Wheel and tyre suggestions for track use

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f1racr

Experienced Member
Joined
31 January 2008
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541
Location
Wellington, New Zealand
Hi guys,

Well it's been a while, but with the help of a lot of saving and hunting at auctions, I've finally got my donor NSX for my track project and so now I've got a whole load of stuff to get sorted out.

STMPO have been helping me heaps and have supplied me with a heap of stuff (what a great bloke, such a professional and so helpful) and I'm hoping to get chance to get over to Aussie to meet up with Billy in May when he's there.

46715_F_orig.jpg

46715_R_orig.jpg


So here's my questions, there's more than one :)

I was wondering what advice people would give me for

1. Size of front and rear wheels eg. 17/18 or 18/18 or 18/19 etc etc
2. Offsets to suit a widebody. They're STMPO's front and rear guards, so even though you might not have that, I think any widebody offsets would give me a good idea.
3. Size and brand and type of tyres that you'd suggest for trackday use rather than serious full on competition. They might not be available here, but it will give me somewhere to start.
When I say brand and type of tyres, I'm looking for those who run a semi slick rather than a full slick tyre really I think, but I will take advice on both if you have information as I'm not sure if I'll run a semi slick or a full slick at this point, but since the car will actually be road legal (just for road stages on tarmac rally events) then I might need to look at a semi slick which I can use and still be road legal, where as a full slick I'll only be able to use at the track, but I plan on having more than one set of wheels so I'll be able to run both.

That's it I think. Basically just not sure on what sizes to try as all my other cars run the same size and width all round so haven't had to consider this stuff before and especially since on road cars you can go bigger without too much hassles, but this car will be exclusively for trackdays at first and small club level events so I need to consider grip and handling before anything else.

Any help is very much appreciated and a cold beer awaits for anyone who makes it out to New Zealand :D
 
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People seem to like the Toyo R888. I don't have any experience with them but you should look into it. I'm sure there's lots of threads here.
 
here is what I use 235/40/17 toyo ra1 275/40/17. I like the many choices of tires in these sizes,and less expensive than 18 inch.
 
Thanks for the reply John.

You've explained the reason to go 17's is cost and selection based however do you have any knowledge on the 17/18 or 18/19 selections that some make ? ie is there some technical reason that people know of, or purely just so that they don't look at odds visually as they can do when you compare to factory.

The later NSX's went to 18's all round which is easier of course, but I just don't want to go down the track of buying wheels and tyres to find out there's some good reason to have gone another direction.

Here in New Zealand it seems that 17's are harder to get hold of in race tyres and they're mostly pushing 18's and our V8 supercars are also going from 17's to 18's also and Porsche supercup so I'll look at 18's for here, but just interested as mentioned above.

Also, do you run widebody or standard ? What offsets ?
 
f1racr said:
I'm amazed there isn't someone on here who is either willing to share or has the knowledge to share regarding the wheel size issues.

Am I asking the wrong question, wrong section ? or are people assuming I should use the search ? As I have searched heaps, but there's nothing directly relevent to what I need to know.
Click to expand...
Most of us who are tracking our NSXs do not have widebody kits on them, hence the lack of response.

I am using R compound tires in the stock sizes for my '91 NSX (205/50-15 and 225/50-16), which does not have a widebody kit. They're widely available, they're relatively inexpensive, and I can fit my wheels/tires inside the NSX so I can drive to the track on my street tires.
 
f1racr said:
Thanks for the reply John.

You've explained the reason to go 17's is cost and selection based however do you have any knowledge on the 17/18 or 18/19 selections that some make ? ie is there some technical reason that people know of, or purely just so that they don't look at odds visually as they can do when you compare to factory.

The later NSX's went to 18's all round which is easier of course, but I just don't want to go down the track of buying wheels and tyres to find out there's some good reason to have gone another direction.

