In 2014 I won the Atlantic Regional Time Attack Championship with my 93 FD stock drive train and 245/45/16 on 8.5 wheels.

This year our track is hosting the National Competition and I wouldn't mind owning that title as well. I have the home court advantage on a very technical 1.6 mile 11 turn short track with many elevation changes and a top speed of about 110 MPH.

I think going to a wider tire would help my chances significantly. The track is not the smoothest and I think a skinny 18 inch would do more harm than good. I have been toying with the idea of a 295/35/17.

The front and rear fenders are rolled and beat out with a BFH so that is not a concern. I am concerned with rubbing on control arms, and when turning, along with not altering the scrub radius so that it changes the turn in of the car more than my current wheels (16x8.5+40 F / 16x8+30 R. Does anyone have a track setup that they have tried. or could provide some insight; it would be appreciated.

I race 18x11 +45 on 295/30-18 Ventus TDs Front and Rear on my stock body FD.

That wheel width is the recommended "optimum" by Hankook looking at their new tire spec chart.

I have rolled/slightly pulled front fenders, rolled rear, Ohlins coilovers, Tripoint swaybar shortened 2" for full steering lock, -2.4deg Front, -1.2deg Rear camber.

If you are the type of driver that drives up the limits and then backs off a hair you will be WAAAAAAAAAAAy faster with this set-up.

If your fenders are as super rolled as you say, I personally would run 18x11.5 +38 with the 295/30-18 Ventus TD as I prefer these soft sidewall tires with a tiny bit of stretch (my 265 TDs on 10.5 wheel felt a little better).

I used Forgestar F14 and they are 22lbs in 18x11 +45 and ~ $1,500 as set.

If you want max performance, my experience and research lends itself to run the widest wheel as possible that can fit and fit a tire to the wheel with a slight stretch (the tire beads are outside of the tread width of the tire.

if you can fit an 11" wide wheel, I would find a tire tread width around 10.5-10.9" wide. this will give you the trapezoidal shape that you want with the tire. when you think about turning, the tires sidewall is already stretched into position and holds the tread in place better than a tread width wider than the tire beads, which can lead to the tires sidewall flexing under load and possibly leading to unpredictable let go of the tire (it just let go).

find a race car that has tread widths wider than wheel widths in racing.

This is for performance, more comfort can be had with wider tires than wheel width as the sidewalls flex over bumps more. its not a huge difference but a difference.

I will have to look when I get home, but they are not top of the lines tires by any means. I am also putting down ~550 RWHP, which doesn't help traction whatsoever.

I am looking to maximize straight line traction while being able to maintain turning traction. Straight line traction is more important than turning traction for street use for me, and this car will only see a track on rare occasion.

Being a street car, it is rare that any tires I put on will get up to proper temps for great traction. So I guess I am looking more for the best cold traction I can find.

So for a street car would it make sense to get max performance all season tires over max performance summer sires?

I don't have all the answers, but I drive my car only in the summer and like the soft grippy tires. this is probably why I don't spin my tires often and get really good grip.

You will always be faced with trade offs. the trade off being longevity vrs. performance (grip). I don't know of a tire that is going to last 50K miles and grip like a beast.

I will only run extreme sports tires on my 7, because I spent a lot on the car, and tires are what makes everything happen between the car and the road. Why would I spend tens of thousands on the car and skimp on the most important mod? that is just me.


If you really look around you can find deals on good tires. I purchased my Kumho XS 265/35/18 new for 600 shipped.

I was more getting at if a all season performance tire will perform better If not driven at the limit? Because of the tires temp. Perhaps a better question would be will an all season tire perform better at a lower temp? I suppose it doesn't matter as I'm in So. cal lol but still an interesting question and it's nice I don't have to store my car for the winter. That must suck.

I would think the all season tires might be better in very cold temps, like 0-20 degrees, and perhaps more equal around 30, and the extreme tires are better in 40+ temps.

some of the extreme sports tires say on the tire not to operate in very cold temps as in 30 and below. When the extreme sport tires are in their operating range, the grip difference is gigantic between the two. It could be a .4G difference in grip which is miles apart.

I know the tests with a Toyo R1R on a miata without sway bars they were peaking at 1.3G, with the sway bars connected he peaked around 1.1G, and I would imagine a all season peaking around .85G or something.

