Anybody got 16 inch wheels on their FR-S /BRZ?

[churchx]

Imho white looks good on any car (though of course even better on darker color cars due contrast). But i'll never get one as i don't want to wash them every day or two. Looks good, but PITA to keep them looking good. Once you give up and they are covered with dust/dirt/brake dust ..

Just go to images.google.com and enter white wheels white fr-s (or brz, or gt86), and see pics of somewhat similar multispoke wheels. Many will be pics from our wheel directory threads, eg. this

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by nikitopo

Anyone used Enkei RC-T5? How do you think will look on a white car?

Too white.





humfrz

[nikitopo]

Here the official Cusco car with the Enkei wheels:







But i agree that it'll be too white.

[venturaII]

Originally Posted by Wayno

225/55

Interesting. Did you notice anything with the weight or gearing change? What size were you previously running?

[Steve]

Keeping it alive! Poor lighting and camera skills

16x7 +35 OZ Ultraleggera
205/55/16 Continental ExtremeContact Sport

[SuperTom]

Originally Posted by Steve

Keeping it alive! Poor lighting and camera skills

16x7 +35 OZ Ultraleggera
205/55/16 Continental ExtremeContact Sport

Not dissing just don't understand any advantage of using these sizes over stock 17" sizes


Your setup using tireracks #'s
Wheels 14.8lbs
Tires 21lbs
Total Weight 35.8
Outer Diameter 24.9"


Same parts you used in stock sizes
Wheels 16.8lbs
Tires 19lbs
Total Weight 35.8
Outer diameter 24.6"


So you have the same weight but more weight on the outer perimeter which is worse. And a thinner tire with taller diameter hurting gearing. And smaller wheels to hold potentially bigger brakes.


Besides a slight price increase I see no advantage to these setups

[nikitopo]

Originally Posted by SuperTom

Not dissing just don't understand any advantage of using these sizes over stock 17" sizes

Do you mean the specific setup or in general 16" sizes? Just keep in mind that the specific ones are 16x7 which means they are wider than the usual 16x6.5 setup. Hence, they have more weight.

In general the bigger advantage of using 16" wheels is that you have more rubber and a better quality damping on rough roads. The stock setup is less forgiving and the things are getting even worse on a 18" setup.

[SuperTom]

Originally Posted by nikitopo

Do you mean the specific setup or in general 16" sizes? Just keep in mind that the specific ones are 16x7 which means they are wider than the usual 16x6.5 setup. Hence, they have more weight.

In general the bigger advantage of using 16" wheels is that you have more rubber and a better quality damping on rough roads. The stock setup is less forgiving and the things are getting even worse on a 18" setup.

Well his example is the one that popped up and was easy to compare. If you are going skinnier to 6.5" then there should be a huge weight advantage with tire added. You haven't given me an example.


So you are going skinnier, taller with no weight advantage in the user above.


I have shitty roads too hence why I went with Meister R coilovers with softer spring rates for shitty roads so I can see if that is the reason you are downsizing wheels.


17" is really the sweet spot when you add in tire weights. Seems like they got it right from the factory. 16" too small, no weight advantage, small brakes. 18"s too heavy, only useful if you are FI with BBK

[Steve]

Originally Posted by SuperTom

Not dissing just don't understand any advantage of using these sizes over stock 17" sizes


Your setup using tireracks #'s
Wheels 14.8lbs
Tires 21lbs
Total Weight 35.8
Outer Diameter 24.9"


Same parts you used in stock sizes
Wheels 16.8lbs
Tires 19lbs
Total Weight 35.8
Outer diameter 24.6"


So you have the same weight but more weight on the outer perimeter which is worse. And a thinner tire with taller diameter hurting gearing. And smaller wheels to hold potentially bigger brakes.


Besides a slight price increase I see no advantage to these setups

No offense taken, when simply looking at numbers on TireRack, I agree it doesn't make much sense, although I disagree with your arguments against this setup.

1. In my opinion the "more weight on the outer perimeter" I think is a wash as almost all of a wheels weight is on the outer perimeter and the outer perimeter of the wheel is closer to the center, plus the extra tire weight is mostly the extra rubber needed to reach the smaller diameter wheel.

2. A ~1% taller tire is not noticeable, I think pretty much anyone on this forum will attest to that.

3. I have had this car for 6 years, I do not plan or feel that the car requires bigger brakes. I also like how the brakes fill out the inside space of the wheel better.

Now for the benefits. I came from 17x8 +35 17lbs wheels and 225/45/17 Michelin Pilot Super Sports. On the 205/55/16s I have noticed improved ride quality, improved fuel economy according to the on board computer and almost the same level of performance during spirited driving.

In terms of looks I like the fatter tires and smaller wheels, makes the car look a little more retro and unique compared to other 86's

Last factor and biggest was budget. I was trying to find even lighter and less wide wheels on the used market with not much luck. I was about to give up and buy new 17x7 Kosei K4Rs, which are back ordered, so I figured I'd see what there were for 16's and came across these for half the price of the Kosei's. The same tires I wanted at $100 cheaper tires was a nice bonus.

[Steve]

Two more shots!

[new2subaru]

Originally Posted by nikitopo

Do you mean the specific setup or in general 16" sizes? Just keep in mind that the specific ones are 16x7 which means they are wider than the usual 16x6.5 setup. Hence, they have more weight.

In general the bigger advantage of using 16" wheels is that you have more rubber and a better quality damping on rough roads. The stock setup is less forgiving and the things are getting even worse on a 18" setup.

16's will be more compliant on track too and less prone to sudden loss of grip.

