What size wheels?
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Alan, How long before you bump yourself into SM?
If it's gonna be awhile but tires on the 15's since the other wheels will bump you out of stock class.
If it's gonna be awhile but tires on the 15's since the other wheels will bump you out of stock class.
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Just a little bit of info, it really depends on hp of the car as to be beneficial on larger wheels. Grassroots Motorsports did an in depth article on this, using a neon i believe, to test the performance difference in the bigger wheels. They tried 14's up to 17's and although the 17's did handle better the autox times were slower overall. Keep in mind they were using extremely light 17's. If i can find the article here some where I'll try and post it.
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Joe: I have VictoRacers... 
(and still push like a bag lady behind a shopping cart)
As far as wheel sizes go and tires go, 15's or 16's will be fine for you. I'd recommend not going > 16's. Although technically 17's (and larger) have more potential, they become less forgiving and thus harder to drive. Mainly because of things like moment's of inertia and wheel shock. If I could run 16's I would (for ease of driving as well as cost of replacement tires), but alas... 16's won't fit over my nice smurfy 13" Brembo Rotors with twin POT PBR Calipers up front.... <sigh>
As far as profiles go... You don't want to go two low. I'd recommend staying around the 45-50 range. A little bit of controlled sidewall flex is not a bad thing. Additionally a little bit of compliance in the sidewall helps things out too. Your tires will roll some regardless of how much pressure you run and it's good to have the some sidewall to give rather than risk rolling the bead right off the tire. (Plus, WHEN you have offroading excursions, you've got more protection for your wheels. I've seen some amazing pictures of low profile tires rolling heavily and the rim nearly touching the ground under heavy cornering... I'll try to find some later tonight..
(and still push like a bag lady behind a shopping cart)As far as wheel sizes go and tires go, 15's or 16's will be fine for you. I'd recommend not going > 16's. Although technically 17's (and larger) have more potential, they become less forgiving and thus harder to drive. Mainly because of things like moment's of inertia and wheel shock. If I could run 16's I would (for ease of driving as well as cost of replacement tires), but alas... 16's won't fit over my nice smurfy 13" Brembo Rotors with twin POT PBR Calipers up front.... <sigh>
As far as profiles go... You don't want to go two low. I'd recommend staying around the 45-50 range. A little bit of controlled sidewall flex is not a bad thing. Additionally a little bit of compliance in the sidewall helps things out too. Your tires will roll some regardless of how much pressure you run and it's good to have the some sidewall to give rather than risk rolling the bead right off the tire. (Plus, WHEN you have offroading excursions, you've got more protection for your wheels. I've seen some amazing pictures of low profile tires rolling heavily and the rim nearly touching the ground under heavy cornering... I'll try to find some later tonight..
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Originally posted by "speed_daemon1"
Alan, How long before you bump yourself into SM?
If it's gonna be awhile but tires on the 15's since the other wheels will bump you out of stock class.
Alan, How long before you bump yourself into SM?
If it's gonna be awhile but tires on the 15's since the other wheels will bump you out of stock class.
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Originally posted by "400HP930"
Now that I'm getting back into auto-xing I'm stuck with a full set of hard compound street tires with thousands of miles left on them. I would really like to get a set of Kumhos but another set of rims would set me back over $1,200.
Now that I'm getting back into auto-xing I'm stuck with a full set of hard compound street tires with thousands of miles left on them. I would really like to get a set of Kumhos but another set of rims would set me back over $1,200.
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I had concidered that, but unlike the wheels that fit your car a rim with the right offsets for my car fit almost nothing but the porsche.
You can imagine what that does to the cost. :o
I do have an eye out for a good used set of rims, but a pair of 17 X 8 and 17 X 9.5 size rims with the correct offset aint gonna be cheap.
The most likely scenario is once I recover from paying Dave White I will just take off the Toyos, stack them in the corner of the garage and put on the Kumhos. It will certainly allow me to turn a little faster on the commute to and from work and I will just try to cut down on my cross state commuting.
