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I was talking with a Miata friend last night and his perspective was that if you are going to have some rubbing, let it be the fender liner. Assuming it's not severe, you can always replace it if wears through and the hole matters to you. With the S2000, it seems that the lip between the 2 tabs on outside of the fender is where you definitely don't want contact as it could cause some big damage if it caught that lip. So putting this all together, it seems to me that the safest / best approach for what I want is to use the Nurburgring. It seems to check most of my boxes (clears Stoptech BBK, and is the most outer fender friendly with a +63 offset).
However, the extra offset appears to have an issue with the inside of the rim contacting the LCA at full lock. Looking at the AP2V1 wheel and imagining an additional 1" into the wheel well PLUS 8mm more offset makes me think it will make contact. Can anyone confirm this? I suppose if I only use these on the track, I will rarely turn the steering wheel that far, so probably an acceptable compromise.
I've run 8.5 +54, 9 +55, 10 +50 and have settled on 9 +50 (also drove friends 9 +63 and 9.5 +55). I have the stoptech BBK, custom valved DFV and track my car pretty hard. I've seen the car rub the inner A-arm, wheel well (inner and outer), fender tabs. Like Bullwings and Junky has been saying: unfortunately, the risk of damaging the car is a part of modding/track driving. Much of this will be trial and error due to variables we cannot account for: your specific driving style (curbs, dips), tires (more grip means more load means, manuf difference in treadwidth), track layout, coilover setup/car weight...
With a 9+63 there is no hard rule it will rub the inside lower control arm, this is based on ride height which actually increases clearance to a point when lowering the car further. Most of the guys I see report some lower control arm rubbing are dropped pretty conservative to none at all. with a 10 +58 I just touch the inside lower control arm at full lock on one side and maybe 1mm clearance on the other at my ride height. This wheel has 2mm less clearance on the inside then a 9 +63. Also keep in mind, this is at full lock, which the only time you are ever at full lock is when your doing 2mph in a parking lot and you realize it and back off a little. Also I have no qualms about utilizing a 3mm spacer to fine tune the offset with stock studs so its an option to consider basing on which offset direction to go with.
I run 17x9 +63 TSW Interlagos and have rubbed up front during autocross with 245 PSS before rolling my fenders. My car sits fairly low, though it isn't slammed. Haven't noticed any rubbing at full lock, but like Junky said you're almost never driving at full lock anyways.
Thanks JamesD89 for the suggestion for steering lock spacers - I didn't realize it was that simple. Still, I agree with you guys about rubbing only when turning - not a big deal especially if, in my case, it's only with track wheels.
So it comes down to choosing between the 949 6UL and the TSW Nurburgring. It appears that both clear Stoptech so no difference there. They are similar in price (less than $100 difference). Seems like the additional offset of the Nurburgring would require less of a fender roll and who knows, I might even get lucky and not need it. The consequence is more chance for rubbing on the inside of the fender liner, but I can deal with that I think. So for my situation, the advantage goes to the Nurburgring - I think
I pulled the trigger today for a set of four Nurburgring 17x9 +63 and two 255 R-S4. I'll try those in the front and then decide if I order two more 255 or go down to 235.
I finally had a chance to test fit the wheels/tires in front. I rerouted the brake ducts so there's no rubbing. There is some minor rubbing between the inside edge of the rim and the control arms at full lock, but only with the wheel off the ground - I don't see any chance of rubbing with the wheel on the ground.
There does seem like there may be rubbing between the outside of the tire edge and the front fender lip at the two fasteners as you can see in this picture.
I've read some people say they bent the tabs up to make room, but what about the fender liner that would not move out of the way? Do people cut that away and skip using fasteners for those tabs? I can't find any pictures that show what was done.
08-17-2017, 05:46 AM
