Bullwings

Given equal price overall quality of wheels, what would you run?

Everyone i know locally runs 17x10 with 255 square (volks).

However, if i could fit it, would it be worth it to run 18x10.5 with 275 square (i'd do CCWs with custom back spacing)? Too much tire - planning on running NT-01s or RC1s (RS3, RE-11, AD-08R). No power mods, and no aero other than maybe a GTC200.

Intended use: Track/HPDE (minimal auto-x: not competitively for any specific classing)

Also, since i was just searching sizes on tirerack, who is this?? They had it as one of the add banners. Pretty rare to see an S2000, even rarer to see it on v1 6ULRs.

sillyboybmxer

No comment on sizes but...tire selection is nice on 18s but they are expensive.
I think the hankook ad is random1 or one of his co drivers at one point

s2000ellier

the nice thing about going 18s is you can buy cheap slicks take off tires from various places

JJ7

Not sure what's faster. I'd say slapping them on wont gain you anything without changing your set up accordingly (alignment etc). Consider they are 1/2" taller. There are good street tires in 285/30 18 just no NT01. Last, you might not like how a 275 feels on your front axle. But I would like to see someone really spend some time and try and dial in a larger tire on a NA car. I've always thought it could be made to work well. In this non cost conscious scenario you might want to set up one axle at a time. Try larger rear, adj suspension and alignment according. If lap times drop, try front.

Edit: this is regarding large track. Pretty sure auto-x guys have successfully been using way more tire for a long time. Like 285 hohos.

thomsbrain

I put a fair amount of thought into 18's with 285 or 295 square on CCWs. Don't have the funds to do it anytime soon but I like to dream!

Theoretically you should be able to fit 18x11 with 295/30 square if you have downforce front fenders, rolled/relocated stock rears, track alignment and the right offset (+67 to 70mm) combined with the right spacer up front so you can rotate wheels across corners. That size allows for Hoosier and Trofeo R option plus some other street options. The mechanical grip plus the stability of the wider front track ought to add up to some pretty wicked g-forces even before aero. You'd probably need some stiff spring rates to support that much tire.

18" tires are 50-100% more expensive, but there do appear to be markets for used slicks.

I figure I should at least max out grip (and driver) through compound choices on 17's before I take the plunge into wider 18's.

ddess

Albert, do you have an idea what the weight of the 18" rims come in at? I jumped on tire rack and Te RE71R's weigh 24 lbs on the 255 17's. 27 for a 275 18's. Just curious how much heavier the proposed setup would be and if it's too much for the NA power

Bullwings

So, all those crazy nuts in BSP are running 18x10.5 or even larger with 18x11s.

Just check out Steve's BSP thread and his actual build. This is all on NA power - simple bolt ons (header, TP, exhaust, tune). He's running 315 Hohos - talk about massive rubber.

http://bumblestook.blogspot.com/2016...on-budget.html

I figure I should theoretically be able to run 18x10.5s on the stock fenders (might have to do some raping of my front fenders, or DF fenders) with 285 square (initially thought 275, but didn't factor in diameter - it would match e46 m3 rubber. very popular setup is 275 square). Yes, there is a tire cost factor, but at this point, the car is really just a toy. I think a BSPish sort of build for track use with minimal aero would be fun. If anything, i'll just run the GTC-200 (that i currently have) once i set all of this up.

Beyond a testpipe and Hondata tune (yay 2006), I don't want to mess with my motor or any power mods. I want to keep it simple for smog purposes. I even like retaining the heavy OEM exhaust.

Bullwings

BMW guys running at much lower offsets have weighed 18x10s CCWs at 21 lbs. With 285/30-18 on an 18x10 at BMW offsets - 47 lbs. wheel and tire.

I'm guessing with s2000 offsets around +65 or so the wheel and tire will be around 45-50 lbs.

What's the current weight of a 17x10 255 wheel/tire combo?

s2000Junky

I road course a 255/40 -295/35 set up with 10/11.5" wide wheels in 17's on stock prepped fenders. These are the old Kuhmo XS extreme summers. Been running them for years, but discontinued so have to move to something else next year. One of the best performing mods for this car hands down. 14K springs front and rear and stock 01 front bar and stock ap2 rear bar work the best for proper balance and body control for the staggered set up of this size I feel. I've got one of the quickest times at our 2.5 mile course for NA s2k.

275/35/18 isn't a great size due to the oval diameter increase and the add load it places on a NA engine with respect to gearing. 285/30 would be much better. Not sure how I feel about putting a 285 up front though. I've never been a fan of non stag set ups on a road course. They make much more sense for auto X where high inertial speeds are low and the need to get the car to turn in under throttle is more frequent. On a road course the driving situation and technique is different, putting much more emphasis on keeping the rear planted and gripping at speed off or maint throttle.

My custom widened 11.5" rpf1 and 295/35/17 package weigh 48lb total just for anyone that wants to know. Its just a couple LB off stock wheel/245 weight. The 315/35/17 R888 weighs the exact same and am considering moving to these for rear, wile likely retaining the 255 up front.

ddess

I just bathroom scaled my CE28's and used up RE71's. 42lbs. FYI the RE71R comes in 285/30/18...