Another wheel question 7J/8J or 8J/9J

[AceOfHearts]

I have found some wheels I like but don't know whether to push it and go wide, or stay safe fitment wise and go with the smaller widths. The car is currently going through a turbo upgrade and might be pushing 400bhp when I am done to give a bit of context. The wheels will be shod with sticky trackday tyres.

The wheels I like are available in the correct et25 / et35 offsets in all sizes so that is not a problem, but my car is non PAS so I am a bit worried about going to wide on the front. My choices are:

Choice 1

7J Front - 205 tyre
8j Rear - 235 Tyre

Should be ok for my non PAS car but is a 235 rear wide enough for the power? I believe the trackday type tyres do work out slightly wider so will be closer to 245 wide

Choice 2

8J Front - 225 tyre
9J Rear - 255 tyre

Should have plenty of rear end grip but will the steering be too heavy?

Choice 3

7J Front - 205 tyre
9J Rear - 255 tyre

Will this big a difference feel unbalanced?

I am leaning towards choice 3 as it should give me some decent rear end grip but not be too heavy on steering. I hopefully plan on starting drag racing with it when it is done, as it will be too loud for regular trackdays and I enjoyed the drag days i have done before. Choice 3 also allows me to buy Federal RSR's which would be my preferred tyre choice. The others I would have to go with Yokohama AD08Rs which work out about £200 more expensive

What do you guys think?

Edited by AceOfHearts on Wednesday 21st September 11:06

[AceOfHearts]

Thanks

Yes it may be the best long term solution, but I do really like the manual steering and as I am still in the middle of the turbo build I don't want to take on another project at the moment. I could always buy the wider wheels, live with the heavy steering and do the PAS upgrade over winter though

[AceOfHearts]

16" front 17" rear

205/50 16 on 7J Front
225/45 16 on 8J Front

235/45 17 on 8J Rear
255/40 17 on 9J Rear

At the moment I am running 7.5J front and back with 205/50 16 and 225/50 16

I would like to get Federal RSR but they do not do a 225/45 16 for the front, so if I go for an 8J front I will be looking at Yokohama AD08R

[AceOfHearts]

Thanks Daz that would be great, maybe the 8j rear and a 235 tyre will be big enough anyways. Also Anthony that was my choice 3 in the first post

I would like to do that as it gives me a wider choice of tyre but was wondering if it would upset the balance of the car

[AceOfHearts]

Cheers guys, I am starting to think that maybe a 7J / 8J option is more sensible with 235 rears, especially since trackday tyres do appear to come up wider.

[AceOfHearts]

Thanks for the measurements guys. I think I am going to go 8" rear for ease of fitment and tyre choice. I suppose I can always but some 9" later on if needs be

[AceOfHearts]

Gonna be a secret until they are fitted

Not seen them on a TVR before though so could look genius or tragic

[AceOfHearts]

Haha I want them to turn up and see if they look like junk first, as it was a bit of a risky choice, especially colour wise

I will update in a week or 2 with some pics

[AceOfHearts]

First teaser

Sorry for the dark picture but I have only just unboxed them. Tyres have now been ordered and the old wheels are being picked up tomorrow!

[AceOfHearts]

Japan Racing JR3

Should be fitted in a week or so

[AceOfHearts]

To get an 8j rear in et35 they needed to be custom drilled. Unfortunately they could not offer this on the et25 fronts so I have had to go multistud in those. Hopefully it won't look too odd but we shall see

[AceOfHearts]

I don't know if they sold blanks for custom drilling in 16" 7J for the front, and having multi-drilled wheels or spacers is a compromise either way really. I'm sure 95% of people wont notice and due to the offset sizing the wheels look different front to back anyways, so I am not worried

[AceOfHearts]

Tyres on today. Just giving the wheels a couple of coats of Rimwax (ooh err!) inside and out and once the new wheel nuts turn up I will get them fitted

[AceOfHearts]

For genuine BBS no. Rarely do e up for sale. What are the offsets though?

[AceOfHearts]

Want them, but them!

Just do it