That is very helpful. Thank you.

The Max Performance Michelin Pilot SuperSport (Max Performance Summer) tires on my FD have less grip than the General GMax AS-03 on wife's Mazda3 in even 50F temps. Part of the issue is size. I'm on 275 rears on the FD, they don't really warm up in normal usage.

In normal conditions, the best UHP all-seasons are capable of within 0.05 g of the best Extreme performance tires. (Tire Rack's best average g's for Extreme Perf = 0.97 for ZII Star Spec, UHP all-season best = 0.93 for Pilot Sport A/S3

At 50F or cooler, on the street in normal usage, my money's on the best all-seasons for grip over the best Extreme perf tire.

255/35/18 tire on a 18x9.5?

Im looking into the Federal rsr's that BlueTII runs and they are at an attractive price. THe tread width is only 9.1" for a 255 however. Is that too much of a stretch for a 10" wide wheel? I also like the Dunlop star specs which are at 9.6" tread width but about 300 bucks more a set. decisions, decisions

Federal Tyres - UHP - 595RS-R

Right there-
Federal recommends the use of the 255/40-17 RS-R on an 8.5" to 10" wide wheel.

The Dunlops are a slightly more refined tire.

The 595RS-R are best bang for buck.

Picked up some enkei nt03s 17x9.5 +44. Was thinking +40 for concave but couldn't pass up the deal on these. $800 used but literally brand new. No chips or scratches. Will post some pics after the install. Want to put a small spacer on the back but can't find any hubcentric ones available for the rx7 under 10mm

Yes I saw that thank you. I should have been more specific. Will it look hella stretched? I'm just being paranoid lol

No, it will look like proper tire and wheel fitment because it is.

Well, the section width of the 255/40-17 RSR is 10.2", only slightly wider than your wheel's 10" inside lip to inside lip width dimension. The outside to outside wheel width is 11", so you'll have 1/2" of wheel lip sticking out beyond the tire sidewall. That might look a bit "stretched", but whether it's too much or not is subjective. For sure there will be zero forgiveness if you run close to a curb, the tire will not protect the wheel.

Personally, for street usage I like for the tire to come closer to covering the total outside wheel width to protect the wheels. I'm running 275/35-18 on 18x9.5 wheels and to me it looks about right. I have to think that 255/40-17 on 17x10 would look a bit stretched, *to me*.

Here are the 17x9.5 +44 with 255/40s. Running about a 26.25" height, want to drop the front down just a tad more, 1/2" or so in the front.

One problem I have is the fender line rubbing on full turns. I ordered new fender liners because mine were torn apart when I bought the car and they may be slightly sagging from not being fully mounted anymore. I'm hoping I can mount the new ones higher. If anyone has suggestions on avoiding fender line rubbing I'm all ears.

Attachment 554272

I thought I would update.. Ray gramlights 57xtreme
18x9.5 +40 Fronts with 255/35/18
18x10.5 +40 Rears with 285/30/18

Fenders rolled, lowered on Tein HA's

Attachment 754147
Attachment 754148
Attachment 754149

Hey, look, someone else with 9.5s up front lol. With your size tire I think we'd be at the same diameter. Do you have fender liners? If so, are you running on those at all. Look good, wish I could have found 18s at a good price.

Yea, we should be at nearly identical diameters. I got the rears for a great price, but just a decent price on the fronts.

The only fender liner I have is what covers about midpoint at the top to the rear of the wheel. Not the front liner. Mine were actually ripped to shreds when i bought the car so I just removed them.

It comes down to personal preference.

I know from experience I prefer a 255mm tire on a 9.5" front rim and a 265mm tire on a 10" rear rim.

So in my opinion a 255mm is too much of a stretch on a 10. Not a fan. However, my homie (and tuner) John Renna runs that size front and back (with staggered offsets) on his FD Blueberry Farms and he tracks with no safety issues etc.

We actually just spoke about it tonight and he said it's a bit too much stretch for him..... he did it because he had to. He runs +36 offset front and +20 rear and needed the stretch on stock rolled (heavily rolled out back he tells me) fenders.

