B Street Ap1: Wheel/tire setup
 

I'm beginning to autocross my ap1 this year and am getting close to purchasing RE71's for the season. I have been avoiding all mods to this point but am at a crossroads of needing to buy tires. I have avoided the front sway so far and have strictly focused on the driver mod. I am not looking to be a national competitor but am hoping to be somewhere mid-pack locally. I would like to purchase by the end of the month for the rebate and am looking for some advice on sizes.

From what I have seen, most ap1's have been going 225 square on stock size wheels with a big front sway bar. My understanding is that the ap1 is limited in B street by the wheels in comparison to the ap2's. It seems 225 is the biggest that a 6.5" wheel can take which is unfortunate for ap1 owners. Also, 225 is the biggest size offered in 16" diameter. If I could find a 17" X 7.5" wheel with +58 to +65 offset (legal limits of street class) to run a wider rear tire, would it benefit me? I could run a 245 or 255 rear on the 17" X 7.5" with the 225/16 front. I figure I could run stock sways, at least as a baseline, with this setup and see how it goes. That being said, I have not seen any wheels available in the necessary size. I had this crazy idea earlier and am looking for some feedback. Good/bad idea? Are there any wheels that meet the requirements?

I'm not a fan of the regulations, having to run a 7.5" wheel on the AP1 when AP2 owners are allowed to run an 8.5" wheel in the same class.


You aren't doing this to win any trophies or compete nationally as you said, so I'd stick to the time only class in your situation if that's an option so that you aren't limited to such narrow wheels. That way you can purchase the setup you'd personally most like to run, regardless of any regulations!
Most likely, there will be one or two people in your street B class you won't be able to compete with (more experienced drivers with cars set up about as perfectly as possible for the class, typically AP2's that can run the 8.5" wheels).

That being said, RE71R's seem like a good choice of tire for autocrossing, I'm not going to try to steer you away from those based on the use that they will get.

i couldn't find any ap2 wheels locally two years ago so decided to run jdm bbs ap1s with re11 225/50/16 and 245/45/16.
they are definitely a good tire to learn on and i did get two full seasons, an evo driving school out of them and 4k free/highway miles them.

i am making the jump to str next season and will actually be running a square jdm bbs ap1 set up with re11 245/45/16.
i decided to stay with the re11s due to its more than one season use (the guys running re71rs this season are replacing them with new).

here is a pic of what my bs set up look like.
https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...33352082_o.jpg

i have not run ap2 wheels and couldn't give you feedback on them. i do suggest you disconnecting your rear sway bar and seeing how you like it. gl!

I ended up going stock sizes to keep things simple and focus on the driver mod. I was really tempted to go 225/16 square and try it out but figured it would lead me to spending more for a big front sway. I'm trying to practice some restraint on modding for many reasons and opted to keep the setup idiot proof. If anyone knows of a trick 17" wheel that would be legal to run for an Ap1, it would still be helpful.