I am changing from stock Si wheels to 7" (38mm) panasports, and I need to order a new set of tires. It has been suggested to me that many people run the 205/55/14 Kumho victoracers on all four corners, but that many people will also run a 225 up front with "some fender modification." For the sake of arugment (and budget), I'm talking about the Kumho Ecsta V700 225/50/14, and not Hoosiers (BTW, is there a size difference between the Ecstas and the 225/50/14 Hoosiers?). Does anyone run this size up front (or on all four)? What modifications did it take to make them fit? Thanks for any info.

 

You don't need any mods, plus fender modifications are illegal anyway . I've only seen 1 crx that can run 7 inch wheels all around running 225s all around and I still haven’t figured out how it’s possible. On ours and every other rex I’ve seen the back won't fit and you need to run a 6 inch rim to fit the 225. That's what we've been running for a while now: 14x7 225 front with 14x6 225 rear. (One of the ITA civic Si hatch’s and 2G integra’s advantage is that they can run 14x7 225s all around with no problems.) Another popular setup is to run 14x7 all around with 205s on the crx. Bob Endicott tried running 225 front, 205 rear on a crx a few years ago and I remember that he did not like it as much as 205s all around. Since the kumhos are almost 2 sizes narrower than the hoosiers (a 225 kumho is almost 2 cm narrower than a 225 hoosier), I certainly don't see any problems running 225 kumhos all around. You might even get away with running a 225 kumho on a 14x7 wheel in the back, but I can't say for sure. Anyone else, (Scott) with more info?

Good luck!

 

Not much more to add to what Alex said. We're running 225/50-14 on 14x6's all around and depending on off-set they vary in their trailing arm clearance.

 

I've never tried the Kumho's.

I'm running 205 Hoosier's on either 14x7 Borbet's or 14x6.5 Volk's all around. The 225's wouldn't fit in the rear on the 7" wheels. I tried 225 front, 205 rear last year and couldn't really feel any difference from all 205's. The data didn't show any difference in either longitudinal or latitudinal G's between the 205's and 225's either so I went back to 205's just to make it easier to rotate tires when necessary.

 

A guy in our region who runs CSP has 13x8" Panasports and 235/??x13" V700s Wide as wheels and tires! He keeps hitting cones

 

You are allowed to roll under or flatten any interior lip on the wheel opening for tire clearance. I assume that those are the types of modifications that were required.

Thanks for the info guys. So it sounds like people run 205s on 7" rims (I should have mentioned these are all 14" tall. The IT guys picked up on it), or 225s on 6" rims. If I'm not mistaken, nobody here has tried the new Ecstas in 225/50/14 on all four corners, but they *might* fit since they are narrower than Hoosiers (which I now understand don't fit in 225). It's also interesting that nobody here thinks the larger size up front is any better than 205's on all four. I guess that is good news for the reason sjasmund mentioned...easier rotation. I had that problem with the ITR running the 225/205 combo. They never wore out at the same time.

I think for now I'll pick up a set of 205/55/15 victoracers, unless I hear otherwise.

 

I would've gotten 225s, but they don't look like they'd fit in the back. The front doesn't look like there would be a problem with fitment.

 

Now that I think about it... when I tested the 225's on the front, I was still fighting to figure out the valving on the new shocks and the car sucked. I still have a set of mounted 225's sitting in the trailer. Now that the car is sorted out, I'll have to put them on again and see how they feel.

 

You're right, you do need to do that. 205 kumhos is not a bad choice at all. I used to run on that same size for a while, but with the stock 14x5.5 rims Si rims. It was definitely "ok", but don't make the switch to hoosiers unless you are ready to commit to them and never look back at the kumhos. The RA1s shaved are another very good option, but they’re more expensive than the kumhos.

