help with wheel specs
 

Hello all,
I'm enjoying my new car but I'm looking at my wheel/suspension options.

So far I'm leaning towards TRD springs or RCE Yellow springs with stock struts for now. I want to autox my car once it's broken in but I'm not planning anything past autox and DD. I think springs (and maybe sways) will be enough, mostly just want to lower it an inch.

I've seen various fitments on this site and I haven't seen many that exactly what I want. Granted I haven't viewed every page, but I've searched a lot.

I'm really liking a setup I came across in a thread here and wanted to see if anyone had an idea on the wheel specs. Everything about this looks perfect. I understand it's on TRD springs, is that US TRD springs?

In this thread, looking for wheel specs http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=363089
http://i.imgur.com/fufI8l.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/mOHRwl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/JWGYCl.jpg

So no one has any idea where I might be able to find the specs for these wheels?

They appear to be 18s, but I can only find 17s in a decent width.

Enkei RPF1 18's come in anywhere from 7.5-10.5" wide. Here's their size chart:
http://enkei.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/RPF1-2.pdf

@Evasive Motorsports has all their sizes for sale here.

Were I buying wheels for myself, I would get a 17x8 or 18x8 +35 with a 225 tire, because I'm not boosted. If I were boosted, I would get a 17x9 or 18x9 in another wheel, because I don't like the RPF1's offsets on their 9" wide wheels. I'd put 245's on the wider wheel.

I found the site on enkei.com

They are 18×8 +35 if anyone else is curious.

Thanks for the link.
I'm looking at T6S and a few others in 18x8.5 +45 and 18x9.5 +45. I eventually will want to supercharge it, but can't speculate when that would become reality as the car is but a week old.

Thoughts on those sizes? I like almost flush but feel the rear end needs some grip. I don't mind doing 8" and 9" widths but I think I want staggered vs rear spacer.

Posts 2 and 3 of this thread will have links to all kinds of wheel sizes and offsets. Those two sizes are pretty common, so someone here has tried it before.


Staggered fitment (larger rear tires) results in a little bit of understeer. Square fitment (same size tires) will not. If you want to run 8.5f/9.5r, consider running 225/40 front and 255/35 rear. Or 235/40 front and 265/35 rear. These pairs maintain nearly identical outside diameters, and are very close to the OD of the original tires.

I was going to run the 235/265 as that's what I had on my BMW. However, I love the steering and turn in on the FRS, so that might sway me towards squared.

Thoughts on 18x8.5 +45 squared? I'd run it with TRD/Eibach/RCE yellow springs.

If you want to keep the steering and turn-in feel, I'd probably go with the 18x8+35 and a 225/40 tire all around. You have to remember that your BMW was a bigger, heavier car, and its suspension was designed from the factory to run staggered fitment.

Keep in mind also that your ride will be a little rougher on 18's than it will on 17's, purely because there's less tire sidewall to absorb impact. If you decided to go 17x8, I would get a 225/45 tire. Or a 17x7 with a 215/45, OEM sizing. Just because the OEM tire sucks doesn't mean that the size isn't enough for these cars. An MPSS or Continental DW in 215/45 will be a big improvement over OEM.

I ran 19" on my previous Audi A4 and BMW and both were pretty heavy. I should be fine with 18" on my FRS, but appreciate the heads up.

I haven't seen many +35 wheels. I mostly see 8.5" with +45 offset in my exhaustive search for wheels. I think I'll go for 8.5 squared, so that would be 235/40 all around?

Edit- Of course I just came across the Enkei RPF1 that are 18x8 with +35.

On an 8.5 you could choose from a 225 to a 245 without it being too stretched or pinched. A 235/40 is about 0.8 inches taller than OEM, but that shouldn't affect anything. I'm not seeing RPF1's in 18x8.5 with a 5x100 bolt circle though.

I've always ran 235 on 8.5" so that's my first thought but I see you'd prefer the 225. Is there any season to pick one size or the other?

Unfortunately, you are correct about the RPF1's not in my preferred size. I initially wanted the extra width of the 8.5" so I'm looking at more than a half dozen wheel options. However, I'm realizing that it's only a .5" difference and I'm not sure I'd notice that difference driving?

