Ok, I found the rims I want to get and they come in the following widths:

6"
6.5"
7"
7.5"
8"

What should I get and why? I want the widest I can get without rubbing, so I can put the widest rubber possible on there for autox and track. They may do some street duty as well though..... pro's and con's? I'm pretty sure I'll get at least 7", but what offset? and will 7.5" or 8" fit? Which has better tire selection and why is one better than the other? Also, remember that wider make the weight of these rims go up a little.....


[Modified by Black R, 9:43 PM 2/21/2002]

 

15 x 7's woud be my pick. With 7" width you can run 225's all day long at the track. As for the offset, it's either 39 or 42... I can't recall.

 

I second the 15x7s. There is no reason to go bigger because you won't be stuffing a 245 under your fenders. A 225 won't benefit from the extra inch jump to an 8.

 

First thing to do is to decide what size tire you want to run. A lot of people run 15". There are a lot of choices for tires in the 205/50/15 size. Another reason could do with class rules. A 15"X7" rim is a good choice for that tire size. If you check out tire info, you can see a range of acceptable rim widths for a given tire size. For comp., it is usually better to use a rim towards the wide part of the range. It helps to keep a larger % of the tread 'flat' on the ground. Offset will depend on your setup. A offset of 38 should work fine for most cars. A car with a extreme amount of tuck (usually not enough suspension travel for serious comp) you might want to go with a 42. A side note on offset, the higher the number, the more narrow the track. Not the best for comp. HTH.

 

I noticed you said you were going to be autocrossing...I am not sure what class you are running in, but if it if stock, you have to run the same size wheel as the Stock R. If not...go with what has been recommended above.

 

Also remember that a 7.5" wide and a 225 tire is the max for STS and STX classes.

 

Kenny is far from being able to run in the DStock class. He runs Street Mod...

 

I don't care about rules - I want what performs the best.

I run in SM, where pretty much anything goes. I'm interested in the best cornering..... I've got a set of 16x8 rx7 rims and they fit in +50 offset with a 3mm spacer to clear the rear suspension. What would this equate to in a 15x8? +38 offset? Will I be able to run just as wide tires in a 15x7 or 15x7.5?

 

Kenny, remember more tire = more weight......215 would be plenty