Completely new to buying tires and wheels.

[was385]

Originally Posted by Frishkorn

And you'd still take 8's over 9's? Looking for greater traction, but keeping in mind not to add too much weight. I'm moving away from the staggered setup now. At this point just looking for a good size that's larger then the stock 7". Car just doesn't look right from the right with those skinny wheels and tires.

Can I ask what exactly your plans are for the car? DD, AutoX, track days? If this is just a street car, 17x8 with a good 245 tire is going to be more grip than you'll need. I would save the money and weight. If would rather do bigger for aesthetics, that's perfectly fine too. Again though, if you want to avoid negatively impacting the handling, square setup is the way to go.

[wparsons]

Originally Posted by Frishkorn

And you'd still take 8's over 9's? Looking for greater traction, but keeping in mind not to add too much weight. I'm moving away from the staggered setup now. At this point just looking for a good size that's larger then the stock 7". Car just doesn't look right from the right with those skinny wheels and tires.

Compound/tire construction are more important than width. I'm running 17x8's with 225's (Dunlop ZII's) and don't have any traction concerns at all.

I wouldn't go above 8" wide or 225's unless you're tracking with increased power, or very competitive at autox.

[Frishkorn]

Originally Posted by was385

Can I ask what exactly your plans are for the car? DD, AutoX, track days? If this is just a street car, 17x8 with a good 245 tire is going to be more grip than you'll need. I would save the money and weight. If would rather do bigger for aesthetics, that's perfectly fine too. Again though, if you want to avoid negatively impacting the handling, square setup is the way to go.

Primarily this car will be my summer daily driver (1999 Toyota Corlla for winter). But I don't want to limit myself from being able to participate in auto cross or the occasional test and tune day. My other fun car is a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle and old muscle cars are the extent of my fun car knowledge.

[frslee]

+1 on 17x8 all around. Good 225/45/17 tires should be plenty for daily driving needs.

[was385]

Originally Posted by Frishkorn

Primarily this car will be my summer daily driver (1999 Toyota Corlla for winter). But I don't want to limit myself from being able to participate in auto cross or the occasional test and tune day. My other fun car is a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle and old muscle cars are the extent of my fun car knowledge.

For this I'd go 17x8 and anywhere from 225-245 good summer tires. That will be plenty to have a lot of fun at an autox. It may not allow you to compete for the top spot but if it's just a once in a while thing, you wouldn't be up there anyways more than likely. I'd lean towards 225 or 235 to save some money and it will be more than enough tire for your needs.

[STV3]

Originally Posted by diss7

Don't ruin your nice new sports car with cheap wheels.

Sure wheels are round, blah fucking blah.

Put it this way, would you go out and spend $800 on a suit and wear $20 shoes?
$20 shoes and $100 shoes do the same thing though right?

But its always about balance. If you can afford a new car, you can afford genuine parts.

But our sports cars are not comparable to an $800 suit. They are more like a nice $150 suit from Macy's.

So OP buy what ever wheels fit your expense and taste

[CSG David]

Originally Posted by STV3

But our sports cars are not comparable to an $800 suit. They are more like a nice $150 suit from Macy's.

So OP buy what ever wheels fit your expense and taste

Toyota/Subaru spent millions in R&D. You're going to slap fake/replica stuff on properly engineered "crap"?

Rota = Cast
Volks/BBS/TWS = Forged

Learn how manufacturing works and what goes into manufacturing product. It takes a whole lot more of R&D to do things right than just pouring metal into a mold.

[STV3]

Originally Posted by CSG David

Toyota/Subaru spent millions in R&D. You're going to slap fake/replica stuff on properly engineered "crap"?

Rota = Cast
Volks/BBS/TWS = Forged

Learn how manufacturing works and what goes into manufacturing product. It takes a whole lot more of R&D to do things right than just pouring metal into a mold.

Um yep. Toyota and Subaru have millions, I don't. This is $25-30k sports car, if I was driving around a Ferrari it would be a different story.

I've never owned Rotas but I've owned 2 sets of XXR's in the past 10 years. I've only managed to bend (not crack or break) one and it was due to a massive foot deep pot hole that would take out any rim. So as long as it looks good and is effectively a wheel, it's fine with me.

[NT28]

Dark Sunrise hit it on the head. Those RE-11As have an asymmetric tread as well, so you can't flip them on the wheel. You could probably start with 17x8s all the way around, then sell the rears at a later point if you're still unhappy with how the car feels

[CSG David]

Originally Posted by STV3

Um yep. Toyota and Subaru have millions, I don't. This is $25-30k sports car, if I was driving around a Ferrari it would be a different story.

