Best wheels for road racing?

2752 Views 29 Replies 8 Participants Last post by djo715, Dec 15, 2001

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Discussion Starter · Nov 30, 2001 (Edited)

To my knowledge the best combination is 18" up front, 17" in rear, with 275/315 front to rear tires respectively. I am not sure about the best widths of the wheels.

I want to have the best performing suspension possible. I already have tein coilovers and will be getting anti-sway bars, as needed.

My car is a street car, so I need to have good durability and, preferibly, improve over the stock appearence.

If you could please post some idea's, I'd greatly apreciate it

.

Name of manufacturer
Price
Size
Offset
Necessary modifications (rolling fenders, etc)
Sway bars?
Where to buy (website?)

Thanks!

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Grant

· #2 · Nov 30, 2001

Best would probably be Reg Riemer's rims. 285/30/18s in front, and 315/35/17s in back. He sells the rims (they are CCWs) and spacers for them. Only problem is the quality of the roads in Gainesville, and the extra cost of 18" rims. They do make KDs in 18s (You WANT KDs, trust me. Now that I have a good alignment they are wearing great, and I've talked to a few porshe road racers who say they last long than other street tires).

I think Andi can fill you in on the offsets for 17x10 fronts and 17x11.5 rears w/ pics. I think you can choose between forglines and CCWs.

Eric

· #3 · Nov 30, 2001

I'm biased since I have some, but CCWs are a great choice. They are light (18-19 lbs), extremely strong, and relatively cheap for 3 piece forged wheels ($425 per when I bought mine). I'm not sure the exact sizes John is building these days, but my fronts are 9.5" wide and the rears are 11.5" wide. The 18/17" combo does give you the best tire size choice for up front, but the problem with running 18"s is that tire selection is somewhat limited. Until recently, the only R compound tire available in a 285-30-18 were Hoosiers, which wear very quickly. The new Kumho R compound is available in that size, but you can't get the 315-35-17s for the rears, so you'd have to run mismatched tires. You can get CCWs directly from John at CCW. He has a website at: http://www.ccwheel.com/ You will have to roll the fenders in the rear, and run stiff springs (750 lbs+) up front with the stock bumpstops to prevent bottoming if you run 17" wheels up front. Running the 18"s up front will help with bottoming, but I'm not sure how much.

Eric

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G

Discussion Starter · #4 · Nov 30, 2001

Eric,

Have you had any problem with corrosion on those? I have seen those once before and it looked like they were a bit corroded...

Do you have any pictures? Thanks!

SCV8

· #5 · Nov 30, 2001

Beleive it or not,Enkei makes a lightweight wheel(17lbs)that is probably one of their more serious designs.
I got a set for my old Fiero for $89 apiece when a store was closing out a bunch of stuff.
I think most places sell them for $250-$350 though.
They clear the huge brakes I put on my car,but I'd want to check on the TT to be sure.

Eric

· #6 · Dec 1, 2001

carcnoid said:
Eric,

Have you had any problem with corrosion on those? I have seen those once before and it looked like they were a bit corroded...

I haven't had any problem with corrosion at all after 2 years.

Do you have any pictures? Thanks!

That website has some pics and here are a few from my car. Shots from the direct side of the car really don't do the wheels justice.

http://people.we.mediaone.net/etyppo/images/Thunderhill/thill15.jpg

They look "beefier" in person than in most pictures. This one gives you a sense of what they look like:

http://people.we.mediaone.net/etyppo/thunderhill115/IMG_3878web.jpg

Here's another one with the car moving:

http://people.we.mediaone.net/etyppo/thunderhill115/IMG_3869web.jpg

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G

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 1, 2001

Anodized black center with regular polished outer.

-mike

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Eric

· #8 · Dec 1, 2001

fleadh said:
Anodized black center with regular polished outer.

-mike

Still on the stock springs?

G

Discussion Starter · #9 · Dec 1, 2001

Eric said:
Still on the stock springs?

Hah. Yes. Aftermarket parts for the supra arent very cheap, and i cant seem to get much support from any shops since i dont drag race.

By the time the NASA season starts it should be good to go.

Although, things might not be completed till the OTC nears... if my finances continue to get siphoned off by other things.

-mike

G

Discussion Starter · #10 · Dec 2, 2001

Eric,

What are the wheels made of? As I said, I saw a set of those that had a little bit of corrosion on them. Are they going to rust if I leave them sitting in the driveway for a week or two?

Cheers.

