[Catchmeifyoucansam]

New to the forum here. Looking for a recommendation on some track wheels. New of used doesn't matter. I'd prefer not to spend too much. Also, what tire sizes would you recommend for those wheels with out having to cut away any of the car or roll the fenders. Car is completely stock

 

[Roen]

The most you can fit (so far) on stock body and stock parts is 18x10, +30 on 275/35/18 tires, if you're going to stick with 18's.

Two of us on this forum have done it.

Enkei RS05RR
Volk TE37SL

I suspect Gramlights 57FXX has a 18x10, +30 size as well.

 

[mister]

volk te37's are reeeallly expensive but if you got those everyone would be jealous.

 

[eeeeevo]

Xxr 527 size 18x9.75 +22 with 245 40 hankook rs3 tires. Front is lowered a bit to match the height on the rear on ohlins road and track. 255 35 rs3 is coming in the mail.
Did open track earlier this year and the wheels were solid, no vibrations or any problems at all. Next open track will be July.
For $600 a set, you can't beat xxr. They also have the new xxr 550 but a bit heavier than the 527. 527 is 22 lbs / wheel, I think the 550 is close to 25 lbs.
Enkie rpf1 is also a good choice if you want to pay $1500/set, I think they are 18lbs/wheel.

 

[Roen]

I don't think I'd want to track with wheels that cheap over the long term.

Wheels, unfortunately, are wear items, even if they wear really slowly.

And you really don't want them to fail.

I would hope you have no wheel issues after 1 track session........would be very problematic if you did.

Also....9.75 with 245? You're just slowing yourself down with too much wheel for not enough tire. Put on 275's!

 

[eeeeevo]

I don't think I'd want to track with wheels that cheap over the long term.

Wheels, unfortunately, are wear items, even if they wear really slowly.

And you really don't want them to fail.

I would hope you have no wheel issues after 1 track session........would be very problematic if you did.

Also....9.75 with 245? You're just slowing yourself down with too much wheel for not enough tire. Put on 275's!

I did 6 x 20 minutes open track time on the wheels and tires on 3/29/15 with no problems. 245 40 18 hankook rs3's are fat tires, they fit just fine with the 9.75 but I'm getting 255 not 275 rs3's. Those are my old tires from my stock wheels so I'm replacing them soon and they are dead anyway from 3 open tracks since last year.
Many people are beating the shit out of these rims on drifting with no problems and you don't do 30 laps at 200 mph on open tracks and road courses so I think you'll be just fine with these wheels. Here's a little video of that open track, excuse the music.
http://youtu.be/xZv1XYsSjg8

 

[eeeeevo]

If you want that square look on xxr 527 then get the 265 35 hankook rs3 tires. Here's a pic, also a member here name so evo -credits to him for the pic that's his car and also track it with those wheels.

 

[Roen]

If you want to actually be square, and do the calculations required, 275 will sit slightly more square than 265.

And drifting doesn't put nearly as much stress as tracking.

A rubber band will fit "just fine" as well, but it's all about how much grip you want to trade off for looks. I used to have 265 R-S3's on 10" wheels and I thought the tires were slightly stretched. I know there's no way 245 R-S3's on 9.75" are anything but stretched.

 

[Roen]

Wheels aside, OP, the best question to ask yourself is, what size tire do you want to run?

After that, the properly sized wheel will give you the best balance of performance, cost and, to some degree, looks.

And yes, there's a simple calculation that tells you what wheel you should put on given a tire size you want to run.


Of course, this assumes OP wants to maximize his performance on average for a given tire size. If OP doesn't really care, pick whatever tire and wheel combination that fits and go track your car.

 

[eeeeevo]

If you want to actually be square, and do the calculations required, 275 will sit slightly more square than 265.

And drifting doesn't put nearly as much stress as tracking.

A rubber band will fit "just fine" as well, but it's all about how much grip you want to trade off for looks. I used to have 265 R-S3's on 10" wheels and I thought the tires were slightly stretched. I know there's no way 245 R-S3's on 9.75" are anything but stretched.

If that 265 rs3 on 9.75 xxr wheels is not square enough for you then I rest my case.
And 275 rs3, you'll be pulling and slicing your fenders like crazy not to rub on the track.
245 40 are a bit stretch but it's not really that bad, it's still grips like a mofo on the track. I would go as much as 265 on rs3 but not more than that on 9.75
10 or 10.5 wheels yes I would put 275 but I don't want to destroy my fenders.

 

[Roen]

If that 265 rs3 on 9.75 xxr wheels is not square enough for you then I rest my case.
And 275 rs3, you'll be pulling and slicing your fenders like crazy not to rub on the track.
245 40 are a bit stretch but it's not really that bad, it's still grips like a mofo on the track. I would go as much as 265 on rs3 but not more than that on 9.75
10 or 10.5 wheels yes I would put 275 but I don't want to destroy my fenders.

