Wheel size

[BillC99]

Hi all,
I need some advice. I am building a track/sprint car and need to make a decision about wheel and tyre sizes.
I have the option of 16 or 17 inch rims.
I have been told there is a greater choice of tyres for 17inch wheels. Is this the case?
What tyres do you recommend?

I also have a set of 8 spoke rims in good condition that need a re-furb. What do you think they would be worth?

Cheers

Bill

[magpies]

My S1 has 15 x 7 ET29 Slots as standard - Use a wheel comparrison site to see what 17s you would need - my 15s could do with being 15mm further out to fill the available under arch area. I have some 17s which are on the car and also have some 17s which have never had tyres on for sale.
There is a bigger selection of rubber available in 17" - also more area available for bigger brakes if you think you need them. Saying that my 290mm discs and AP4pots fit within the 15s with 10mm spacers. (I have fitted longer wheel studs too)

[phillpot]

BillC99 said:

in good condition that need a re-furb.

So not that good

BillC99 said:

What do you think they would be worth?

I'll offer £100



Re tyres and wheels I'd suggest asking on the Chimaera Forum, there are a few on there that take their Track Days quite seriously so should be able to offer good advice from personal experience

[mk1fan]

I've stuck a set of 195/55 Nankang NS-2R on the 15-inch wheels I'll be sticking on Samy. The new wheels have 0mm offset whereas the factory OZ 8-spokes have a 25mm offset (Samy is an S3C). She'll be used on the road and the track (trackdays nothing competeive).

There are a few pictures in the Bible of cars with 17 inch wheels but the comments are that it messes with the good basic handling set up. Given how quickly the '7's hoof about the tracks on 'small' tyres I'm not sure going large is going to be of benefit in a competition spec S (which I assume is going to have been lightened a fair bit).

I paid £60ish a tyre (delivered) and then another £10 for fitting. I choose the 'harder' 180 compound as the car is used on the road too.

All that said, if I were prepping Samy for competition use then the series rule book would also be a factor in what wheel / tyre set up I'd consider.

[zombeh]

I think there's a bit more choice around in 16 (and in sticky tyres generally) than there used to be.
I used 225/45/17 toyo r888s but I've not been on a track since I parked my supra shiny side down in the gravel 4 years ago (not something I'm keen to repeat and certainly not in the S) and no competitive use for a couple of years either. I have a feeling I'll be moaning about the price of track tyres in the near future though when I start using it again.

[mk1fan]

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

and

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...