man is this thread still alive?

 

Ok, so if you want a lot of lip to show between the main rim and the outer edge of the rim then you want a low offset? And if you want them to have minimal lip on the outside of the rim then you get a high offset? I'm still trying to figure all of this out. Looks like I should've spent more time learning every aspect of the car instead of just what's under the hood. Thanks in advance for any and all help here guys.

Zach

 

I think your on the right track.. EX: A +28mm offset will have more lip than a +35mm. The trick is to find a width that will fit so the wheel/tyre won't make contact with fenders or purch/shock.

 

My 500th post

 

Here's what I'm looking at.

Front: 17X8 with +35mm 225/40/17 or 225/45/17 whichever I find for the better price in the quality tire I want

Rear: 17X8 with +20mm or +25mm with same tire size. I just want a little more lip showing in the rear.

Does that combo seem about right? From what I understand if I have staggered sizes like 17X8 front and 17X9 rear then my will be prone to understeer which is EXACTLY the opposite of what I want. I want very good balanced handling until I decide to make it oversteer. Thanks as always for the help.

Zach

 

In general, yes this is true.
But...
Japan wheels used to come in "low disc" and "high disc" offsets; while the offset is identical, the lip changes due to if it's high-disc or low-disc.
I have a set of GAB Sport wheels - the front set are 16" x 7", +35 high-disc to clear the K2RD big brake kit.
The rears are 16" x 7", +35 low-disc (notice, same offset).
The rears have more lip - about 1" more in fact, but the offset is the same.
If the flip them around, the low-disc wheels will not fit on the fronts with the big brakes.

Now, Volks(?) are more confusing, case they have "A", "B", and "C" discs???
Supposedly, low / medium / high disc - this is more applicable to big brake kits.

Was that confusing enough???


-Ted

 

Not all that confusing Ted, but it didn't answer my second question.

Zach

 

?

 

Those are to wide by any stretch. 17 x10 is your max unless you have the magic offset and I have no idea what that would be.. I had 10's and it was real tight.

 

What Ted says is true and there are variations on those A-B-C disc issues. I just keeped the basic offset lip question simple so the question was understood.

I'm an MR2 owner now and these same questions come up on the OC sites too.. If its not perfectly clear ask questions because hey, wheels aren't cheap. Being somewhat new to the MR2 world I had to make sure my 17 x 9 BBS's I wanted weren't going to rub....

 

hahah, I've answered it a bazillion times in this very thread!

I don't like the 8" +35 fitment up front; I think it's too tight.
Equivalent to a 7" is about +41 or +42 offset - now, this will fit, but it's really tight.
I would rather have an 8" ~+30 for better clearance on the insides.

I usually recommend a 225 wide tire for the 8", but after looking extensively on tire sizes, a 235 / 40 / 17 would get you a little more rubber for about the same price - this seems to be a pretty common size, in addition to the 235 / 45 / 17 size.

Now, about the stagger inducing understeer - you're right.
But I've mentioned before that "big power" FC's could use the wider rear tire for better traction.
Once you start to approach 300hp at the wheels, traction becomes an issue with 225...235...even 245 wide tires.
Running a 255 wide tire in the rear, even with "skinny" 225's up front would still work, as you end up throttle steering to get the rear end to rotate.
This 225 / 255 F / R combo is a pretty common set-up on FC's; it seem to work very well with cars approaching 300hp and more.
For 17" sizes, this works out well, as you can run 225 / 45 / 17 up front (on an 8" wide rim) and 255 / 40 / 17 (on a 9" wide rim), as those diameters are very close to stock diameters.

And if you're wondering...
Once you start to get up to 400hp, I recommend big wheels with overfenders...
At least 9" wide up front with a 255 or 265 wide tire would work, with a 265 or 275 wide in back.
This would be minimum what I would use on something running 400hp or more!