It's not, you can easily see the lip protrude from the tire, even if it's slight. 9.75 is in that awkward spot where it doesn't fit either width that well, but it's closer to 275 than 265. If a tire actually had 265 tread width, it's ideal fit is 9.43" wheel width. If a tire is actually 275 tread width, its ideal fit is 9.83" wheel width. If you don't know what your tire's actual tread width is, then you go by the size of the tire. Obviously, it's better to go with the actual tread width than the size if you know it.

Here are three pictures of 265 R-S3 on 9.5

Here is a picture of 275 RE-71R on 10

 

[eeeeevo]

Depends on the offset of your wheels, I'm talking +22 and +15 if he is getting the rpf1's.

 

[Roen]

Depends on the offset of your wheels, I'm talking +22 and +15 if he is getting the rpf1's.

What width wheels and what tires?

 

[evoxsteez]

I was thinking of doing 18x10.5 +18 CE28 with 275/35 tire.. What do you guys think? I'm running -3 camber up front and -2 rear.

 

[Roen]

Are you rolled / will you roll? If not, you'll most likely rub. You can see what +30 on 10 looks like from my picture, you'll see how much further +18 on 10.5 will put you.

If you're set on 275 tire, I would say go to a 10" wheel, +30 if you don't want to roll. If you're set on a 10.5" wheel AND you have to roll anyway, put extra rubber on there, 285 or 295.

 

[evoxsteez]

Are you rolled / will you roll? If not, you'll most likely rub. You can see what +30 on 10 looks like from my picture, you'll see how much further +18 on 10.5 will put you.

If you're set on 275 tire, I would say go to a 10" wheel, +30 if you don't want to roll. If you're set on a 10.5" wheel AND you have to roll anyway, put extra rubber on there, 285 or 295.

I am already rolled & right now I have 10.5 +12 with 265 and its stretched a bit but "safe" enough for daily driving. I want to start tracking the car once in a while so I was thinking +18 is a tiny bit less aggressive and a 275 tire should fit fine since with my +12 there is some room to spare. 285 I could probably fit but that's too wide and would only be extra weight added.

 

[Catchmeifyoucansam]

Went with ambit wheels RE18 18x9.5 +15. Tires are Pirelli corsa systems 245/35/18. Maybe not the best choice but should be good for my girlfriend as she's just starting to track and won't have to swap tires in the rain. What you guys think about the combo?

 

[Roen]

I am already rolled & right now I have 10.5 +12 with 265 and its stretched a bit but "safe" enough for daily driving. I want to start tracking the car once in a while so I was thinking +18 is a tiny bit less aggressive and a 275 tire should fit fine since with my +12 there is some room to spare. 285 I could probably fit but that's too wide and would only be extra weight added.

285 also gives your more grip, and keeps your tires cooler......that's the whole point of going wider.

If your track is straight after straight after straight, then yea, it would just be added weight. If there are a decent amount of turns, well, you'll gain speed through each of them, assuming you use your tires correctly.

OP, I can't fault you if you're not caring about utmost speed and you got a good discount on those wheels. Remember, wheels are also a wear item, they're just a lot slower than other things. But the cheaper wheels tend to fail after 30 or so track days, moreso, if you push the car harder with stickier tires, etc....

There are also plenty of extreme summer tires that will destroy other tires in the rain, in the future, if that's what you're looking for, do your research to find out which tires are fast in both wet and dry. They do exist. My current ones are a great example of one.

 

[Catchmeifyoucansam]

I'll keep a close eye on the wheels for cracking. The tracks she'll frequent the most are Motorsports ranch in Houston and circuit of the Americas in Austin. Not much big curbing at either. Don't see her doing too much damage as a begginer. I've used those tires on my c63 black series. I picked them because i think there very sticky but fall off after about 15 minutes of track use. Figured it'll help her learn to slide the car without having the pressure of someone asking her to slide the car more on track

 

[Roen]

I doubt they'll crack anytime soon, I mean, I hope Ambit's flow forming process is done well. At least it's better than straight up cast wheels.

30 was about what I read of someone using Victor Wheels had before his cracked. Victor is made by TSW who uses Rotary Forging, which is just another name for flow forming. I imagine he was driving a lot harder than your GF will.

Wait....why are you giving your GF 60 treadwear tires as a beginner??? My preference would be 200 treadwear, at most. (180 in the case of Advan Neova R, but not Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2). The reason why I wouldn't is because the sticky R-comps serve to mask mistakes that a beginner makes early on.