I run 255's on my 9.5's and I think they are stretched too much, and I wish I got some 265's although I may have had rubbing problems on +40's. They leave the wheel very exposed to curbs and other dangers.. not my style at all

widths vary greatly from tire manufacturer to tire manufacturer and from model of tire to model of tire.

One needs to look at the tread width and section widths of tires to gain a good understanding of just how wide the tire is.

for instance a 255/35/18 RE760 sport tire has a tread width of 9.3", yet a yoko AD08R tire has a tread width of 9.9".

.7" difference or 18mm difference.

18 x 9.5 f with +15 on a 235 35 tire and a rear 18 x 10.5 + 15 on a 245 35 tire with a fender roll fits perfect.

235/35 on 9.5 is doable, max wheel width for that tire, a bit stretchy looking for most.
245 on 10.5 is by definition a stretch. Max wheel width for 245/35-18 is 9.5".

+15 offset seems kinda low.

Skinny(ish) tires stretched onto wide wheels with low offsets is not a look for everyone...

This is my setup:

Rolled fenders, Enkei Rpf1 18x9.5 +15 front and 18x10.5 +15 rear with Nitto NT555 235/40 front and 265/35 rear and they fit.

Can that be made to "fit" by some loose definition of the word? I guess so. Not what I'd call a safe fitment though, and definitely gives a "poke" look that does not appeal to all. And that scrub radius...
I'm gonna go ahead and say that does not really "fit" as far as *most* people are concerned.

Pics?

Getting a bit off track on the thread IMO. This is the "Maximum whee and tire fitment" thread, and it getting cluttered with a bunch of nonsense.

^
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l

Here you go!

Another

Here you go!

The point is this is a maximum wheel/tire fitment thread.

If you are happy with the fitment of the-

18x9.5 +15 w/ 235 Front and 18x10.5 +15 w/ 265 Rear

You can fit-

18x11.5 +35 w/ 285 Front
18x12 +30 w/ 295 Rear

This is possible on a stock body?

rolled fenders.


You want to ride wide wheels and tires and run them with a slight stretch of the tire. You want to maintain as close to stock tire diameter and offset as possible.

I think the best wheel fitment with the least damage to the design of the car while maintaining stock tire diameter and still having good room for not destroying the fender liners in the car is below. I am going to push as far as I can to the inside of the wheel well. this is what I would recommend for a custom offset and width wheel.

18x11 +45 to +48mm offset.

In order for this to work you will need aftermarket coilovers with small 2.5" diameter or so springs to gain the clearence inward. The fenders will need to be rolled, and some negative camber will around -1.3 degree to -2 degrees for the front and -1.3 degrees rear.

Run a 285/30/18 wide tire. 11" or 10.5" wide tread width. you can also run a 295/30/18 but I wouldn't run a wide 295. look for a 10.5-11" tread width.

If the tread + sidewall extends much past the wheel it will contact the front coil spring, or the rear trailing arm of the car. You could get away with running them in the front and get ever so slight rub at full lock on the tire/spring coils, or you can run a small spacer in the rear of the car to space it out and still be able to rotate front to rear.

In order to get a wheel like this you need to either custom order the offset or widen a set of wheels. Enkei RPF1 18x10 +38 widened 1" will leave you with a 18X11 + 49.9mm offset and would probably work.

an Enkei NT03 18x9.5 +27mm widened to 18x11 would be a +45mm offset. This is a great choice for handling/looks (concave) and are cheap to beging with and strong.

I widened a set of 18x10.5 to 18x11.5 offset +42mm. I run a 285/30/18 right now. Will run the ad08R when done with these tires who have an 11" tread width.

Weldcraft wheels in Michigan widen wheels, they charge around $240/wheel.

This is possible on a stock body?

No.

Look at A_Shadow's pictures of his car- they obviously do not fit.

The tire will hit the fenders if the suspension compresses.

This is how you turn an FD into a stanced out hoopty that can only be driven slowly.

He has the wrong offset wheels as the wheel widths he chose would easily fit in the stock fenders with a wider tire even if he had the correct offset (+45 to +48).

I am merely saying unto him- if you think those wheels and tires fit your fenders, you could have fit these
18x11.5 +35 w/ 285 Front and 18x12 +30 w/ 295 Rear wheels and tires onto the car and had the same fitment to fender line.