They talk to you more...I run 205/55 R16 on track and 225/50 R16 off track. When I get more experience things may change. The next set will be a long ways off but 205/50 R16 is what I'm looking at now.

[nikitopo]

Originally Posted by SuperTom

17" is really the sweet spot when you add in tire weights. Seems like they got it right from the factory. 16" too small, no weight advantage, small brakes. 18"s too heavy, only useful if you are FI with BBK

When I bought the car new there were two trim levels from the factory. One with 16" wheels and one with 17" wheels. So, the 17" option wasn't the only one available. At least in specific markets and countries. The selection of the brakes was to fit on the 16" wheels too.

About aftermarket wheels I could find BBS forged that weight 12lbs each. These could provide a substantial weight saving. My only issue was that they were 6.5 and not 7 which is the same width as the 17" standard wheels. It depends if you want to focus more on weight savings or on a more compliant ride. Softer springs is not always the best option, because you'll also have more body roll.

[why?]

Originally Posted by SuperTom

Well his example is the one that popped up and was easy to compare. If you are going skinnier to 6.5" then there should be a huge weight advantage with tire added. You haven't given me an example.
So you are going skinnier, taller with no weight advantage in the user above.
I have shitty roads too hence why I went with Meister R coilovers with softer spring rates for shitty roads so I can see if that is the reason you are downsizing wheels.
17" is really the sweet spot when you add in tire weights. Seems like they got it right from the factory. 16" too small, no weight advantage, small brakes. 18"s too heavy, only useful if you are FI with BBK

You aren't going skinnier than 6.5, they don't exist. In the US 16 x 6.5 inch wheels are rare and usually absurdly heavy.

There are plenty of wheels that are lighter than 15 pounds in the 16 inch category. Some aren't even crazy expensive, like everyone's favorite RPF1, which is 13.7 pounds in 16" size. Volk TE 37 is about 11.5 lbs, and TSW T66-F are about 10.5. And the sweet spot for tires is 195/55 16, although 205/55 16 is also usually just as light. Those sizes are usually a pound or two lighter than 17" sizes.

The real point is the car just rides better, with 205/55 16 it is just higher enough that is doesn't scrape at all, you don't have to worry about stupid low profile tires or not seeing that pothole. The speedometer is actually right on as well.

Also bigger tires means you can have better more aggressive suspension setups without the penalty in harsh rides. The tires can soak up enough of the bumps that low profile tires can't mask.

Preferably I'd like to go smaller, but for that I'd need to ditch the 5x100 setup to go 4x100 and from what I've seen if it is possible it is more trouble than it is worth.

Originally Posted by nikitopo

When I bought the car new there were two trim levels from the factory. One with 16" wheels and one with 17" wheels. So, the 17" option wasn't the only one available. At least in specific markets and countries. The selection of the brakes was to fit on the 16" wheels too.

About aftermarket wheels I could find BBS forged that weight 12lbs each. These could provide a substantial weight saving. My only issue was that they were 6.5 and not 7 which is the same width as the 17" standard wheels. It depends if you want to focus more on weight savings or on a more compliant ride. Softer springs is not always the best option, because you'll also have more body roll.

North America never had a 16" wheel option sadly. I wish I could find light 16x6.5 wheels, but there just aren't any around here.

[SuperTom]

Originally Posted by why?

You aren't going skinnier than 6.5, they don't exist. In the US 16 x 6.5 inch wheels are rare and usually absurdly heavy.

There are plenty of wheels that are lighter than 15 pounds in the 16 inch category. Some aren't even crazy expensive, like everyone's favorite RPF1, which is 13.7 pounds in 16" size. Volk TE 37 is about 11.5 lbs, and TSW T66-F are about 10.5. And the sweet spot for tires is 195/55 16, although 205/55 16 is also usually just as light. Those sizes are usually a pound or two lighter than 17" sizes.

The real point is the car just rides better, with 205/55 16 it is just higher enough that is doesn't scrape at all, you don't have to worry about stupid low profile tires or not seeing that pothole. The speedometer is actually right on as well.

Also bigger tires means you can have better more aggressive suspension setups without the penalty in harsh rides. The tires can soak up enough of the bumps that low profile tires can't mask.

Preferably I'd like to go smaller, but for that I'd need to ditch the 5x100 setup to go 4x100 and from what I've seen if it is possible it is more trouble than it is worth.




North America never had a 16" wheel option sadly. I wish I could find light 16x6.5 wheels, but there just aren't any around here.

Well you guys have definitely got me thinking and looking. My WRX wildwood brakes can possibly fit 15" wheels. I wont go that small but 16's should fit no problem. Doing some research most of the weight of wheels is the outer barrel so moving that weight closer to the center should benefit. Of course the wheels would have to be much lighter like 12 or 13lbs and Id have to find tires that are the same weight as my current setup (19lbs)

My current setup is konig hypergrams 17x8 (16.5lbs), 215/45/17 hankooks at (19lbs) So as you can see I already have a lightweight setup but an open to going lighter.

I would consider going to 205/50/16. Diameter would be smaller so I would gain some gearing quickness as well. And the tire sidewall height would still be slighty more than stock. I don't like the idea of 205/55/16 and adding diameter. I went with 17' over used because I liked the gearing changes and wouldn't want to go backwards.

For the record I didn't mean for everyone to go to lower spring rates than stock or anything. I just said I went with Meister R coilovers because they had lower spring rates compared to other coilovers which are known to be overly stiff on the street.

So a very light 16x7 wheel (12lbs) and 205/50/16 tires at 19lbs would be 10lbs lighter than stock and 4lbs lighter than my current setup.

I think I have seen the light I just have to find those sizes at those weights