Michelin/Enkei upgrade + more. Community suggestions welcome!
 

Hello people! So I have had my FRS for 2 weeks now and I am very pleased to say the least. Well worth the wait!

Also, please note that I am new to this whole car modification thing, which you might recognize in the order I would like to upgrade build my car. My car is 100% stock at the moment.

Lastly, I do not plan on doing track or auto cross so this is strictly street + curvy back roads + fun + sexy/classy. I also like the look of 17's over 18's (18's look good don't get me wrong but I prefer 17's + if I am driving hard on back roads).

The order of my potential build:

1. Michelin Pilot Super Sport + Enkei RPF1, Black, 17x7.5 (front), 17x8 (back)
2. Eibach, Front + Rear sway bars kit
3. AEM, Cold Air Intake
4. Eibach, Performance Springs Pro-Kit (1" drop)
5. Takeda, Cat-Back Exhaust System

If I am missing something, PLEASE let me know. Suggestions, criticism and feedback are more than welcome.

Also, if the order of my modifications are off please correct it! or if you feel a better brand/manufacturer should replace what I have put, replace it son!

That is all for now and thanks!

I'm in the same position as you, and trying to figure all of this stuff out... so, this probably isn't going to help. Rather, I'm wondering about your thinking behind picking a 7.5" wide front and and 8" wide rear, when you're going with such relatively narrow wheels. In other words, I'm guessing it will make little difference in appearance or performance, so, why?

Go with 8" all around, you really don't need the sway bars just get the pro kit, and i would rethink that exhaust also. I'd get a Nameless offset Axleback before i spent money on the Takeda.

Well, it is basically my lack of knowledge and understanding with appropriate tire width. So I am happy you brought that up cause I really wanted someone to comment on that part. Would you suggest 8.5" front and rear? Or perhaps, 8.5" front and 9" rear? If I am understanding you correctly, the wider the tire & wheel the better the grip and planted the car will be? Plus of course it will look more flush to the edges of the car. Please drop some knowledge :]

Thanks for the suggestion, Joe! Why do you suggest 8" all around vs. 8" front/8.5" back or something along those lines? The more insight the better as I am trying to learn as much as I can.

Understeer.

Which would be a good thing because of the cars knack for a little tail action? How wide should I go and how wide should I not go if I stick with 17's?

You're not going to the track, do whatever matches up with your aesthetic preferences.

I elected for light 17x8 +42 wheels mounted to 225/45/17 summer tires.

I'm not sure I'm in any position to drop knowledge, as I'm still learning and debating over my first wheel upgrade.

But, as I understand it, there are two primary reasons that people go with a staggered fitment -

1. Performance (grip) - the front wheel wells on our car cannot fit as large a wheel as the back, without rubbing. The limits I've seen from here seem to be around 9" front, and (without checking) 10" back. Thus, the theory behind a performance based staggered fitment is that you put a wider wheel/tire in back, to provide greater grip than you would get with 9" all around. However, from what I understand, our cars don't put out enough power to demand the grip provided by a wider rear wheel. Therefore, you're adding weight, without ever really being able to take advantage of the additional grip. Plus, assuming you go with wider rear than front tires, you can't rotate them front to back, so the tires wear faster. Finally, it seems (again, just based on my reading) that a staggered fitment changes the driving characteristics by inducing more understeer.

Basically, to me, this all argues that the net performance benefit of a staggered fitment is negative for our unmodded cars. And, since you can fit an 8" wide wheel all around, I'm thinking there's no performance reason not to.


2. Stance

Others choose the staggered fitment for stance, or appearance reasons, and there's nothing wrong with this, but, I'm not sure (I guess it depends on the offset) that you would see an appearance benefit from a 7.5" and 8" wheel. Most I've seen that choose a staggered fitment for appearance reasons are going with much wider wheels than 7.5" and 8".

So, I hope this helps, and, I may not know wth I'm talking about, so, others with real world experience, feel free to correct me.

Edit: Hehe. while I was writing this treatise, you got more succinct advice from those who probably know better.

Hey man, I appreciate it nonetheless! You actually still helped me understand it a bit better to be honest. All 3 of you guys put it in better perspective for me. Thanks a lot!

I won't hesitate to recommend my setup for the aggressive street driver/"for the fun of it" AutoXer.

17x8 wheels with 235/40-17 Extreme Performance tires with the RaceComp Engineering "Yellow" starter package.

No sway bars needed for this low-CG animal. Just bump the spring rates a touch and you're good.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8454/8...52667746_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8178/8...593fee73_c.jpg

Draco, I am DIGGING that! "Lookin straight grizzleyyy" ... and thank you for your recommendation because that is essentially what I am going for and you seem to have achieved the build I am after. Might I also ask, what brand of rear lip spoiler is that?

It's a Carsmo paint-matched duckbill I believe. You can check the BRZ "what did you do your car?!" thread to see pictures of my paint matched TRD duckbill.

I have those wheels as well; powdercoated a custom color. Same springs too. They're just not on the car yet. :lol:

I think I saw yours yesterday Orbital. It is the WRB right? Looked nice too! I think I want to get one for my ultramarine but not sure if I should make it match the same color as the car or go for a carbon fiber one... perhaps too overzealous :P

Yerp, that's me. Thanks! I prefer matched colors, but yo' car is yo' car.

Back to wheels & tires: you will FEEL a heavier/lighter wheel/tire combo. This is actually the best place to remove weight as it is rotating unsprung mass. If you can swing it, go for light wheels (20-21 lbs is the stock cast wheel weight) and lighter tires. Note that wider tires will weigh more; I opted for wider tires, but being conscious of weight I opted for Michelins that were lighter than the BFG summer tires I recently sold. My wheel tire combo is ~37lbs per corner or a savings of ~4lbs PER corner while still going to WIDER wheels and WIDER GRIPPIER tires.