Eric

· #11 · Dec 2, 2001

carcnoid said:
Eric,

What are the wheels made of? As I said, I saw a set of those that had a little bit of corrosion on them. Are they going to rust if I leave them sitting in the driveway for a week or two?

Cheers.

The centers are forged aluminum. The rim halves are aluminum, but probably cast(?). If you saw rust on them, it must have been from the car they were mounted on since aluminum doesn't rust very readily.

Eric

G

Discussion Starter · #12 · Dec 2, 2001

Eric - Nice shots of the car. I think the rim halves are not cast - probably spun aluminum. Did you roll or cut your rear fender lip? I'm getting a set of the CCWs and wanted an idea how much I'll have to cut off the lip. Thanks, Jeff

G

Discussion Starter · #13 · Dec 2, 2001

Jeff,

How much did you get your CCW's for? What size did you get?

Eric,

You havn't had any problems with a bent front rim because of a low profile? What kind of roads do you drive on? Thanks for all your help!

Does anyone else have CCW's?

Eric

· #14 · Dec 2, 2001

jkbrauch said:
Eric - Nice shots of the car. I think the rim halves are not cast - probably spun aluminum. Did you roll or cut your rear fender lip? I'm getting a set of the CCWs and wanted an idea how much I'll have to cut off the lip. Thanks, Jeff

You're probably right about the spun aluminum. I rolled my rear lip. I'd guess it's about half the width after rolling from what I started with. I tried cutting them with a die grinder and carbide burr and quickly gave up. I'd probably still be at it at the rate it was going. I'm not sure if people are using a cutoff wheel or what, but a burr isn't the ticket.

Eric

G

Discussion Starter · #15 · Dec 2, 2001

Eric - I've had good luck with a pneumatic 90 degree angle die grinder with a thin carbide cutoff wheel. I did an earlier car that had some doubled up sheet metal - no problem. I've been afraid of rolling it because all the shops I've asked about it say there's a chance it will deform the sheet metal - no guarantees. Thanks for the scoop on the amount to cut off - I'll be cutting next week. Those wheels do look good in all silver. I decided to go with black centers just because of brake dust (they'll be strictly track wheels for me). I'll send post some pix when I get them on. Jeff

Eric

· #16 · Dec 2, 2001 (Edited)

carcnoid said:
Eric,

You havn't had any problems with a bent front rim because of a low profile? What kind of roads do you drive on? Thanks for all your help!

My CCWs don't see much street time. I have my race tires mounted on them, and the only time they get driven on the street is when I'm too lazy to swap wheels/tires at the track and drive on them to the track. However, they see some bumping running over berms at the track, and I haven't had any problems with them bending. If you run 17"s up front, your sidewall will actually be quite a bit taller than stock. Additionally, if you do manage to bend a wheel somehow, you can get new a new rim half (s)and replace it for a lot less than the cost of a new wheel. John is great with support after the sale. I had a bolt shear on an old set of CCW wheels I had, and he sent me an entire new set of fastners for free.

Eric

G

Discussion Starter · #17 · Dec 2, 2001

Jon, The CCWs are $1700-$1800 depending on what you want. I'm getting the 18x10 front and 17x11.5 rear for track wheels. John at CCW told me they weigh 20 - 21 lbs, which is pretty reasonable considering they're a forged 3 piece, 2" wider than stock. The stock wheels are about 25 lbs. You can buy a set of custom billett wheels for about the same price, which can be made in the 14-15 lb. range, but they'll be much more fragile, not recommended for a car as heavy as the Supra.

Jeff

G

Discussion Starter · #18 · Dec 2, 2001 (Edited)

WOW! I am definatly impressed with these. I think I may be ordering some

.

Is there anything else that I should know about them? Can John resurface them if they get damaged? How long do they take to be manufactured?

Will I need to get anti-sway bars to counteract understeer?

Does anyone else have an opinion to offer?

Sorry for all the questions

, but you guys are helping me a ton!

Thanks!!

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decooper

· #19 · Dec 2, 2001

Eric "strongarmed" me into buying a set of 17. Nothing but praise. My CCW only go on the track (plus the trip to from the tracks). I'm using 275's in front, 315's in back(Kumho). These in these sizes will not fit in your car...even if stripped

ok, I asked Eric...he didn't strongarm me. It does make a better story, tho

Grant

· #20 · Dec 3, 2001

You guys think these rims (with the 285/30/18 fronts) are strong enough to be driven daily?

C'mon Jon, if you buy my rims I'll throw in free wideband usage and water pump install

Also you might be the only Supra in the country with these rims....

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