Starspecs and Extreme Contacts also come in 265/40/17 (among others).

Again, the day I squared my tires up was the day I saved money with the ability to rotate them.

 

Yeah more tire selections in 255 range. 25" diameter including tires correct? I am still debating on using my aftermarket wheels or stock for track. I do prefer more under steer since I'm just starting out.

Out of all the performance cars I had this is the first that will see track time.

Probably doing the 235/40/17 and 255/40/17 if I track with the aftermarket, if I don't ill just use aftermarket as looks when off track.

Yeah autornd is where it's going if I drive that hour drive to take it lol

 

I run the stock 16's for autocross, with 245/45 R-compound tires, and the nice 17's with 255/275 tires on the street. I'm thinking of going to 18's for the track, and a square setup.

One thing to consider, as noted in the nice charts above, is that 16's and 17's want notably different camber settings. I don't mind compromising street, but if set up for 16's, tread wear on the 17" street tires might get notable. A track setup for 18" wheels looks close to a street setup for 17" wheels. Hmm...

 

I don't know how much I would trust Pettit's camber recommendations.
For autocross at least, -1.1 is far too conservative.
The recommendation for autox on and FD is generally -3.0
Getting that on the front of an FD requires some modification, but is well worth it.

 

Yeah still debating on pettit's camber settings or Howard's camber settings. His are at -1.2 all 4 corners, recommended in his sticky.

 

I ran Pettit's "long track" alignment with 235/255/17s on 17x8 and 9 and stock swaybars. The car was a tiny bit tailhappy. Maybe it's because I have a '93 with a bigger rear swaybar, but to me, it seemed more like an autocross set-up. Either way, it was mild oversteer and took me about a half a lap to figure it out.
No experience with Howard's.

Pettit:
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-gen-arch...-specs-182680/

 

I have a 93 so your setup is going be identical to mine. I do want slight under steer so I'm going have to see about making that possible.

 

I'm not sure what tracks you plan to run. The only concern I would have with the stock OEM wheels (regardless if they are the standard or redesigned ones) is if you are running on a ROVAL (part standard track, part oval). The oval sections put a LOT of stress on the wheels and I've seen the Arizona members in the past crack the OEM wheels on their track (Phoenix International Raceway).

I had no problems with OEM wheels on non-ROVAL's. However, the Kansas Speedway created an infield road course so I had planned to get aftermarket wheels to run on that course.

 

That's a good point that I didn't know. My car is a 93 so it's possible I don't have the reinforced ones anyways. I'd only do the local tracks, I'm not trying to get too serious in tracking, just rather do my spirited driving there where it belongs. Easy to get in trouble on street.

Tracks id attend is Laguna seca, Infineon and willow springs.

 

I wouldn't even bother worrying which iteration of the stock wheels you have... There is debate as to whether the other iteration really is "reinforced" or just a different cast. There is no evidence to support that the supposed reinforced ones crack any less than the original. Over my years on this forum, I've seen equal reports of them both cracking.

 

Don't forget T-Hill and Buttonwillow! They're both within striking distance, too.

haha, I'll probably see ya there.

These guys are all pretty cool. There's a 105db Laguna Seca day coming up soon!
http://trackmasters-racing.com/






.

 

due to the many variables, track camber settings should be determined w a pyrometer and camber is very important if you are trying to go fast. you will find all 4 corners end up at different settings.

how important is perfect camber? i am talking seconds in lap time.

my 1.2 is just a street friendly non tire-destroying number.

you can bet i have never run 1.2 degrees on track

howard

 

What's a good camber starting point? Is it the 1.2 and measure with pyrometer and adjust accordingly?

 

For street or for track? That's the thing, there isn't going to be one great starting point. Just pick one and adjust from there. If you are focusing on track, then I would suggest the Pettit Short Track alignment as a decent starting point.