I'm debating about whether or not to go with 15x7.5 or 15x8 inch wheels on my R. What concerns me the most is clearance. I'll be running Hoosiers dot slicks in a 225/45/15, so idealy the wider wheel the better, but will I get into trouble with a 15x8 in a +4x offset? I'm fairly sure a 15x7.5 in a +4x won't rub though.

The car will be lowered, but I can obviously adjust how much thanks to my suspension (Zeal B6). Spring rates will be pretty high (over 600 lbs) so I'm not worried about too much suspension travel. Usage is for autox.

Hoosier lists the O.D. of their tires as 22.8" and section width as 9.3"

 

I'm running the SSR Comps at the track in 15x7.5 - stock height - 205's - no issues.

 

205/50 is roughly the same height as 225/45 (at least in hoosiers), but it's the width that I'm worried about. If it does tuck with a 15x7.5 though, all should be good.

I believe some have gotten the 16x8 RX7 wheels to tuck, so that would be even harder than the 15" versions.

 

If it is any help to you, on the Volk's website (volksracing.jp.co), for the TE37 wheel they recommend 15"x8" in the front with 225 wide tires (on the bottom of the TE37 spec page). I'm not sure if it is only for the JDM ITR however. I have personnaly used 205 tires on the stock 15"x6" wheels and I'm wondering if 225 tire would fit on 15"x7" wheels (it should fit since the wheels are 25.4 mm wider).

 

Hmm...that's something I did not see on their (Volk) website. I guess tire size is tire size and a 15x8 with 225s would be the same width as a 15x7 with 225s, although the 15x8 might stretch out the tire a little more (good thing for handling, bad for clearance).

And I had 225/50/15's on a set of 15x7 Koseis and I only had very minor rubbing in an autox situation (which would = ok for the street). I am also sitting about 1.25-1.5" lower than a stock ITR.

 

"Hmm...that's something I did not see on their (Volk) website. "
http://www.volkracing.co.jp/lineup/volkracing/te37.htm

Look at the bottom of the page. They have suggestions for a bunch of cars, the ITR DC2 is the fourth one from the top.

 

Would´nt the car´s *** dancing on the track way too much, when you have 225 in front and only 205 in the rear?

 

Isn't that why I posted this thread? Duh!

 

Todd,

you will rub somewhere with 225/45x15 hoosiers depending on what offset you are running. use an s2000 wheel and various wheel spacers to check the offset and clearance for the optimal ride height and clearance combination.

the hoosiers are very wide for a 225 tire and 7.5-8 wheels are hard to get or expensive in the right offset. low offset 38-44mm wheel will cause rubbing on the outside; high offset 50mm+ wheels will rub on the rear lca's.

205 hoosiers on 7" rims are much easier to fit and don't require modifying your fender lips.

 

Trackie, Todd,

This is why I had posted about rolling my fenders. I am running 205/50/15 Hoosiers on 7x15 and I do not rub at all except sometimes when it is a very tight turn on a very bumpy track (Monroe Washington) . However I am allowed to run the 225 in my class and that is what I am thinking about. I love the 205 and I have them pretty dialed in after 2 seasons and some help from List members (Thanks!) so I don't know if the change is worth the hassle. Spacers, new wheels, rolling the fender seems a bit much for the (?) advantage. One thing to keep in mind (as Ben @ A&J reminded me ) is that the R is raced in Japan on 195/55/15. That is why there are so many great Japanese R compounds in those sizes. Is wider always better?

I do think that if I ran the 225 I would stay with a 7x15 rim though.

Victor Penner

 

i personally run the hoosier 225/45's on 15x7's (kosei and te37). for autocross i run staggered 225/45-205/50. for track days i run 225's on all 4 corners. meccanic shop (yasu's partner) runs the same setup on all the cars he builds, including yasu's IT cars. i think a 7.5 or wider will run into more cleaance problems than it's worth. if you were to flare the car, you wouldn't have a problem though.