Here in New Zealand it seems that 17's are harder to get hold of in race tyres and they're mostly pushing 18's and our V8 supercars are also going from 17's to 18's also and Porsche supercup so I'll look at 18's for here, but just interested as mentioned above.

Also, do you run widebody or standard ? What offsets ?
Click to expand...

nsx for last years went to 17/17 combo not 18.for a track setup you want light weight and for me the 17/17 was best and I have a stock body.PM coz he tracks a widebody.SOS also has campained a widebody as well as Billy,btw they are competing in Austalia this year.
 
I don't have any experience with a wide body, but I would say 17's all around would be best for weight and tire availability. Once you get to 18+ it starts to really limit your tire availability and the weight of the wheels goes up a lot, even with the latest greatest forged light weight stuff in 19 will be heavy.

The R888 tires don't last that long, if you are doing DE's I would suggest getting NT01's... slightly slower, but will last way longer. If you are doing timed or race events, then get the fastest tire the rules allow.

I was happy with the stock rims with a 205 front and 245 rear Hankook Z214 at my last time attack (we went thru them pretty fast, with a C71 compound). I think something more like a 225 or 235 front and a 265 or 275 rear on 17's is more of an ideal track setup.

My data acquisition was estimating that the car was making the equivalent of 12 more HP with the stock wheels and 205/50/15, 245/45/16 rear due to the weight difference between those and 17/18 5Zigen FN01RC's with Advan AD08's 215/40/17 front and 255/35/18 rears.
 
Thanks for all the great replied fellas.

I'm not too worried about the widebody, non widebody offsets...... I can ask that question elsewhere, I was more interested in what you guys have replied about - Wheel sizes and your thoughts and understandings.

So, does anyone have any opinions on why some people go even with wheel diameter vs others who stick with the staggered option ? Is it just personal preference or is there some tech reason I can't think of ?

I guess, suspension setup is going to change the type of wheel and tyre sizes you run as load shifts are going to be different if you're running a larger profile front to rear.....

I'll only be choosing between 17 and 18. 19 is not a consideration as cost for the wheels and tyres is too expensive and I'm not sure you'll get a better product for the track either........ sounds like 17's might be the way to go, I'll have to check with local suppliers again to see what they say, but the general word was that sooner rather than later they weren't going to supply 17's as much as 18's since most race series that use the tyre widths I need are running 18's now........... still, I won't be chewing through them either and my trackcar is going to be for fun rather than out and out racing ...... well that's the plan anyhow, but the red mist always gets me when I get started !! LOL

Thanks again for the replies.
 
Scin said:
does anyone have any opinions on why some people go even with wheel diameter vs others who stick with the staggered option ? Is it just personal preference or is there some tech reason I can't think of ?
Click to expand...
There's no technical reason. Most people choose staggered wheel diameters for the street, because the car looks more balanced; the sidewalls are closer in height that way, due to the larger outer diameter of the rear tires. But that's for aesthetics. For track performance, the biggest factor is going to be tire availability.
 
Cool, thanks for that...........

The stagger issue was the biggest issue I've been unable to find info about on here but I thought I needed to understand it before going too much further.

15/16" tyres are really hard to get here in the sizes I'd need and as mentioned, Dunlop and Yokohama have told me that 17s are going to become scarce soon in most sizes, but once I can get some more offset info regarding the widebody side of things, I'll be able to make a decision on wheel sizes and then I can check with the local tyre companies about what they think is going to be available in the long term.

We're a bit restricted here on tyre choice since we're a small country and so I'm probably going to be at the mercy of the local suppliers :(

We have a good classic car fleet, but they use smaller wheel sizes and they're not wide enough, only the Porsche and V8 Supercar racers use wider tyres in the sizes I need I think but we'll see.....

Thanks again for the help, it's very much appreciated.
 
I know of several that have tried 18/19 for the track and all have gone back to 17/18 or 18/18.

I run 18/18...

nsxalot said:
I understand that 17 and 18 are the best, and that 18/19 are only for looks, not for the track!

