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Though I love my Rotas, I wanted to reduce the amount of sidewall that shows but also didn't want to add too much unsprung weight. Enter Nippon Racing's Lightstar wheel. Very rare and you won't see this on many cars.
17x7.5, 14.7-lbs.
Low offsets but I kept the 225/205 combo so it lines up just a tad outside of the stock 245mm tire (contact patch wise).
Ever since I saw these, I knew I wanted them but in order for it to work for me, I needed a very unique combo of tires.
Nitto Extreme 555 225/40/17 rear (24.1-inch height, 8.6-inch contact patch) with an insanely large rim protector. Way cool.
Yokohama Parada Spec 2 205/45/17 front.(24.3-inch height, 7.8 inches contact patch)
Just enough stagger to keep things interesting for this old-fart (42-yrs-old). Probably
wouldn't recommend this combo to inexperienced drivers of rear wheel drive cars so
you front-wheel boys better stay away from it. Swapping brands of tires doesn't
bother me as long as the construction and ratings are similar and this combo was as
close as I could get, especially since the Nitto 555 is the only tire made in a 225/40/17 size. Will scrub off the top coating soon enough but so far, so good. Car handles every bit as good as I expected. Same size as the old Rota/Toyo combo with 1-lb more of weight on each corner but 1/2-inch less sidewall and spokes that go to the edge of the wheel which makes it look more like a 19-inch wheel than a 17-inch.
Again I repeat...what works for me probably won't work for most. Many don't like swapping brands of tires but I've done it for years on rear wheel drive sportscars because nine times out of 10, the rears will wear out quicker. The key is matching the style of tire (speed rating, sidewall stiffness, load rating, etc).
Because I kept my rear wheel tire height (.7 inches shorter than OEM) my gears remain around 4:30 or so which helps off the line acceleration. As for the chrome lugs, I'm keeping them because cross drilled rotors are on order along with blue calipers. The cool thing about these wheels is when the car isn't moving, all you see is rotors so you've got to have some good quality metal behind those spokes, otherwise it will get ugly (OEM rust) real quick. These should look real sweet with the new rotors in place.
As always, open to criticism or positive .02
Black was the only choice, as expected.
Alex, last time I checked the Michelin Man only gets behind the wheel in the commercials.
IOW, tires don't drive the car, they only rotate under the driver who's pushing it.
No question the SO-3's are a better tire for extreme performance and had they come in a 225/40/17, I'd have bought 'em but the 555 is a great tire for the street however I wouldn't waste my time using a street tire for racing, I'd go with a quad of Toyo RA-1's or something similar and let my experience deal with the orange cones.
I like the new shoes... As far as the tires go..... If you like like em....that's all that matters....
As for the rest of you who think that your opinion or the popular opinion is the only one that matters..... Grow up and let people do what they want. If someone asks for advice, give it to them. If they don't ask....then there is no invitation...........
- big difference in regards to the sidewalls!
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