curious about 'B-Spec' size wheel/tire set ups??

[Waterfan]

I have a question for those who went down to 16" wheels- do you feel that you lost some of the crisp turn-in, was the steering and handling less precise, and did the ride improve significantly?

I am concerned with function over looks,so my primary goal in changing wheels would be to reduce unsprung weight. I think that's the single best thing you can do to improve performance.It would seem 16's would be better than 17's for that.however, I would probably get Pro Race 1.2's. the 17x7 in that weighs about 5 lb. less than stock, great. A 16x7 in that wheel only weighs .7 lb less than the 17,according to their vendor's forum. But here's where it gets interesting: when I look at 205/45-16 tires,most weigh 2-3 lb. MORE than the 205/40-17 oem's, I guess because of the taller sidewalls. So the way I would do it, all-important unsprung weight is lower with 17's!

I went from OEM 17 wheels and tires to 205/45-16 BFG SC2 on 16x7 ET40 (almost 17lbs net savings on the overall package).

-I do feel some small but noticeable "crispness" was lost. The tread and section width of my SC2s may be slightly too wide for my 7" width wheels. (i.e. "meaty" vs. the preferred "slightly stretched")
-Handling and steering are no less precise/predictable (so far as I am personally able to tell). Took me ~10 mins to adjust myself to the new setup. (FYI - alignment did not need any adjustment)
-Significant increase in comfort.
-Significant increase in confidence, meaning for me, on the streets, I cannot find the limits of grip. (Some of this is certainly going from end-of-life tires to fresh, new ones)
-If I had been willing to pay double, there are RE71Rs that weight exactly the same as 205/40-17 OEM 050As, 19lbs (and the overall specs look awesome). My SC2s weight ~21lbs and that's good enough for my casual street-only usage, but I did absolutely compromise on the weight increase in favor of saving $$$. (FYI - 205/4516 Hankook Ventus RS-3 are ~20lbs)

 

[BronxBomber]

A huge thanks! You are absolutely right about the SS. I had AWD to pull myself out of those snaps before and was worried I wouldn't be able to with FWD. The SS where FAT tires tho. I ran 235/45 on a 8.5 and they were bulging.

No doubt the SS were around two sizes wider than most other tires. I was running 225/40/18 on my subie and they were the same width as a set of 245/40/18 Nexxens.

 

[GAbOS]

No doubt the SS were around two sizes wider than most other tires. I was running 225/40/18 on my subie and they were the same width as a set of 245/40/18 Nexxens.

I ran 235/40 r18 om the Evo Enkei 18x8.5 and I swear they had more bulge than factory.

 

[LT Berzerker]

My take: much of the "fad" things such as stancing, camber, stretch, larger wheels started off in motorsport...

Hear me out, the only benefit of the larger wheels is maxing out braking power though rotor size, camber for lateral cornering grip, stance to lower center of gravity, and stretch to maximize feedback/response/contact patch. All of these things were taken from "hey that looks badass on a racecar and were slowly taken to extremes for show cars.

That said, if you want to go wider (wheel & tire) without adding weight and maintaining response and patch, geometry, etc, without changing factory bolt pattern basically boils down to 17x8, 17x7.5, 16x7.5, 15x8....

Personally I struck a balance between aesthetics & performance...17x8 (+38 to widen track as much as possible) and enable a 215/40 to fit square/stretch for response & patch...

As for tires (since I autox in DSP -tune-) I have the choice of dunlop direzza ZII star spec 215/40R17 (8" tread width, 8.6 section width) or Falken rt615k 215/40r17 (7.3" tread width, 8.7 section width).

Running falkens this year...

Note: I'm also on Cobb springs until I can afford coils...

All this said I really wish a 4x108 in 16x8 /8.5 +40/42 was available in a lightweight sturdy design....

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[BronxBomber]

My take: much of the "fad" things such as stancing, camber, stretch, larger wheels started off in motorsport...

Hear me out, the only benefit of the larger wheels is maxing out braking power though rotor size, camber for lateral cornering grip, stance to lower center of gravity, and stretch to maximize feedback/response/contact patch. All of these things were taken from "hey that looks badass on a racecar and were slowly taken to extremes for show cars.

That said, if you want to go wider (wheel & tire) without adding weight and maintaining response and patch, geometry, etc, without changing factory bolt pattern basically boils down to 17x8, 17x7.5, 16x7.5, 15x8....

Personally I struck a balance between aesthetics & performance...17x8 (+38 to widen track as much as possible) and enable a 215/40 to fit square/stretch for response & patch...

As for tires (since I autox in DSP -tune-) I have the choice of dunlop direzza ZII star spec 215/40R17 (8" tread width, 8.6 section width) or Falken rt615k 215/40r17 (7.3" tread width, 8.7 section width).

Running falkens this year...

Note: I'm also on Cobb springs until I can afford coils...

All this said I really wish a 4x108 in 16x8 /8.5 +40/42 was available in a lightweight sturdy design....

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk[/QUOTE
Same here. I went with a 17x7.5" wheel lighter than stock in a design I liked. Would've preferred a 17x 8" but couldn't find anything I liked style and price wise. I would get a set of 16x8 but would have to be under 15lbs for me to consider: