Just got back from VIR this weekend. Great time this weekend other than the rain, always good to see the Honda faithful. Unfortunately I had a tire go flat on track (driver front, all the load is on the driver front at VIR, Nitto NT01). So I need to buy one or two tires depending on the size I go with. Car has 205/50/15 all the way around. I talked to a few of you in the pits (Josh Atwell, you are the man, thanks for the advice, and the ride in your ITR on Sunday!), and the hot ticket is 225/45/15, but everyone had rolled fenders and no front fender liners. I have seen posts on the SCCA forums where people run 225/45/15 on the front, and 205/50/15 on the rear due to rub on the rear spring. Trying to figure out the best combo for my car without rolling the fenders (it's in excellent condition, not one dent, don't have the heart to roll the fenders and remove the liners, and it still sees street use). I run it HARD though, I have the TTD fast time for VIR full in 2007....

My car is stock suspension other than Koni yellows on their lower perch, so the car sits lower than stock. I know Hoosiers won't fit, but would a Proxes RA1 or Nitto NT01 fit with no rub all the way around, or just the front maybe? Atwell stated that he rhad run 225's with the fenders unaltered, but I forgot to ask him his ride height at the time. Last thing I want to do is go thru hog pen and rip the left inner fender out of the car, or cut the driver rear sidewall!

Thanks for any advice, see you at CMP in a few weeks! James

 

225-45-15 on a +38 offset is a good start. hopefully josh will chime in with his offset (either +38 or +35).
as for rubing and whatnot, put some spring on the car and it wont rub for the most part. people do run the staggered set up and it works fine. i haven't tried it on track personally tho. fitting the 225 up front is easy. its the back that will take some work. just roll that lip out of the inside of the rear quarters and you should be just fine.
-spenc

 

Thanks for the response, greatly appreciated. Realized I left out key info. I run Esses Speedmaster SM058 wheels with +38 offset.

 

This may or may not be a useful data point for you, but here it is: it's very common to run 225 f, 205r in DS autox.

I'm on stock springs, with koni yellows on the stock-height perch. 225 Hoosiers in the front slightly rub my inside fender wall on tight turns (which you may never see on a road course). I put a 2mm spacer (stock offset wheels) and they no longer rub.

On the rear (again stock height, stock offset wheels) 205s are fine, 225s rub the trailing arm pretty badly.

 

Before I banged on my fenders to clear the 225/45/15 hoosiers I had for a short time I had absolutly 0 issues running 225/45/15 Ra1's as well as 225/45/15 Kuhmos.

I can't remember the offset of the k1's I had them on. They were not the +35's but the other offset that does not clear spoon calipers (I use 5mm spacers now). I did not have the spoon calipers until last year though so there was no spacer on before I rolled my fenders.

My ride height before i rolled my fenders was as low as the buddy club coilovers would go at the time with the pillow ball upper mounts in the front and just a hair higher then that in the rear. Car is much lower now with stock ITR tophats. I think at that time I had 600lbf, 800lbr springs.

Glad you enjoyed the session in the passenger seat, sorry for the stock civic seat you had to be strapped in .

Hope that helps

 

As a contrarian view, what's the downside of continuing to run 205/50-15 all around? IOW how important is that 0.x of a second in your lap times? If it's not that important to you, there's no other downside of using 205/50-15. Upsides include the ability to rotate the tires to even out the wear, as well as not having to roll your fenders.

Disclaimer: I use 205/50-15 RA-1 all around on my ITR (bone stock except for HP+ pads and Bilsteins), but I'm only in HPDE events where I don't care about getting the absolute fastest out of my car. Like you, I don't want to start messing with the fenders.

 

for hpde it doesnt matter so much. but once you start competing, the 225s are for sure faster than the 205. i havent back to back tested them but i know they are faster

 

Everyone makes great points here. I was looking for a possible extra edge in TT, but to be completely honest, it's not worth it to me to possibly damage the car, or have to modify it for that very little edge. I will just stick to the 205/50/15 combo all the way around. I appreciate everyone's input.....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ITR Motorsports &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I will just stick to the 205/50/15 combo all the way around. I
appreciate everyone's input..... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Boo!

I autocrossed and road raced my ITR for a while. While autocrossing (late 90's) I would run 225/50R15 Kumhos in the front with the stock wheels. They'd rub the inner fender at full lock. No clearance issues with the knuckle at all. I might have rolled the fenders (gently!) but nothing serious at all.

When I switched to road racing and was using 15x7 +45 TDR wheels, I ran 225/45R15 Toyos and Hankook Z214's with no rubbing, anywhere at all, front or rear, with the full fender liner and dropped a bit with coilovers.

Your +38 will give you a little less clearance on the fender.

If you have the points to spare, go 225/45, your tires will last longer (both in terms of hours, and in terms of overheating) if you're pushing the car hard!

-Chris, who will be running 255/40's next weekend in his Prelude... fingers crossed...

 

Thanks! Can you still find any +45 offset wheels new? I have searched with no luck, still some 5ZigenFN01RC's floating around out there, but with +42 offset.

I actually may part my set of wheels out as spares to a few of the guys on the board. One is bent and has been repaired (not very well, hence the blowout at VIR) and you cannot find them new anymore...So maybe it's time for new wheels!

 

Anyone out there know of a 15x7 +45 offset 5x114.3 wheel available new, or is the closest thing available the 5Zigen's FN01RC's at +42?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris F &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">-Chris, who will be running 255/40's next weekend in his Prelude... fingers crossed...</TD></TR></TABLE>

We're sitting here sweating 225's (I know I am) while this **** is running 255's! If you do, thats awesome for a RR car. Are you still try to have them tuck or are you just hanging them outside the fenders and praying the rules ****** don't get on you?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GI8U2racing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
We're sitting here sweating 225's (I know I am) while this **** is running 255's! If you do, thats awesome for a RR car. Are you still try to have them tuck or are you just hanging them outside the fenders and praying the rules ****** don't get on you?</TD></TR></TABLE>

They'll be inside the fender.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ITR Motorsports &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Anyone out there know of a 15x7 +45 offset 5x114.3 wheel available new, or is the closest thing available the 5Zigen's FN01RC's at +42? </TD></TR></TABLE>

TDR doesn't sell anything in that offset anymore? Kosei K1 too?

 

I'm running 275/35/15's on a DC2. I haven't got my flares yet, so they stick out past the fenders about 1-1.5". Fenders are cut for clearance.

Different tires have different widths, so a 255 from one brand may not be as wide as a 255 from another brand. Also, wheel width and offset can make a 205 stick out past the fender or a 275 fit under the fender. My 275's are 10" wide, and are mounted on a 9.5" wheel.

 

TDR's website was temporarily down last week (looked like they had closed their doors, the domain name was showing available), and I should have searched with some other retailers for existing stock. Their website is fully operational today. Looks like they have a variety of 5x114.3 +45 offset. Thanks for the info Chris

 

I have a set of TD Pro Race 1.2 in 15x7, +45 - highly recommend them at 13.3 lb and reasonable price... Had to wait 6 months however... (but that was 1+ yr ago)

 

I run 15x7-45 offset TDR Pro Race 1's on my ITR. Tires are Hoosier 225/45/15 Hoosiers all around. No spacers in the front but 10 mm (I think) spacers in the rear. Fenders rolled front and rear, no front fender liner. Been running that setup for many years with "almost" no rubbing.