17's or 18's

[JR007]

subscribed...bc i find this thread interesting and helpful

[was385]

Originally Posted by Tainen

I'm going 17 as well, for all the same reasons. It is a little frustrating to look at the wheels available for purchase by all the vendor companies and just see a million 18x9.5 wheels everywhere- seems like everyone just wants to go supermassive flush 255s at 22 pounds per wheel. I would rather see a ton more 17x8 and 17x8.5s for people that would rather spend less money and buy high quality 225 or 245 track rubber and still be at 17 or less lbs per wheel. Seems like no one is really going that direction- most wheels aren't even available in those offsets and sizes anymore. Everyone is focused on "Is it concave OMGWTFBBQ?!" instead of weight.

There's some of us around. 17x8 RPF1s with 245 Direzza ZIIs

[Vracer111]

Originally Posted by BRZZZZZZZZZZ

Why not? Better performance, more sidewall for increased ride comfort, less weight, cheaper on tires.

Main problem with 16" wheels is tire selection...there is absolutely hardly anything in 16" sized tires for the 86...all crap tires too.

17" is my choice... best tire selection and best low weight wheel selection... dropping ~5lbs a corner of unsprung weight makes a very noticeable difference in how the car rides and balances...much better than stock.

I'm running 17x8 Kosei K4R's (+36mm offset, 15.6lbs measured) with 215/45-17 Kumho Ecsta XS tires (21lbs)...and would never want to go back to the stock weight setup.

[OjiGeorge]

18's for the street, 17/16's for autox/track Your track wheels don;t need to be sexy, and there are lots of inexpensive solutions out there that are light weight and race proven (Mach V comes to mind).. and they're sexy to boot.

[ZionsWrath]

What width do you want. Not much in 8.5 for 17s...

[Silver Ignition]

Originally Posted by ZionsWrath

What width do you want. Not much in 8.5 for 17s...

I want 8.5 or 9

[exE36M3]

Well there's my list of things to consider when buying a street wheel/tire package. These are fairly general observations in my 20+ years of import tuning on the Miata and BMW side of things.

1. Future power upgrades
If you plan on staying stockish, I suggest staying as close to the 215 width as possible.
A wider tire WILL slow the car down, sometimes dramatically. It's called rolling resistance.
BUT, if you plan on 50+,100+ hp upgrades, you are gonna need a wider tire to handle the power to the back end and the extra speed.

2. Handling
Generally, a thinner tire patch (width) will give you a crisper/sharper turn-in feel. A larger contact patch (width) gives you more grip. There's a balance in the middle somewhere. This relates a LOT to #1 above a bit too. But race cars that drive at the limit will trade-up to width because they need the contact patch for the speed and power they carry.

3. Weight
Cheap wheels tend to be heavy. Thus the larger the wheel the more weight. More weight for a rim is bad. If you figure the stock wheel is around 20 lbs going to an 24lb rim will do a bunch of things - carry too much inertia into a turn, slow down suspension response, slow down your acceleration, etc. On my old E36 M3, I went from the stock 24lbs OEM rim to a 16lbs aftermarket rim. Yes, that's 32lbs off all four wheels. It's a dramatic handling and braking difference. You can attack the corners with more speed and accelerate faster. It was a pretty awesome handling difference.

4. Cost
Relating to #3 above. Cheap wheels tend to be heavy. The low-end name brands and the non-bands use a (weak) cast aluminum process - similar to how they make toy cars. Personally, anything over 18lbs is WAY to heavy for the FRS/BRZ. You'll commonly see these type of wheels for around $100-$250.

I lean more toward the flow-formed rims which price point around $300-$500 a rim. I know they aren't cheap, but you can get 17s around 15-16lbs and 18s in the 16-17lbs. BBS, OZ, Enkei make some nice rims in the price range.

Above that you get into Forged rims which, unless you are running a high-hp race car - will tend to be heavier and much much much more expensive. But the race cars are also running some massive horsepower and braking systems so they need a stronger rim.

Hope that helps?

[Vracer111]

The stock 17x7 alloys for the FRS/BRZ are nearly 21 lbs... I weighed mine at 20.8 lbs each...

[Silver Ignition]

Originally Posted by exE36M3

Well there's my list of things to consider when buying a street wheel/tire package. These are fairly general observations in my 20+ years of import tuning on the Miata and BMW side of things.

1. Future power upgrades
If you plan on staying stockish, I suggest staying as close to the 215 width as possible.
A wider tire WILL slow the car down, sometimes dramatically. It's called rolling resistance.
BUT, if you plan on 50+,100+ hp upgrades, you are gonna need a wider tire to handle the power to the back end and the extra speed.

2. Handling
Generally, a thinner tire patch (width) will give you a crisper/sharper turn-in feel. A larger contact patch (width) gives you more grip. There's a balance in the middle somewhere. This relates a LOT to #1 above a bit too. But race cars that drive at the limit will trade-up to width because they need the contact patch for the speed and power they carry.