Thanks for the info fellas. My goal is to get as much rear traction as i can get. Currently have 265s and they are useless. 540rwhp and 500rwtq. I think a 295 r888 is my best bet.

Im thinking of pulling the fenders as well but may not be needed

Yes, that is what I am running.

295/30-18 R888 on 18x11 +45 Forgestar F14s front and rear.

I had to roll and slight pull on the rear fenders and roll and pretty good pull on the front fenders to run that.

I'd love to see pics of some of this fitment.....

this thread is for STREETABLE setups guys, that don't destroy the fenders.

I'd love to see pics of some of this fitment.....

this thread is for STREETABLE setups guys, that don't destroy the fenders.

If you were talking to me.

I have a lot of pics of my 18x11 +45 w/ 295/30-18 Ventus TDs already on the forum and this thread, but none with the R888 yet.
https://www.rx7club.com/attachments/...ont-fender-jpg
https://www.rx7club.com/attachments/...-side-rear-jpg
https://www.rx7club.com/attachments/...arter-shot-jpg

I like to think the fenders aren't destroyed.

^I actually somehow stopped reading at post #280, which was the bottom of a page for me. So I didn't see all of the recent pics. Pretty funny to see the subsequent pictures that pretty much prove a +15 offset doesn't fit on OEM fenders, which we kind of know :)

P.S. Nice steering wheel ;)

I still love the steering wheel!

Post pics with the r888, same setup I'm run once wheels show up.

Hi Guys,

I am looking to buy a set of rims for the track next week, due to my car making 280Kws at the wheels I think it will be a good idea to get at least a 10inch wide wheel at the rear.
I under stand that the Enkei NT03+M 10.5+30 is too large in the rear by about half an inch will this fit perfect then? Enkei RS05RR 18x10+30

And for the front I would the same wheel but 18x9+40

The 18x10.5 +35 RS05RR will fit with a 265 front and rear with rolling the front/rear fender lips under.

The 18x10.5 +38 PF01 fits a little better with 265s front and rear. You will have to roll your front fender lip under.

A narrower front wheel is going to be slower unless your "track" is a straight line, then disregard.

Here is my car back when I ran the 18x10.5 +38 PF01.

https://www.rx7club.com/attachments/...ng-fitment-jpg
https://www.rx7club.com/attachments/...ent-fd-sj1-jpg

That looks pretty awesome, I haven't looked at the PF01's, I want to run a R compound would a 265 be too much of a stretch?

265/35-18 on 18x10.5 is OEM fitment for Porsche and BMW, so they didn't think it was too much of a stretch.

Some 265/35-18 tires include up to 10.5" width in recommended fitment some stop at 10".

My own experience was with Federal 595 RS-R and Hankook Ventus TD 265/35-18 (both only lists up to 10" wide wheel), but it worked very well on the 10.5" in the auto-x, kart track, hillclimb racing and street driving I do.

Very good turn in/sidewall response and very easy to transition in/out of high slip angle seamlessly.

Ok guys, getting ready to pull the trigger and just making sure I'm set.

18x10 +35 with 265/35r18 r888 front

18x11 +45 with 295/30r18 r888 rear

Rears are already rolled. I found a guy to do a pull if needed. Car is low on Megan coilovers and I plan to raise it up a small amount while adding rake.

Goals are stupid traction, slight stretch, almost flush with wheel

Thanks a ton

I'd run 255/35/18 front with 285/295 rear with those wheel widths.

Better would be 18x11 +45mm front with 285/295 front tire and do the same for the rear.

Yeah, the 295/30-18 R888 on 18x11 is not stretch at all. Its straight sidewall from wheel.

I will post pics of them currently on my RX-8 this evening and then maybe stick them back on the FD later when I have time.


18x10 +35 with 265/35r18 r888 front

18x11 +45 with 295/30r18 r888 rear

Will fit with roll and slight pull front and rear and max front negative camber.

You could run the 18x11 +45 front and rear so you could rotate and more grip if you want.

The fitment to the outside of the fender is only 2mm less on the narrower wheel/tire you specify. That 2mm is available when you are in there rolling/pulling the fronts anyways.

---------------

I was ~.5 seconds slower per 57sec lap this year on the R888 versus the stickier Hankook Ventus TDs. 4:47/5 laps versus 4:44/ 5 laps.