Lance
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Coz....... I plan on going 18/18 also.

Just from what I've researched so far I think I'm going to look at

Front 245 / 30 / 18 on a 18x8.5 +15-25 offset wheel
Rear 285 / 30 / 18 on a 18x9.5 -10.0 +10-20 offset wheel

I'm obviously running a widebody as discussed before, but how does that tyre combo compare to yours Coz other than the offset ?
 
Right now I'm running 245x40x18 and 295x35x18...
Tire choices really suck when you get into the better tires that are wider as I've learned.

Because of this, I'm going to get a second set of CCW's and put Hoosers on them for the track. I will then run 255/35 and 295/30.
Would like to run a 255/305 combination if I can find something.

For the street and causal track use, I'm using Nitto NT's 05's. I buy them for $850.00 a set in 245x40 and 295x35.

When I get around to making some modifications to my front wheel wells, I will go to 255/305 if I can find the right tires in 305's.
Otherwise I will settle in at 255/295

Here's a chart I put together as I continue to research tires...
Believe it or not, the Falkin 452's a great street tire for the price and they have a way bigger selection in sizes for just every day street tires and they last.

Nitto in the NT-01's and Yokohama AD-08's unfortunately don't have the sizes I would like to run which is why I will go to Hoosier's for total track use.

TIRE CHOICES FOR WIDE BODY

BRANDS T/R EA PR SET

NITTO 05
www.1010tires.com/tirebrand.asp?brand=Nitto
245 / 40 200 $196.00 $392.00
285 / 35 200 $240.00 $480.00 $872.00
295 / 35 200 $259.00 $518.00 $918.00

KUMHO ECSTA XS
www.tirerack.com/tires/kumho/kumho-tires.jsp
245 / 40 200 $164.00 $328.00
285 / 35 200 $305.00 $610.00 $938.00
245 / 35 200 $161.00 $321.00 $921.00

HANKOOK VENTUS R-S3
www.tirerack.com/tires/hankook/hankook-tires.jsp
245 / 40 140 $199.00 $398.00
285 / 35 140 $277.00 $554.00 $952.00

CONTINENTAL SPORT 3
www.tirerack.com/tires/conti/continental-tires.jsp
245 / 40 280 $242.00 $484.00
285 / 35 280 $310.00 $610.00 $1,094.00
245 / 35 280 $234.00 $468.00 $1,078.00
255 / 35 280 $265.00 $530.00 $1,140.00

YOKOHAMA ADVAN SPORTS
www.tirerack.com/tires/yokohama/yokohama-tires.jsp
245 / 40 180 $223.00 $446.00
285 / 35 180 $304.00 $608.00 $1,054.00
245 / 35 180 $249.00 $598.00 $1,206.00
285 / 30 180 $315.00 $630.00 $1,228.00
255 / 35 180 $237.00 $474.00 $1,082.00
295 / 35 180 $349.00 $698.00 $1,296.00

FALKIN 452
www.1010tires.com/tirebrand.asp?brand=Falken
245 / 40 300 $180.00 $360.00
285 / 35 300 $236.00 $532.00 $892.00
245 / 35 300 $209.00 $418.00 $950.00

MICHELIN PS 2
www.tirerack.com/tires/michelin/michelin-tires.jsp
245 / 35 220 $310.00 $620.00
285 / 30 220 $395.00 $790.00 $1,410.00
255 / 35 220 $301.00 $602.00 $1,393.00
295 / 35 220 $366.00 $732.00 $1,352.00

DUNLAP SPORT Z-1
www.tirerack.com/tires/dunlop/dunlop-tires.jsp
245 / 40 200 $214.00 $428.00
275 / 35 200 $277.00 $544.00 $982.00
255 / 35 $222.00 $444.00 $988.00