It's really personal preference. If you're not putting down a lot of power and you don't need the additional width for traction, then the additional weight and tire patch of a larger tire is just a drag on the system. Not very much of one, though. I'm sure that if you run 235's on an 18x8.5 you'll have no complaints at all. I personally would go with an 18x8 and 225 just because I don't need more and more tends to cost money.

@KidRed

If you are looking at an 18x8.5 wheel in +45, the PF01 comes in that size.

I am currently running 225/40 Hankooks on them. I will probably move to 235/40 when they wear out.

I have pictures in the wheel directory if you want to see how they look.

@jvincent thanks I'll try and hunt those shots down.

Saved you some searching. Here's the thread.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70624

Thanks! Your car looks awesome.

Figure I'll ask here, I also want lowering springs. I don't want to get coils right now, maybe when I have a larger budget. So if I wanted to get springs which are the preferred brands and lowering specs to keep it decent?

I think 1" drop will be enough for me. Would I need to do anything to my suspension with these springs (said to work with stock dampers) like camber bolts or alignment specs? These are the choices that I'm looking at based on what I've read. I might have missed some but thoughts?

-RCE yellow
-Eibach Prokit

I have RCE Yellows and I love them. They're about a 3/4 inch drop, which isn't a lot, but it removes the 4x4 look. They feel significantly better than stock, because they work well with the OEM dampers.

Another spring would be Swift Sports. I've heard nothing but good things about them.

Once you drop your car, you'll need an alignment. You should at least get camber bolts in the front, although that may not be enough if you have specific goals in mind. I didn't do anything for my rear camber because just lowering the car will provide some negative camber already. I lucked out that mine is even on both sides.

Here's a really good thread for all things suspension-related, with a lot of discussion about camber as well.

If all you are doing is lowering it 1" you shouldn't need any extra hardware.

I am running camber bolts up front at the maximum negative, -1.5* IIRC, and I have about 3 or 4 mm of clearance from the wheel to the spring perch.

Lowering the car doesn't change the camber up front, but it does in the rear. However, there is a ton of room in the rear.

So with just around a 1" I shouldn't need anything but an alignment? Are there optimal alignment specs to follow? If I went with a 8.5" wheel with like a +35 offset, would that change what I would need?

And thanks again guys. Both of you have been really helpful.

Alignment specs are really a function of what you want to do with the car.

If you are tracking or autox'ing the car you are going to want at least camber bolts. For best results you would need to go to about -2.5* camber up front, which would require coilovers or camber plates for the PF01s in +45.

If you're not doing either of those, then you probably don't even need bolts. Just get the two sides aligned evenly and you should be fine.

I've only autox'd once and I would like to do it again. However, it would be an occasional hobby, a few times a year maybe at most. My car would still be used 80%-90% as a DD.

There are so many wheel choices and widths and offsets vary so I'm trying to get an overall best approach for a fun streetable DD with rare/occasional autox that has a nice, sporty stance. I doubt I'd track due to insurance/wife concerns.

The wheel shouldn't affect your camber at all, since camber is a function of the suspension and the hub, not the wheel. Unless it's a clearance issue between the wheel and the spring, which is possible with bolts.

I would do camber bolts up front and take whatever the maximum negative camber they could give me. They're a cheap investment in the handling of your car, and decent camber makes a huge improvement in feel.

If you don't do anything camber-related to the rear, then you'll have whatever camber you get from lowering the car. I'm at -2 in the rear, just from the springs. I wanted to get about that or a little more in the front, so I got camber bolts. Those got me to -1.7 in the front. I'd like a little more, but I wouldn't like dropping a few hundred on adjustable top hats, so it'll do as it is.

Are camber bolts in the front only necessary with a drop? What springs did you go with?

No, you could do camber bolts on a completely OEM suspension, just to get a little more front camber. It's just the cheapest front option, and if you're not dropping a crazy amount, trying to fit a huge wheel in there, or trying to get a lot of negative camber, it works just fine.

I'm on RCE Yellows; they drop about .7 inches.