I'm looking for wheels to replace my 15: stock 2001 ITR wheels. I was looking at the SSR Competitions, but I don't know what kind of weight advantage I'm looking at. I'd like to get lower profile tires, but should I go with 16's or 17's depending on the weight?

 

if you can afford it - go with forged or semi-forged aluminum rims - they're always lighter and stronger than a cast rim.

Generally speaking the bigger the rim, the higher the wheel/tire weight will be (unless you go with ultralight forged rims).

I have 16's on my car and am running 40 aspect ratio. A 17" would have an even lower aspect ratio. If the roads aren't great in your area - i would stay with a 16" rim max.

Mazda Millenia rims will fit the R as an inexpensive lightweight alternative.

 

Yeah, that's what I was looking for, an inexpensive wheel for race day.

Thanks

 

Agreed - But you would be better off in some ways to keep the stock wheels for the track. Only because you will have more tyre options with the 15' 50 profile than with 16' 40 profile. Not many low profile race tyres because they can't make the sidewalls strong enought. The only real low profile tyres for racing where made for the 2.0 Litre Tourers, they were allowed Huge Brakes, and therefore Big wheels, low profile tyres.
The choice is yours, you'll have more choice with 15's.

BTW:- I think Regamasters maker the lightest wheels.
Later.

 

Hey Mo Speed, I believe the SSR Competitions are around 9 pounds, definitely lighter than the stock wheels. I'm thinking about getting them for summer use. Two reasons why I'm not going to a bigger wheel size are 1.) the 15" SSR's are going to be the lightest, and 2.) Yokohama makes an incredible competition tire, the Advan AO32, which will only fit the 15" wheel (205x50x15). I've driven that tire on a GSR and an S2000, and they are simply amazing, as far as dry weather traction goes (they are competition tires, after all). Go to tirerack.com, you can enter your vehicle information and you can even filter wheels by size for you car. The tire rack will show you what wheels you can run on the Type R (considering offset). It's cool, they have a picture of a GSR (close enough to Type R) and when you click on each wheel, the picture changes so you can see what the wheel will look like on your car. Check it out.