Wheel advice

[RedStarr]

I've been sold into this idea of aggressive wheel fitment by such sites as Hellaflush.com and forums displaying the most gangsta of wheels on daily drivers.

I'm on Koni yellows and H&R springs right now.

I have the crash bolts with the most adjustment ready and waiting for me.

Here are the size wheels I'm saving towards custom ordering with mildly stretched tires:
17x8 +25 205 or 215/40
17x10 +25 245 or 255/40

Am I considering the right tire sizes/sidewalls? I'll probably need to run -3 of camber on both front and rear, do a full roll on all fenders, and pull the rear quarter panels to fit. The fronts too? Will I need to remove the fender liner?

Input please!

[Sylvan]

[RedStarr]

^^ Useful input.

Why the face in the palm?

[Sylvan]

Originally Posted by RedStarr

^^ Useful input.

Why the face in the palm?

Ah, the facepalm. It very effectively summarizes my disdain for the prospect of sacrificing an MR2 to the hellaflush movement. I know everyone has different tastes and preferences, but why would you do this to a (relatively) rare car that was designed for performance and fun? Save it for the dime-a-dozen luxury sedans and sport compacts that were not already interesting on their own merits.

That's just my opinion of course Do what you want to your car, but be prepared to receive criticism.

[RedStarr]

I figure I want it sized reasonably so I can autocross with the wheels if I want to...other guys on the other forum have managed it. I'm not trying to have a slow cruising boat, just some lower than the sanctified norm offset wheels. Mr2hybrid93 on this forum has similar sized wheels on a stockish body (no widebody, just pulled fenders) and he goes road racing IIRC. So that should ward off the naysayers.

[mr2thailand]

I think 8" in front and 10" in rear are too big for MK2. It should be 7.5" in front , 8.5-9.5" in rear and the camber should not be over -2, -1.5 to -2 is perfect.

But in case you run -3 camber in front, 8" wheel is ok and the suitable front tire should be 225/40 = 24.086". (215/45 = 24.618" and 225/45 = 24.97" are too big for Koni)

For 10" rear wheel, the tire should be 265-285/35.

Just my opinoin.

[EL PAALO]

For what you want, I'd be thinking more along the lines of 17x8 +30 with 205/40 17 and 18x10 +25 with 245/35 18 (9.5 with 235 would look approx the same as 205 on 8 as well if you don't need to lug around the extra weight of a 10).

The front already appears to stick out further than the rear visually even when the wheels are even with the fenders which is why I'd keep it very mildly past the fenders up front. That will also "fit" with zero work to the fenders.
If you're going for the look, double stagger since the rear wheels often look smaller than the front due to the body lines and shape of the car. Any wheel with lip looks like a smaller diameter as the lip depth increases too, so going with a larger rear diameter (assuming a deeper lip) evens out the appearance as well.

[RedStarr]

These are 17x8.5 +5 and 17x10 +19 with 225/40s and 245/17s. I see what you mean by the front sticking out further visually. At the same time, I want the cambered look with as much lip as possible but I want to have enough tire that even w/o changing my wheels out, I could track/autocross the setup and still get some grip. That's why I was recommended the 255s in the rear but I'm concerned about 205s in the front since I currently have 225/45/16 on my FD wheels in the front

[EL PAALO]

decide whether you want the dorifto look or performance.

You could just go even bigger. 17x9 +35 up front with 235/40 17 with maxed negative camber on the plates and maxed positive using camber bolts (assuming you get coilovers). Then use an 18x10 +25 (or even 18x11) with 255/35 18 for the back.


Keep your FD wheels for track/autox.

[tonyaccord]

I had a 95 240sx with Volk GTV's. In the front 19x19.5 +24 And rear 19x10.5 +24 the wheels were tits on my 240. Now i just got my 1st 91 MR2 turbo..The rear fits good but the front won't go on cause of the struts..How do you measure Off set?? If you want a nice LIP?? I want to have a nice DEEp rim in the rear..Can some one help?? i saw on the forms info like Front 17x7.5 +29? And rear 17x9.5 +41???

[palos]

Before deciding on the wheels with the hypothetical tire sizes that will work with the wheels and fenders, don't forget to see what tires are made in the respective staggered sizes.

Thinking that 3° negative camber is an ideal street and autocross setting is folly. You are going to kill the inside edges and the car isn't going to handle well. To help extend the life of the tires, make certain that they aren't asymetrical such that you can flip the tires half way through their short life.

An alternative is increasing your budget to have a set of wheels and tires for autocross, another for the street, and making friends with the person who will be aligning your car before and after events.

[RedStarr]

Originally Posted by palos

Thinking that 3° negative camber is an ideal street and autocross setting is folly. You are going to kill the inside edges and the car isn't going to handle well. To help extend the life of the tires, make certain that they aren't asymetrical such that you can flip the tires half way through their short life.

There are guys that drive with that kind of camber all day for years and don't complain about tire wear because they say that has more to do with having the correct toe settings. I know a guy who runs crash bolts plus camber plates and his car moves like it's on rails. I think I'll get by, but ideally I'll have two sets of wheels for days when the wheels might take some abuse or just when I want to change how I'm stuntin

And on the point about your car not handling well...don't guys dial in more negative camber for track days?

[EL PAALO]

dialing in a specific amount of negative camber to maximize handling on course is quite different than being forced to use a specific amount to clear a wheel/tire combo that technically doesn't "fit."

Toe will chew up tires faster than "bad" camber, but that doesn't mean aggressive camber settings won't kill tires too.

Your car. Your choices.

[tonyaccord]

yea im down with hella too..Ive been looking around this site my self, and most of these mk's don't seem to look aggressive to me. I just bought a 91 turbo, thanks to this site. And im looking in to some wheels my self..