Its only about 8 miles between the house and work so they should not wear out too quickly.
You can imagine what that does to the cost. :o
I do have an eye out for a good used set of rims, but a pair of 17 X 8 and 17 X 9.5 size rims with the correct offset aint gonna be cheap.
The most likely scenario is once I recover from paying Dave White I will just take off the Toyos, stack them in the corner of the garage and put on the Kumhos. It will certainly allow me to turn a little faster on the commute to and from work and I will just try to cut down on my cross state commuting.
Its only about 8 miles between the house and work so they should not wear out too quickly.
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Leonard is right about the sidewall flex and a good old heavy car. Your car is much lighter so you can definitely get away with less sidewall that he can. A 40 series would probably be recommendable, but a 35 would be too much IMO.
With more traction comes more stresses and the compliance of an actual sidewall will REALLY help you feel traction slip away in a linear sense. The less sidewall you have the more abrupt the loss of traction will be. The compound of the tire also plays a very significant part, but within brands (compounds) of tires, it will be more linear.
On a different note, 15" wheels will be cheaper.
--15" tires will be cheaper
--you will numerically increase your gearing (which makes acceleration FASTER, thus better)
--you lower your car, even though the smaller tires will look runky in a big fenderwell, you are going for function... not form. Unless you're a ricer?
that's my opinion.
And for you 400HP930, has anyone tried ghetto fitting a set of odd rims on your car? You'd be suprised at which rims don't have the EXACT offset but do fit well nonetheless. I've seen the sacrilege of a Supra running knock-off Cobra rims... (cheap ripoffs none the less!!!)
And Leonard... 275s will fit on 17x8's
I have seen it done. It was done at the last State Championship in Gainesville last year. The guy who came in last in FS (he was on HARD COMPOUND STREET TIRES) had 275/40ZR17's in the rear and 245/45/17's up front.
-S to the H to the AWN
With more traction comes more stresses and the compliance of an actual sidewall will REALLY help you feel traction slip away in a linear sense. The less sidewall you have the more abrupt the loss of traction will be. The compound of the tire also plays a very significant part, but within brands (compounds) of tires, it will be more linear.
On a different note, 15" wheels will be cheaper.
--15" tires will be cheaper
--you will numerically increase your gearing (which makes acceleration FASTER, thus better)
--you lower your car, even though the smaller tires will look runky in a big fenderwell, you are going for function... not form. Unless you're a ricer?
that's my opinion.
And for you 400HP930, has anyone tried ghetto fitting a set of odd rims on your car? You'd be suprised at which rims don't have the EXACT offset but do fit well nonetheless. I've seen the sacrilege of a Supra running knock-off Cobra rims... (cheap ripoffs none the less!!!)
And Leonard... 275s will fit on 17x8's
I have seen it done. It was done at the last State Championship in Gainesville last year. The guy who came in last in FS (he was on HARD COMPOUND STREET TIRES) had 275/40ZR17's in the rear and 245/45/17's up front.
-S to the H to the AWN
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400HP930 -- Yeah, the real reason I got the wheels cheap was because so many people buy Mustangs and go immediately to get aftermarket wheels. Thus, there is a reasonable used supply of wheels available.
Shawn -- 275's will fit, but I imagine it would feel all sorts of out of whack with that much angle to the sidewall. Heck, they'd prolly be curved all around like Hoosiers....
Shawn -- 275's will fit, but I imagine it would feel all sorts of out of whack with that much angle to the sidewall. Heck, they'd prolly be curved all around like Hoosiers....
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Speaking of ghetto rims. I just found out that Fox-body Mustangs share the same odd bolt pattern as the Focus. The only problem is the offset is waaaaaay off. There is a guy on Focaljet who purchased a set of the oldschool turbine GT wheels. He has to shave a few mm off the inside of the rim so it will clear the calipers, but supposedly they work. I'm kind of skeptical about the wacky offset, but you can get those wheels for like $10 a piece...or sometimes free.
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