RATIONAL Wheel & Tire Selection?

[Akari]

If weight is your biggest concern go 16x7 or 17x7, but good luck getting a decent amount of traction in a tire that lasts over 10k miles. Personally I'd much rather have an extra pound per wheel and the added traction of a wider tire as this car is all about keeping speed through corners.

My compromise was 17x8 and 235 45 17 Michelin Pilot Super Sports that will hopefully last me 30-40k.

[tahdizzle]

Kosei K4R's are 17x7 and weigh 14lbs. ~28 lbs of weight savings

[n8dog11914]

I personally just picked up a set of 17x7 OZ Superleggeras (previous model from the current Ultraleggeras) for barely over $500. 15.5lbs per wheel with Bridgestone RE11As mounted on them (tires weren't included of course). The RE11s are amazing and I use them for daily driving, autocross, and track days, but if you only do occasional autocross I would recommend a tire that is one step down as another member mentioned.

Possible options include the Hankook V12s, Continental Extreme Contact DWs, and Michelin Pilot Super Sports.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62401

[Reaper]

im on hankook v12s in a 245 on 17 x 9 rota titans for my daily. I believe the lightest rotas in that size. I chose the tires for durability mostly though not for autox but they do very well considering a 280 tread wear. I also chose the rotas because well....i break stuff and i would be mad if i broke a TC Wed105 that these are a knockoff of. Still lighter than stock but not much more than 1 pound per corner, good size, grip and i wont roast them in a month. Oh and did i mention 1400$ shipped?!?!?!?! Thats more money saved for E85 and boost. The 9's might be wide for your tire choice though and you could save more weight there. I wanted the ability to go 265 in the rear eventually as power is up now.

[G-Man]

Originally Posted by FlamingRectumSyndrome

What do you mean by "too much tire"?
..........
It's like a fricking cat on velcro-- you have to be deep into "stupidly fast for public roads" territory before you begin to reach the limits of traction,

There is a very strong point of view on this car that putting on overly sticky/big tires takes a lot of the fun in street driving that all the reviewers rave about. The classic Jeremy Clarkson "drifting while reading a book at 30mph". While having the car planted 100% grip all the time, super speed, race car, is fun on the track, it makes it so you never get close to the edge of grip on the street unless you start doing overly silly thing. reaching the limit of traction easily is part of what makes the car such a fun DD.

[Vracer111]

Originally Posted by G-Man

There is a very strong point of view on this car that putting on overly sticky/big tires takes a lot of the fun in street driving that all the reviewers rave about. The classic Jeremy Clarkson "drifting while reading a book at 30mph". While having the car planted 100% grip all the time, super speed, race car, is fun on the track, it makes it so you never get close to the edge of grip on the street unless you start doing overly silly thing. reaching the limit of traction easily is part of what makes the car such a fun DD.

What G-Man said...

Seriously, stock 215/45-17 tires in a Extreme performance compound tire make the threshold of the car so high you can't really break the tail loose driving properly...car is super stable yet turns directions IMMEDIATELY at the same time (which is also probably a factor of the +36mm offset wheels.) While that is fun to me, it means the limits are REALLY high compared to stock... like pushing 80-90mph in curvy onramp/offramp corners high. Stock the car has pretty good limits as is. The stock Michelin Primacy HP's give the FRS a roadholding grip level of ~ .96G... For daily driving I think the FRS would be best served with stockish tread width size in a 215/45-17 Max performance summer tire for 2 reasons:

1 - weight will be close to the stock tires, so basically all the weight saved from a lighter wheel stays saved. The lighter you can get the unsprung weight the smoother the chassis rides and the more you can dance in sync with the car.

2 - stickier compound on a similar tread width will give you more grip and better handling, especially in the wet. Also, a 215/45-17 tire put on a 17x8 wheel really maximizes tire responsiveness at the same time...especially since most performance tires in 215/45-17 size have about an 8" tread width.

I'm more interested in the proper amount of grip with the chassis having extreme preciseness and agility rather than an excessive amount of grip for the G's which introduces more impreciseness into the chassis and upsets it more due to heavier unsprung weight.

And with that said I've pretty much decided to go with 205/45-17 Max performance tires to upgrade the handling...

[cycleboy]

Originally Posted by n8dog11914

15.5lbs per wheel with Bridgestone RE11As mounted on them (tires weren't included of course).

I'm guessing that's just worded a little odd and you don't really mean 15.5 lb per wheel with tires mounted? If that's correct, it's like 25lb per corner less than stock!

Originally Posted by G-Man

There is a very strong point of view on this car that putting on overly sticky/big tires takes a lot of the fun in street driving that all the reviewers rave about. The classic Jeremy Clarkson "drifting while reading a book at 30mph". While having the car planted 100% grip all the time, super speed, race car, is fun on the track, it makes it so you never get close to the edge of grip on the street unless you start doing overly silly thing. reaching the limit of traction easily is part of what makes the car such a fun DD.

I think this is why I don't mind my big stickier tires. I have zero desire to get the tail out or drift the car as I don't want to invite the law to have issues with my driving! I can still make it slide if I try (especially if wet) and if in an area I know it is safe.

[supramkivtt2jz]

Originally Posted by FlamingRectumSyndrome

So... is there a list somewhere of 17 X 7s that are lighter than the stock wheels? I see all kinds of photos of nice looking wheels on this forum, but nobody ever seems to list the wheel's weight. And I almost don't care what a wheel looks like-- my preference is for getting rid of as much unsprung weight at possible, within reasonable limits of price and durability.

Actually, yes.

http://www.wheelweights.net/

[frslee]

If your sole priority is to cut down wheel weight, but don't want to go smaller than stock size, RPF1 17x7 with 215-45-17 of your sticky tire choice would be the best.

Also here..

http://measurespeed.com/index.php

Scroll down a bit and you'll see a section of "Rim Weights"
Have fun!