Those of you that actually run your cars on the track, what size wheel/tire combo do you run? Basically Im looking for a comparison between something like a 15" wheel with a 50series tire, versus, a 17 or 18" wheel with 35 or 40series tire.

I keep getting told by people that I should run a bigger wheel with lower profile tire for the track because it will be more stable and have less sidewall flex. Then they go on to argue "look at the super touring cars, they all have like 19" wheels with low profile tires..." so they think they are right. I want to know if you ITR guys that run smaller wheels with larger profile tires have ever tries a large wheel and low profile tires, and what you think as far as which is better and why? I dont like big wheels and want to keep my wheels no larger than 16's. Im interested in some feedback on this.

 

wear items need to be cheap... 15" tires are cheap, 15" wheels are cheap

unless you have monster brakes going under the 17-18" rhyms.... save your money.

 

What Will said. If you go 17" rims, the tire selection isn't as good and also, the cost goes up the roof.

 

do forumula 1's run 19"??? NOT - keep cheap...when you outrun everyone else, then switch to bigger & better. It'll take alot of seat time before you outdrive your 15" tires (re010's, azenis, etc) jmho

 

Sidewall flex has as much to do with aspect ratio as it does tire construction.

Most high performance street and R compound tires have already very stiff sidewalls and their is no need to go to anything with a lower profile because you will not gain any performance (faster lap time). There are weight advantages to running a smaller tire/rim combo as well as better rim protection should you have an off-track event or even just hit a curb. The most obvious advantage is lower cost of replacement.

The super touring cars have multi-point cages, are super light, run a LOT of camber on their suspension settings, use huge brakes and likely will go through a set of tires in one race. Whoever you talked to that mentioned the touring car comparison doesn't know what the *$&^ they are talking about - a Type R and a super touring race car have about as much in common as Marilyn Manson and the Pope.

 

15"

 

right on, not that I'm an ITR guy, but I do autox/trackschool a lot. The 15" size wheels are super inexpensive, the 15" tires are abundant and you have a choice of a lot of ranges of price/grip/life/size when you run that setup.

 

They don't because they are not allowed to by the regulations (which are aimed at keeping the brake disc size limited). In many cases, larger wheels are driven by the need for larger brakes. Unless you find the stock R brakes inadequate on a track, stay with 15" or 16" wheels.

 

15x7 Volk TE-37 wheels with 225/45/15 Kumho Ecsta V700...

 

Damn, I didnt even take brake size into consideration....Im a dumbass

 

I agree with the above comments.

Get the smallest wheels that will clear your brakes.

Also don't ever forget that anyone who uses logic like "this part is good because steph papadakis/touring cars/etc use it" doesn't know what they're talking about and isn't a good source of information.

 

yup, that's what i did

 

Simple Just get 16x7 rims and tires, cheap effective and looks ok.

 

What do you consider effective and cheap?

 

Stock wheels with 205/50-15 Yokohama A032R tires on the track.

 

>>Stock wheels with 205/50-15 Yokohama A032R tires on the track

This is the combo I've been running for nearly 2 years. Next year, I am switching to a track only package, with Kosei K1s and either Advans or Hoosiers. Either way, 205/50 for tires and 15x7 for wheels is the best combo IMO, especially when you factor in price issues and availability of tires.


[Modified by fso_BamBam, 10:47 PM 9/10/2002]

 

Either way you go about the track wheel/tire size business you have to buy an additional rim: you will save a little bit of money by going with the 15" rims and have a wider selection of tires (brand wise). But my choice was to go with a 16" rim for a future brake upgrade and a more limited selection of tire choices. In the 16" R compound market, the Kumho Ecsta V700 tires (205/45R16) are just about as cheap as the 15" varieties but if you got cash to burn go for the Hoosiers. With spacers, you could probably run the monster truck size 225/40R16 rubber (although you probably want to run the shortest FD you can find if you do that).

-Geo