Is wider better and what not. What do some of the autocross people use. What size rims/tires do the road race cars use?


I so would love to do this someday when I get some money.

the stock 5 spoke 16" wheels(97 and up i think) are 6" wide or 6 1/2, can I put 215 or should stick with 205's

Im serious....17x8 17x9? 18x8? I am leaning towards some 18x8's.

Do 17x9's fit on our cars??? The 16x8 rx7 rims only fit with spacers and it is a really tight fit. As far as handling goes, the more rubber you can put down the bigger the contact patch is. I think the only drawback to having wider tires is the aerodynamic hinderance, but at low speeds like autocross it shouldnt matter much. So if you want max handling, I would say wider is better (correct me if im wrong).

I vote for 17's with 225's

I've been through 16x7, 18x7.5, and 17x7.

In all honesty I love the 17's with 225/45's. Its an excellent set up. Its the best street setup I've had. My 17's are relativly light(19.2lbs) and the 225's put plenty of rubber to the ground giving great control and a smooth ride. The 45 series sidewall is much more forgiving than 40 for everyday driving. My 40 series sidewalls with the 18's were getting tore up by pot holes, bumps, ect. Plus should a problem occur(flat tire, ripped sidewall, ect.) the 2xx/45ZR17 tires are easier on your wallet.

the rx-7 rims do work very well for handling. The 225/50 tires I have are great in the turns, and the rx-7 rims are nice and light.

Also, I was able to use a 1/8th inch spacer and they fit, it's close, butI've had no issues with rubbing.

I would, under ANY circumstance, just make sure the rims are light, no need to be lugging around heavy rims in my opinion!

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wo0t!
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i want to go with 18x7.5 rims

auto cross guys usually use the smallest lightest rims possible so they save weight and get lower to the ground so if your lookin to do autocross look at like 15 or 16's and some 40 to 50 series tires. big wheels are generally for looks. bigger wheels have slight handling advantages in like highway handling as they are better than shorter wheels in high speed situations but the weight and power lost to spin the suckers would defeat you in auto cross. look at the rx-7 rims or buy some really small ones. konig makes some small light weight wheels. not very pretty but they work well

bwahaha I have 205/40/16 qualifier rims on my fronts for autox. Haha can you say monster wheel gap! They look like 14s. I dont notice any different. I guess they grip less cuz they're crappo tires. that setup was nice though I got good understeer by puttin some blad tires in the front. Having the lower profile also lowers your gear ratio. Measured the stock 16s in auto and tehy are 6.5 wide

They want a good autocross setup and use the same tires/wheels for daily driving. They want killer handling with great looks. If this is what you want, you need to know what class you plan on competing in. No sense spending money for wheels/tires and finding out they are too wide to compete in. If you are in(SCCA) stock class you need to find a 16x6 factory size replacement. You can put any tires that will fit on the rim(these will have to be race tires if they do not have a regional street tire class for novice drivers). If you compete in SCCA Street Touring(140 treadwear and above tires)you cannot have wider than a 7.5 inch rim width and no wider than 225 tire. I use a fairly lightweight 16x7.5 with a much wider offset than factory. I use a 225/50/16 tire to keep it legal and retain speedo accuracy etc. If I were only using these tires/wheels to compete I would use a 225/45/16 tire for more power to the ground and less sidewall flex.

If you want to run a class that does not have wheel/tire restrictions, use a 16x8 wheel that will fit. Then use 245/45/16 tire and you WILL have to use wheel spacers to get it to fit. If your car is dropped too far you will have to get coilovers to raise it up so it will not rub on the fenders. Hoosier makes a race tire this size and you could use a high performance street tire as well.

I finished this year being the SCCA Arkansas Region Street Touring year end points champion. I do know what works on our cars and can help you out if you need a few pointers.

I am moving to SCCA street modified for 2002 season. I plan on using my 16x7.5 wheels with (225/50/16) Kumho's new race tire. Less width allows the tire to heat up faster with nearly the same overall grip/less rotating mass.

i have 18x7.5 and they are the shit....konig imagines with yokahama paradas, sweeeet!!!!!!

Thank you DeanoD. This question was somewhat directed at you. I have another car and wanted to try autox in this one. I wanted to buy a set of battle rims that were pretty light/big to use for that. Instead of competing I would just like to do whats best for our cars and just go out there and have some fun. Usually the races are about 5-6 hours from here and I dont want to drive that far to compete in a class with no aftermarket struts/wheels/etc..

and the car is stock right now and budget is limited. Race in the stock category with 16x6 wheels with 205/50/16 tires. If you have not bought tires for it yet, buy a set of Toyo RA-1(more tread life), Kumho V700(less tread life/more grip), Yokohama A032(pretty good overall) tires for competition. You might want to call or e-mail the region and ask if they have a Street Tire class you could run in. It breaks down the same way(stock class/street prepared) with the only difference is the use of street tires instead of race tires. This is usually a novice class and it makes it fun and competitive.

Then the best street tires for the money are RE730, A520 and Azenis. 205/50/16 or stock size 205/55/16 will be fine.

Without getting too much into class rules, stock class lets you change struts and that is about it. If you have springs, STB or swaybars, you will be in STS(national class with 140 treadwear requirement) or Street Prepared. Here are a couple of online sites to check out specific rules for each class. Know what class you are in before you compete. When you get to the event, tell them you are new and ask the registration people if there is someone that you could hang out with to learn what to do and walk the course with. This is a very friendly grassroots racing family on the regional level. Once you are in grid, this may change...LOL.

If you have ANY other questions, just drop me a message in this killer discussion board inbox. Gotta love it!

Stock Rules http://www.best.com/~mouton/sccasolo/car_class_stock_rules.html

Street Touring Rules
http://www.best.com/~mouton/sccasolo/street_touring_rules.html

Street Prepared Rules
http://www.best.com/~mouton/sccasolo/car_class_sp_rules.html

Car Classification for Stock and Street Prepared Classes. Street touring is a full heads up class. Stock/Street Prepared breaks down into car classifications.
http://www.best.com/~mouton/sccasolo/index.shtml

Awesome job Deano! Always glad to see folks defending the 2GNT honour on the track...

juan