HANKOOK VENTUS V-12
www.tirerack.com/tires/hankook/hankook-tires.jsp
245 / 40 280 $133.00 $266.00
285 / 35 280 $183.00 $366.00 $632.00
245 / 35 280 $156.00 $312.00 $678.00
285 / 30 280 $186.00 $372.00 $684.00
255 / 35 280 $166.00 $332.00 $698.00

NITTO NT-01: NOT WIDE ENOUGH
http://www.nittotire.com/

245 / 40 $246.00 $492.00
275 / 35 $247.00 $494.00 $986.00
275 / 40 $255.00 $510.00 $1,002.00

HOOSIER
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/hoosier/hoosier-tires.jsp
HOOSIER A-6
255 / 35 $300.00 $600.00 $600.00
295 / 30 $322.00 $644.00 $1,244.00

HOOSIER R-6
255 / 35 $300.00 $600.00
295 / 30 $322.00 $644.00 $1,244.00

Hope this helps you out a little :wink:


f1racr said:
Thanks Coz....... I plan on going 18/18 also.

Just from what I've researched so far I think I'm going to look at

Front 245 / 30 / 18 on a 18x8.5 +15-25 offset wheel
Rear 285 / 30 / 18 on a 18x9.5 -10.0 +10-20 offset wheel

I'm obviously running a widebody as discussed before, but how does that tyre combo compare to yours Coz other than the offset ?
Click to expand...
 
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The Wider the better if you can keep the ratio...
I'm putting down 593 to the rear wheels on one Dyno and 560 on another, so having as much rubber as possible helps keep the a** end planted :biggrin:
You just want to be carefull what you run on the fronts ratio wise otherwise you'll start pushing like crazy.

Let me know what you come up with in your research please....

f1racr said:
Thank you that is very helpful.

My car is going to be a dedicated track car so I suppose from what you've said the wider the better on the rear I guess ??

I'll look at 305 options for the rear also and see what I can get here in those sizes.

Cheers
Click to expand...
 
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Just looking at the 1991 stock wheel and tyre of 215/50/15 and comparing to your 245/40/18 combo, it's about 10% out........ 245/30/18 is closer...... how come you decided on the 40 profile ?

Maybe your car is different than the 1991 I have ?

Just interested to understand how the front and rear ratio relates for different people.
 
Try and find many tires to choose from in 245x30x18....
Not to mention I think a 30 profile is to small/thin for proper handling.

What tires did you find in these sizes...
Front 245 / 30 / 18 on a 18x8.5 +15-25 offset wheel
Rear 285 / 30 / 18 on a 18x9.5 -10.0 +10-20 offset wheel


f1racr said:
Just looking at the 1991 stock wheel and tyre of 215/50/15 and comparing to your 245/40/18 combo, it's about 10% out........ 245/30/18 is closer...... how come you decided on the 40 profile ?

Maybe your car is different than the 1991 I have ?

Just interested to understand how the front and rear ratio relates for different people.
Click to expand...
 
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What I found in those sizes is it's tough to find the better tires that have both sizes front and rear that match and the ones you do find cost more than their worth...unless your into spending 1200+ for a set of street tires that you'll burn up on the track in a couple of days.

I have a set of AD-08's on my car right now. 245x40x18 & 285x30x18 which was all I could do with AD-08's since they don't make a 285x35 or 40.

I personally don't like how much I had to lower the rear end to keep the wheel to fender gap so it wouldn't look like the rear end was on stilts and then had to lower the front end to keep the 1/4" rake.

I'm going to stick to my plan on running 245/255x40 and 285/295x35 which will raise my rear end naturally by profile and then allow me to raise the front end a little so I stop cruching my front fenders on the tires during hard cornering.
 
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My pleasure...

Finding the right tires has been the biggest hassle by going 18's all around.

Unfortunately, a 17/18 combination on a widebody just doesn't work, otherwise tires would be easy to find and a lot more choices to be had.

Please let me know how your research goes, I'm hoping you'll find something I missed.
 

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