-Ted

 

Wow, thanks for the info Ted. My TII should be hitting 435rwhp+ at 16psi. It's a huge streetport with a T4 hotside GT35R from A-spec. It's going to be an AutoX/Drift car only. I thought that the 9" in the rear would be plenty if I was going to be running a Proxy tire. I guess I was wrong. I really didn't want to do over fenders though. I guess that's something that I had best start looking at. Thanks again Ted.

Zach

 

You don't need over fenders. I was well into the 500whp range and 275's were plenty. A 9" in the back will still hold a 275.

 

I think I've decided actually. Here's what I've decided on.
Buddy Club P-1 Racing in Hyper Black
17X8 front with +32mm offset 225/40/17 Proxes
17X9 rear with +27mm offset 265/40/17 Proxes

As always, your opinions are valued here. Thanks as always guys.

Zach

 

Thats about as close to spot on as you can get. You might even be able to get away with a 235 up front. Depending on suspension

 

I'm going to be running the Tein super drift coilovers. The only other suspension I might run is the Buddy Club racing spec dampers, but that's only if I can still get a good price on them. Would either of those two allow me to run a 235 up front?

Zach

 

Agreed.
I like those wheel and tire specs!


-Ted

 

You should be fine on all 4's. I'm not a Buddy expert, but they look nice. I'm a Tein and Cusco fan for reason when they blow out, because they will, there are dealers here in the USA that can fix them.. Your K-Office, Ohlin, etc. good luck. I have a set of Ohlins in the garage (one blown) and knowone to fix it. Its probably not worth fixing.

Food for thought: I just bought suspension for my MR2-T and I went with the KYB/AGX adj. tension x 4 w/ H&R springs. Other than them not being height adjustable they really suprised me. Its such a kick *** suspension for that car. I mean it handles better than my 7 when it had Flex's.. anyway, I just had to let ya know, coilovers aren't the end of all suspension as I always thought they were.

Brad

 

I fully agree with what you said RA. I'm leaning heavily towards the Tein's because I can get them rebuilt and because I get them at cost. I just wanted the Buddy Club setup because it's supposed to be higher quality. But I'm not sure if it would be worth the extra money. I'll probably end up going with the Teins.

I am glad to see that I picked out a wheel and tire combo that will work good for me. Now, what kind of tires should I be looking at? The only experience I have with Proxes is with Toyo Proxes. What else is out there that is on that level for near the same money?

Zach

 

I've had them all and for street the new RT 615 Azenis's are really awesome tyres. they heat up real quick and seem to be lasting good too. These were on the RX-7 before I sold it. My good friend from PR bought the car and he said even around the 600whp mark there great tyres.

I just bought some Dunlop FM 901's for my MR2-T for the street. They were on sale at the Rack . They work good on the MR2 being it only has around 260whp. I have 255's on the rear and they cost around 90.00 each... thats cheap!

There are alot of other good tyres too though. The new Neova's are great but the sizes are limited. I think they made the tyres for the Porsche club heehee. The new Proxes are great to I hear...I forget the model # though. As always the Bridge and Mich's are great too, but there now getting anymore of my cash... Not worth it. I run Hoosiers at the track...

Stick with Tein's... I do like the Ziel's too...great coilover!! I think Rishie sells them

Brad

 

I have never heard anything about the Zeal setups. I've seen them run on cars in Super GT, but that's a completely different animal then people like you and me.

I'll have to look at the Advans and the Falkens. Thanks for the recommendation. Where is Quartz Hill? Is that Bay area? I'm pretty new to Cali.

Zach

 

The Zeals are really spendy and really good quality, but as I sadi they maybe hard to get repaired.

Quartz Hill is North of LA (50 miles). Its basically where Willow Springs raceway is

 

To add into the list:

Riax Seca's

16x7 42MM offset 19lbs

 

Will 4x114.3 215/40/17 fit on my FC

 

can anyone tell me what offset is required if using a 7 inch wide rim on an fc i want it to sit nicely with the guard and not to far in or out past the guard