I've never owned Rotas but I've owned 2 sets of XXR's in the past 10 years. I've only managed to bend (not crack or break) one and it was due to a massive foot deep pot hole that would take out any rim. So as long as it looks good and is effectively a wheel, it's fine with me.

If you can afford to purchased 2 sets of XXRs, you can afford to purchase a set of properly designed, tested, and engineered set of wheels.

The same mentality can be looked upon similar items as this: you can use 87 octane because it's gasoline and it works; you can use mineral oil because you change it every 3000 miles anyways; you use grade 2 bolts in place of grade 12.9 bolts because a bolt is a bolt; Brembo brake caliper covers work just like the actual real Brembo calipers because brakes are all the same; etc.

Also, 255 tires decreases performance. Great for cornering speeds, but you ultimately have a very low vmax in straights. You can believe it or not, but we have datalogs of this on the street and on the track.

[sshole]

Originally Posted by CSG David

Toyota/Subaru spent millions in R&D. You're going to slap fake/replica stuff on properly engineered "crap"?

Rota = Cast
Volks/BBS/TWS = Forged

Learn how manufacturing works and what goes into manufacturing product. It takes a whole lot more of R&D to do things right than just pouring metal into a mold.

Volk and BBS also make cast wheels. I'm not sure what your argument is (I do know what your argument is, but it's not conveyed particularly well in this instance).

The truth of the matter is: people have a budget. Whether it be $1000 for wheels and tires or $1000 per wheel, everyone will have a range of money they're comfortable with sinking into their depreciating asset. Buy what you can afford, but try to get the best that you can afford (i.e. buy used forged wheels versus new cast wheels).

[CSG David]

Originally Posted by sshole

Volk and BBS also make cast wheels. I'm not sure what your argument is (I do know what your argument is, but it's not conveyed particularly well in this instance).

The truth of the matter is: people have a budget. Whether it be $1000 for wheels and tires or $1000 per wheel, everyone will have a range of money they're comfortable with sinking into their depreciating asset. Buy what you can afford, but try to get the best that you can afford (i.e. buy used forged wheels versus new cast wheels).

Rays makes cast wheels. Volk is a Forged lineup.

BBS makes cast wheels in order to give the lower cost option for people. Their forged BBS FI wheels are $2200/wheel.

In the end, the truth is what you stated. As someone who does test things out much more rigorously than most of the population, I have concluded that getting the right equipment up front despite a higher entry cost is much "cheaper" in the long run. I have bent 1 Volk in my lifetime thus far which has been much cheaper than bending or shattering multiple cast wheels that have totaled way more than my Volks.

[STV3]

Originally Posted by CSG David

If you can afford to purchased 2 sets of XXRs, you can afford to purchase a set of properly designed, tested, and engineered set of wheels.

The same mentality can be looked upon similar items as this: you can use 87 octane because it's gasoline and it works; you can use mineral oil because you change it every 3000 miles anyways; you use grade 2 bolts in place of grade 12.9 bolts because a bolt is a bolt; Brembo brake caliper covers work just like the actual real Brembo calipers because brakes are all the same; etc.

Also, 255 tires decreases performance. Great for cornering speeds, but you ultimately have a very low vmax in straights. You can believe it or not, but we have datalogs of this on the street and on the track.

A set off XXR's run about $400-$450. I am actually looking at the XXR 530 for my FRS which are replicas of (please correct me if I am wrong) the BBS CH-R's which run about $600 a wheel. So one single BBS wheel cost more than a set of 4 XXR's. Unless I was using my FRS as a race car where I want to shave off every last ounce of weight that I can, I don't see the logic in me spending over $2k on wheels.

All wheels can bend, all wheels can crack. Are high end wheels less prone to this? Probably, does that mean an XXR is going to shatter into pieces the first time I hit a bump... no. This isn't like buying an eBay turbo vs buying a Garrett or Precision. Like I said I've owned two sets and they have been very sturdy wheels for me.

I have nothing against people who don't mind dropping big bucks on high end wheels, I am just not one of them.

[wparsons]

Originally Posted by Frishkorn

Primarily this car will be my summer daily driver (1999 Toyota Corlla for winter). But I don't want to limit myself from being able to participate in auto cross or the occasional test and tune day. My other fun car is a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle and old muscle cars are the extent of my fun car knowledge.

You can do both of those with the car 100% stock...