 

The ECSTA's in 225 are WIDE. In general, I believe 225 will NOT fit in the rear (legally in IT), but can be made to fit up front, with a little fender massaging. FUnny, because I thought Tom Fowler and Louis' setup was 225 hoosiers up front and 205 in the rear all on 14x7 panasports, at least this is what I remember Louis told me. However, what Alex said may be right that they use 14x7 up front and 14x6 in the rear to get the 225 to fit all around since if im not mistaken races with these guys, but that doesnt make sense to me.

anyway, ECSTA's are a wide tire and I do NOT suggest you get them in 225, i bought them as my first tire and for other reasons could not get them to fit right and never ended up using them, instead get shaved Toyos in 205 variety. My lap times were better with the toyos than the victoracers.

ITR, something i forgot to mention about those panasports, unless they have been modified already, youre going to have to lathe some of the outside of the inner center face, OR grind off part of your caliper brace so that the Panasports fit. Kinda hard to explain, youll know what i mean when you try to fit the wheels on and you go no where because the wheels are digging into your rims. ill try to take a pic of what was done to my caliper for you.


[Modified by Tyson, 4:38 PM 6/9/2002]

 

Tyson,

Thanks for the info on the Ecstas. So the Ecstas run wide, eh? Wider than the victoracers? As wide as hoosiers? I think I'm going to start out with shaved 205/55/14 victoracers and see how I like them, since it's going to take a while to get this car sorted anyway.

I would also like to see a pic or get some information on the fitment issues with the Panasports. I imagine it will be clear, like you said, when I try to install them. Still, it would be nice to see what I have to do ahead of time so that I can have everything ready to go.

If my budget ever allow for multiple sets of tires at any given time (like dry vs. rains), maybe I'll pick up a set of 14x6s to run in the rear, and I'll have two complete sets.

 

yeah, i have a set of 14x7 panas with toyos and 14x6 Mugen Mr5 with VictoR. when i first got the panas i bought the ECSTAs and had em mounted and never put them on the car until i got to the track, and then i realized that they didnt clear the inside of the calipers and how wide they were. so dont make the mistake of not mounting them and checking BEFORE you come to the track.

 

Louis' setup on his car (that he sold) has always been 14x7 front, 14x6 rear with 225s all around. That's the car I raced last year with him. We actually did try some time ago at a test day 225 front 205 back and it was not too pretty, so we dropped that idea. About half the times we would run 14x6s all around with 225s, but if we wanted to make something really count we would put the 14x7s panasports up front. The car certainly had enough rotation and was very quick. I heard now that the car's new owner insists that something has to be almost "wrong" with the car because it oversteers way too much and he is frantically trying to make it understeer. A lot has to do with getting used to what a well setup crx handles like and also shows that you don't need to drop down two sizes in the back to make a crx rotate.

Tom F's ex car (he also sold it) was the car I was referring to as being the only crx I saw able to run 14x7 all around with 225s. But it is definitely legal since that car passed impound at the ARRC two years in a row now.

ITR#231, the 205s you're getting are probably the best choice to first see how the car behaves. They will last a good while and are also cheap. Try to post back later on how you like it.

 

I've got the ne w Ecsta's on 14x7 Borbet Type T's. Some rolling of the fender lip and some rubbing on the inside but work. at VIR full, they seem to handle oak tree better than the 205's but straightaway speed about the same. This is on a 90 CRX Si

 

Alright, after many useful posts and some IM's here and there, I found this:

http://integra.vtec.net/wheels/rollfender.html

It's a pretty basic link to fender rolling, and it has some good pictures. For those of you who have rolled your fenders to make the larger tires fit, did you do anything beyond what's shown in the link, aside from pulling up a little on the lip with bare hands?

Thanks again for all the help.

 

Oh yea, and if I can get this fender rolling thing down, I'll shoot for this:

 

Yeah that fender rolling is right on. We always have a bat handy at the track. You never know what might come up.

 

What, like a 13/13/3-strikes rule? Sounds fair

-231, who will be adding a Louisville Slugger to the tool box.