Afternoon all!

While I'm waiting to get my car back from the shop with the new downforce +30mm front fenders installed, I'm trying to collect info on how to set the car up for a square setup....
Thinking particularly about wheels/tires/bbk/sway bars that aren't going to cost me more than the car....
Currently the car has Ohlins DFV F-sport from SBG at stock ride height with stock wheels and 200TW tires

Really looking for some help on order of operations and what works together, preferably with reasonable running costs, as this definitely is a hobby and not something I want to pour $10k into.

My thinking was to do wheels/tires first, then brakes (rear first?), then swaybars. Seem reasonable?

Given that I'll want to move to a BBK, I'm wondering what wheels I can move to that are less than $1500 for a set, what is the recommended width from a performance and tire availability/price perspective, and what offset can I go to without having to do an overfender on the rear? Apex has a sale on now with their VS-5 wheels, but no idea if they fit a bbk?

In terms of brakes, Stoptech seems to be the way to go for the front, but not sure about the rear and maintaining appropriate brake bias? I've seen lots of threads about rears only, and fronts only, but very few about fronts and rears (outside of the threads for SBG packages).

And finally, no clue on sway bars...I need to do some reading up on them....

Really appreciate getting advice from those that have gone down the rabbit hole so I can avoid the pitfalls...

Thanks!

 

Budget setup (i'm assuming that you're willing to do a simple flat roll and bumper tab relocation).

17x10 +48 apex VS-5 wheels = $1400
SBG Wilwood BBK = $1650

• Stoptech used to be the way to go until Covid supply chain issues decimated prices and supply. And, now with Trump Tariffs - Stoptech will be more expensive than AP-Racing. Stoptech doesn't make sense anymore. If you want budget, go with the Wilwood kit. If you want performance, go with AP-racing. If you want expensive, go with Stoptech - haha.

Karcepts FSB - $1125

Total = ~$4200

Add RX-8 Rear brake kit afterwards if you think you need it.
Additional $600

Whole setup less than $5k.

 

Thankfully I shouldn't have any issues with the front in terms of clearance, but not sure about the back? I'm definitely open to rolling and relocating the rear tabs if that's what's needed.

In terms of the wheels...on the fronts, is a 10" with 48mm offset going to need any work on the downforce fender which is 30mm wider? Similarly, is the rear going to need the fenders rolled? I understand the rear fenders are a bit of a PITA to roll / relocate because of the pinch welds....

Thanks for the heads up on the stoptech kit...in looking around I was seeing that prices had gone up a lot....that wilwood kit from SBG does look nice but it does have a fixed rotor (though it's upgradable to the very expensive AP racing floating rotor)

Read up a bunch on the Karcepts FSB and it looks like an amazing piece, thanks!

 

Fitment guide here on wheels.

https://apexwheels.com/fitment-guide...guide#overview

In the rear with just a flat roll and tab relocation, i've run
17x9 +48
17x10 +52
17x9.5 +47
All with 255/40 tires. No rubbing. -3.0 degrees camber, which is what you'd typically run for TW200 tires for track use. Up front, I did this on stock fenders with a roll and pull - no issues rubbing control arms, which some people report. Never had an issue.

I'm currently running 18x10.5 +62 with 265 in the rear no issues.

If you want to be more conservative, you can go with the Apex wheels in 17x9.5 +51 - make sure you select the non-concave options for brake clearance.

 

Thanks for the link to the figment guide! That’s super helpful.

I was looking at their flow formed VS-5 that is offered in a 17x9.5 ET51 and 17x10 ET48. I was worried that the 10” with 48mm offset might cause problems in the rear?

It says it’s a “profile 1” design so not sure if that’s concave or not, but I can always call and ask.

I’ve been reading a bunch and seemed like there was a general trend to prefer 10” rims with a 255 tire because of a little bit of stretch helping on corner grip, as well as the option to go with wider tires (with appropriate fender mods).

 

I would definitely pick the 17x10 +48 over the 17x9.5 +51 for track use. It's essentially the same work to fit them in the rear - basic flat roll and bumper tab relocation.

Lots of good pictures in this thread of this guy fitting 17x10 +44 wheels on a full stock fender/body s2k.

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/automoti...1216990/page2/

 

Pulled the trigger during the BF sale and picked up the Apex VS-5 wheels in a 17x10 with 48mm offset. The wheels should be getting here next week! I plan to run Falken RT 660+ 255/40/17 tires.

Now I just need to find someone in Houston to do the rear roll and bumper tab relocate...

 

You need a front roll too if you have not already done it.

I have a set of the forged version of those Apex wheels and like them. My current ones are 9's for a few reasons, mainly because I had 245 hoosiers already which would only pass the section width requirements for TT5 if on 9" wheels vs 10s. Also, my plan is to keep these for street/autox use and get a 2nd set of 10s to run 225 R7s on (more optimal setup for the hoosiers) for TT. I saw them on a 30% off sale last July so grabbed the ones I could use at that point quick

On brakes, dont make a BBK a super high priority IMO. I have been tracking mine for a long time and still run stock calipers and rotors with track pads. BBK will reduce pad wear but the cost takes forever (if ever) to recoup. Brake fade is simply not an issue with the right pads and stock brakes unless you are just over beating the brakes. I am likely doing what some of my friends have done, which is run good 2 pc rotors with stock calipers and some venting. They have seen big improvements on pad and rotor life just doing that without spending $2500 + on a good BBK. When you could get a good stoptech kit for $1300 it was a different story but those days are gone lol

 

Be interesting how well the Falken RT 660+ tires work out. They're a whopping $437 less than my Bridgestone RE-71RS tires with very similar specs. The Falkens have a wider tread.

-- Chuck

 

Yeah I have 30mm wider front fenders on the car so should be good there, just a bit concerned about rubbing on the inside of the front and of course outside on the rear…

I’ve gotten some brake fade in later laps when I’ve had really fast lap times, so I was thinking about replacing the rears first with a proper vented setup that would match with a future front BBK, to hep reduce hub bearing wear in the rear.

I currently run the Falken 660’s and love them. I had the Bridgestones previously and the falkens have just been workhorses! I’ve got 6 track days on them spread out over 12 months with some street driving as well and my last weekend had the fastest laps…I think they’re starting to get to the edge of they’re life from heat cycling but I’m planning on being able to run them for one more session…