So I am ready to replace my stock wheels and tires with some 17s, and keep reading that an ideal setup is 17x9 or 17x10 with 255 wide tires squared, for the advantage of being able to rotate tires.

How is this possible, considering that the offsets would be different from front and rear? Are people removing all of the actual tires to switch them around?

 

People either run the same offsets (i.e., +35) or they use spacers on the axle that needs lower offset.

The stock offsets are the same front and back, by the way. They're +50, if you're talking about an FD, and +52.5 for an FC with stock 16" rims.

 

I went from square on the 240Z to staggered on the s2000 and RX-7. Street and track all of them. Never had any problems with the staggered setups, I really don't see any major benefit from being able to rotate tires. I just replace the fronts and rears independently as necessary. No biggie...

 

17X10, +48, 255/40 Squared. No pull, no roll, no rub.

 

FD is really easy on tires with the right set-up and alignment so the issue of being able to rotate the tires is not as big an issue as on most other chassis.


Still, when you get into the realm of actual racing on 40-60UTQG race tires it becomes VERY handy and cost saving to be able to rotate the tires front to back and side to side.

Just driving a certain course configuration that has a single corner that punishes one tire or tires on one side of the car can visibly wear your tires in a couple laps.

Then being able to rotate tires can stretch your ability to use the same tires over a race weekend/weekends.

Putting on new tires for one axle of the car isn't that great because the difference grip and how it comes in between sticker race tires and heat cycled out race tires.

Really, you want to put your sticker tires on for the main event.


My set-up 18x11 +45 295/30-18 square. A little more work than the old FD standby of 18x10 +50 285/30-18 square track set-up.

 

So let's say you go 17x9 with a +45 on both front and rear. Wouldn't they be sitting very sunken in in the rear? referring to FD

 

Shrug

It would be just as sunken in at the front with a performance alignment (the effect of front camber).

What are you doing with the car?

What do you want to do to the car to fit the wheels and tires?

 

Here's my car with 18x9.5 +45 in back, 17x8.5 +40 in front:



Also see Natey's post above ^^^ with 17x10 +48 all around, rear doesn't look sunken to me relative to front.

 

No?

That's less offset and more tire/wheel than stock, so it will stick out more.

 

I would like to autox and track the car, but it will still be 90% street.

Hard to find some proper wheels, I might just get some 245/45/16 for the stock wheels for now so that it can at least be driven

 

That's too much tire for the wheels. Get some good 225s. It'll drive better than trying to squeeze 245s onto your 7" rims.

 

Then you are right, with minimal camber up front for the 90% street duty you can use a 5-10mm spacer in the rear to bring the rear wheels into the same amount of "flushness" as the fronts and keep a square fitment.


While stock FD wheels are 16x8 I agree a good 225/50-16 will feel better and perform better than whatever you can get in 245/45-16.

Unless you are doing DOT-R race tires, then there are some 245/45-16 available that are worth a damn.

 

I only see the Toyo Proxes T1R in 245 for a reasonable price. How are they vs the available 225s? Tire wear is not a concern.

 

T1Rs in 245 are not gonna hang with the best "Extreme Performance" tires in 225...
B'stone RE11 is available in 245/45-16, that might be a good option. But probably not as good as RE71R, Dunlop ZII, Hankook RS3/RS4, Yoko AD08 R, or BFG Rival in 225/50-16.

If tire wear *and* hydroplaning resistance in standing water are not a concern, you could consider running a streetable RComp. I am running Nitto NT01s on the street on my FD. Unfortunately the only 16" size is 245/50-16, kinda tall...
Pirelli Trofeo R and Toyo RA1 might be worth considering in that category.

I wouldn't bother with spacers personally...

 

Y'mean 8"

I use 245s on stock wheels for trackdays and have never had any kind of problem.

 

Yes, a half decent 205/50-16 will destroy the 245/45-16 Toyo T1R tire in terms of performance, they are horrible.

If you are looking for a cheap tire with very good performance the $83 205/5016 Federal RS-R is WIDE in this size (I ran it on stock FD wheels on my Mazda3). They aren't as refined as the RE-71R, AD08R, Rival S 1.5, but just a half step below in dry performance (similar performance to RS3, ZII).

205/50-16 RS-R on 16x8 wheel