3. Weight
Cheap wheels tend to be heavy. Thus the larger the wheel the more weight. More weight for a rim is bad. If you figure the stock wheel is around 17.75 lbs going to an 20lb rim will do a bunch of things - carry too much inertia into a turn, slow down suspension response, slow down your acceleration, etc. On my old E36 M3, I went from the stock 24lbs OEM rim to a 16lbs aftermarket rim. Yes, that's 32lbs off all four wheels. It's a dramatic handling and braking difference. You can attack the corners with more speed and accelerate faster. It was a pretty awesome handling difference.

4. Cost
Relating to #3 above. Cheap wheels tend to be heavy. The low-end name brands and the non-bands use a (weak) cast aluminum process - similar to how they make toy cars. Personally, anything over 18lbs is WAY to heavy for the FRS/BRZ. You'll commonly see these type of wheels for around $100-$250.

I lean more toward the flow-formed rims which price point around $300-$500 a rim. I know they aren't cheap, but you can get 17s around 15-16lbs and 18s in the 16-17lbs. BBS, OZ, Enkei make some nice rims in the price range.

Above that you get into Forged rims which, unless you are running a high-hp race car - will tend to be heavier and much much much more expensive. But the race cars are also running some massive horsepower and braking systems so they need a stronger rim.

Hope that helps?

Well-written and informative post. Thanks!


I think I decided...
Looking into a 17x9 +45 RPF1 with a 245/40R17


Considering a 10mm spacer out back so it's not so tucked. I'd like to keep the wheel/tire size square so they can be rotated regularly.

[BRZerk]

easy. 18s w/o drop. 17s w drop.

[BRZerk]

Originally Posted by exE36M3

Well there's my list of things to consider when buying a street wheel/tire package. These are fairly general observations in my 20+ years of import tuning on the Miata and BMW side of things.

1. Future power upgrades
If you plan on staying stockish, I suggest staying as close to the 215 width as possible.
A wider tire WILL slow the car down, sometimes dramatically. It's called rolling resistance.
BUT, if you plan on 50+,100+ hp upgrades, you are gonna need a wider tire to handle the power to the back end and the extra speed.

2. Handling
Generally, a thinner tire patch (width) will give you a crisper/sharper turn-in feel. A larger contact patch (width) gives you more grip. There's a balance in the middle somewhere. This relates a LOT to #1 above a bit too. But race cars that drive at the limit will trade-up to width because they need the contact patch for the speed and power they carry.

3. Weight
Cheap wheels tend to be heavy. Thus the larger the wheel the more weight. More weight for a rim is bad. If you figure the stock wheel is around 17.75 lbs going to an 20lb rim will do a bunch of things - carry too much inertia into a turn, slow down suspension response, slow down your acceleration, etc. On my old E36 M3, I went from the stock 24lbs OEM rim to a 16lbs aftermarket rim. Yes, that's 32lbs off all four wheels. It's a dramatic handling and braking difference. You can attack the corners with more speed and accelerate faster. It was a pretty awesome handling difference.

4. Cost
Relating to #3 above. Cheap wheels tend to be heavy. The low-end name brands and the non-bands use a (weak) cast aluminum process - similar to how they make toy cars. Personally, anything over 18lbs is WAY to heavy for the FRS/BRZ. You'll commonly see these type of wheels for around $100-$250.

I lean more toward the flow-formed rims which price point around $300-$500 a rim. I know they aren't cheap, but you can get 17s around 15-16lbs and 18s in the 16-17lbs. BBS, OZ, Enkei make some nice rims in the price range.

Above that you get into Forged rims which, unless you are running a high-hp race car - will tend to be heavier and much much much more expensive. But the race cars are also running some massive horsepower and braking systems so they need a stronger rim.

Hope that helps?

idk where you got 17.75 #/wheel when they are listed at 20.9 pounds per wheel.

[cycleboy]

I'm happy with my 17X8.5 +38's @ 16.2lb each.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58507

If you go this route, you have a number of choices for offset and width.

[dunnr]

Originally Posted by Silver Ignition

Well-written and informative post. Thanks!


I think I decided...
Looking into a 17x9 +45 RPF1 with a 245/40R17


Considering a 10mm spacer out back so it's not so tucked. I'd like to keep the wheel/tire size square so they can be rotated regularly.

I am buying 17x7 front 17x9 rear - 57Xtreme

[SirBrass]

Originally Posted by Silver Ignition

I keep going back and fourth, I need some help.


I like 17's because of weight and ability to fit more sidewall.
I like 18's because they look freaking sexy and there's more available in +38 offsets.



Car is a daily driver/road tripper/weekend AutoX'er.

Help me decide- vote and comment why you voted for that one!

Assuming you're going to stay with overall stock wheel+tire diameter, then 17's will net you better performance and cheaper tires for the same width.

18's will look better but you'll be paying more to get the same weight savings.

I personally want a square setup (so I can rotate my tires) of 17x8's running 225/45's.