fpvteg0681

Hello All!

It's winter time, which means planning for next season. Some may have seen me create a few threads already. I participate in Time Attack and run a lot of open lapping/HPDE with my DC2R. I personally started running the usual 205/50/15 setups on R888 and RA1. Then jumped to 225/45/15 R888's, and now on 225/45/15 NT01's and love them. I run a fairly stiff setup with 800lb/f and 900lb/r Koni/GC's...

My question is, has anyone had some real benefit in jumping to a wider tire (which evidently also equals a larger rim - 16"-17")? I only push 220whp, may increase it for next year, but still wondering if 245 or even 255 is worth it for the corners. I'm playing with the idea of a staggered 245/255 up front and 225/235 rear, either on NT01's or the Ventus TD's.

All thoughts and comments welcome, thanks!

Xian

The issue with 17's is OD. They're all ~1" taller than the 15" package which results in the car both being higher by 0.5" as well as losing 0.5" in travel... neither of which is optimal and taken together kinda sucks*. It's not something that I'd bother with personally given your power level. If you really need more grip look at upgrading to the (wider) 225 Hoosier.

Depending on what the clasing rules are for your TT, there's a rumored 245/40 15 BFG Rival on the radar for next season. They're obviously a street tire so not apples:apples with the tires you're currently running.

*There are some folks who've gotten 17's to work on the front end of the car but, IIRC, they're putting down more power as well running the cars in W2W where they need the fronts to last more than a handful of laps. IIRC, most of these folks are running HC cars out on the West Coast.

powerneedy

I run 17x9 or 10 wheels with squared tires ranging from 225 R6s to 255 RS3s but I am a turbo car with almost twice the power. We noticed a lot more grip for acceleration and deceleration...

gramkrackers

Hoosier is not an option for him if he wants to stay in the same class for time attack.

I am not a fan of the 17' rim thing everyone is doing either. I would say stick with 15's and NT01's for now, there is more time in them.

I am considering converting my car to 4 lug so I can run 15x9's up front to get some more contact patch. I have not done any research on TD's but I find it hard to believe they are that much faster to be worth all this fuss of making aero and setup changes for them. But if they are I imagine other tire manufacturers will make a tire to match them and make them available in 15' sizes.

Root of all Evil

For smaller brake setups there is no reason to change the 15" wheel. My itr makes a good amount of power so I use the 13" six piston wilwood set up with 255/40/17fr and 235/40/17 rr on 17x8.5 wheels.
stick with the 225

Xian

I'm not a pro on NASA "points" but wouldn't going to a 245/255 impact his classing as well?

Agreed on the 17's. I looked at them and played with the #'s for my STX/street/DE car and finally gave up. The hit to both ride height and suspension travel is just too much for my application. If I could chop up or hammer the hell out of the inner fender area maybe I could get it to work but it'd still hurt ride height and also impact gearing negatively (OE FD is a requirement for STX).

Having run Rivals on 15x8 and 15x9's, the 9's are definitely "better." It's not a world of difference but they let the car put down it's contact patch a little better and improve feedback/turn-in. I've looked at going the custom route for 15x9's but it's not worth the price tag, IMO. Another option for them in 5x114.3 are some of the wheels through Weld. They've got some fitments that'll work with a smallish spacer.

powerneedy

I was not a fan of 17s either when I went to them 3+ years ago but the track we run on is to fast and the brakes could not handle the abuse. 16" is a joke for any tire flavor and 16" wont give you much brake up size for off the shelf. If your not planning on going for a lot more power then I would skip the 17's as you wont need the huge brakes. If I where in your shoes I would stick to the 15x8 or 9 setup...

DaveSi677

I'm glad this was solved...

Vince you can give me the RPF1's now lol

gramkrackers

The series that he is trying to set up for is in Canada and uses pretty relaxed rules on tire width and rim sizes unlike the NASA TT ruleset. Its a bit like Global Time Attack I think, street tires for street class cars, DOT R-comps for super street and slicks for the unlimited class.

I was looking for 5x114.3, 15x9's and didn't come across anything that would work well so I will look into Weld! Thanks!

92integraVTECgsr

Stick with the 15's and 225 tire. I run a 17x8 (235/40 Toyo RR) for HC1 (also west coast doesn't have nothing on East coast Honda Challenge). I went with 17's to clear my stoptech brakes and converted to 5 lug at the same time because there were more wheel choices. I ran a 17x9 for a while and really like it but I was going through tires too fast as I could not rotate them.

A 225/45-15 will be plenty for you. Put them on a 15x8 or stretch them on a 15x9.

topdog

iTrader: (1)

I went from a 205/50/15 on a 8' wheel all around to a 225/25/15 on 15x9 949 up front and 225/45/15 on 15x8 on the back. there was a huge differnce to me but it also took a different setting to get thme dialed in. I made a over 270 hp NA to the wheel. at times the 225 is not enough for it. I run a pretty aggresive metal plate lsd also....when i do get back into TA, the tires will be somewhere in the range of 275 or wider.

Xian

Ahhhhh... gotcha. You mean folks in Canada do something other than Ice Racing?

No problem on the wheels thing. There's some info in this thread on ITRCA.com:

ITR Expo Forums: New member with plans for STX and TTD

Page 5 has additional discussion on what should be a better fitting Weld wheel option.

donut.

245/40r15 Maxxis RC1's are coming out by the end of the year, if you want to keep it 100utqg.

Only other option is to run a bigger wheel, or run slicks.

DaveSi677

the class he is running in doesn't allow for slicks.

Xian

Interesting info about a 100TW 245/40 15. Looks like they're already reflecting that tire on their website:

Victra RC-1 | Maxxis USA

Any idea how they do in autoX type conditions/temps?

fpvteg0681

Thank you everyone for the excellent responses. I think you've helped me make my decision. I keep looking, researching, and plotting but I too can't justify the jump to a 17". I really only get 0.5"-1.2" of additional contact patch, which I don't believe is worth the added weight and ride height as mentioned by Xian. The contact patch can definitely be tuned with suspension settings..

gramcrackers (won't use your real name lol), I've definitely considered the 4 bolt conversion myself along with upgrading the front calipers just to run the 15x9 to get the better response on turn-in, but perhaps I'll wait to see if this 245 tire rumor will ever become true. I've heard of it from different manufacturers but nothing official yet. If a 245-40-15 ever comes out, perhaps the 15x9 front will have to happen for me. I'll wait and see and just stick with my new staggered offset setup for now. Gained -0.8s at TMP on a cold day!

fpvteg0681

Donut!! Thank you!

Xian

Andy mentioned on another forum that he did a Maxxis tire test for GRM in the last month or two. Probably worth fishing that out or ordering it. As I understand it, the Maxxis is a solid "2nd Tier" performer but more sensitive to getting greasy when hot than the NT01. Then again, with you up in the frosty north that's probably not a big deal like it would for me in FL.

fpvteg0681

It's going to be a pain to get it up here, haha. I've spoken to 3 reps around the US, had to get bounced around a few times to try and speak to the right person.

Long story short, Maxxis does not ship to Canada so I'd have to ship it closer and cross the border to get them. Also, they confirmed that the 245/40/15 is not yet completed for mass production/sale to the public. They are saying Q1 of 2015, but the sound in the guys voice says probably Q2 or Q3 as they don't know when they'll arrive in North America.

I've got some work to do to the R, so I'll leave tires and my "last" to-do before bringing heR out again. *fingers crossed* ... I don't want 17's lol.

Thanks again everyone!