15" vs 16" Rim size, and 7" vs 8"

[M-Sport fan]

I like the 15x8 also and I'm thinking about lowering too but I'm just curious why you would choose this tire size vs a 195/55 15?

Because you still have a little more sidewall 'cushioning' than the factory rubber bands, but don't give up so much of that sharp turn-in response as one does with the 195/55s.

Also, once you move away from the BFG SC2s in 195/55-15s, you get a ridiculously narrow tread width in that size, although it is somewhat made up for by the much stickier compounds of those other tires.

The major disadvantage of the 225/45s is their much lower overall gear ratio due to being so much shorter than the OEM overall diameter, even though Rick (RAAMaudio), and others on here would disagree about this (but most of them are on BT kits which could benefit from a 'steeper' effective final drive, which the shorter tires give them, in order to get spooled that much quicker).

It also just LOOKS better than even the wider than most 195/55s BFG SC2s.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Heavy.

It's not like they are even close to the factory clunkers in mass, and if someone made something in a VERY CLOSE style, but much lighter, I would go for them, but in my opinion, they do NOT.

But I REFUSE to put a wheel on my car which I HATE to see every time I walk up to it (my MAIN reason for dumping the factory hoops, much more so than for their weight penalty ), just to have the no-weight performance benefits it gives, especially for a daily driven, STREET setup.

Completely disagree.

Curious; what do you consider the best looking on these cars, Rota Slipstream, 949 racing 6ULs?

 

[spoon]

Sorry M, I should clarify that it is the 15" version of the 1.2 that I disagree as being good looking. I realize it may not have sounded very nice of me to say that, I was drinking. TO ME it's just that they are super small for the large wheel arches and then the balloon tires. The 17" versions I will agree with you, look very nice.

I'm all over the board when it comes to wheels but if you pinned me down and I HAD to choose a few that I felt looked really good on our cars - Kosei K8R, OZ Ultraleggera (and the 5-spoke forget what they are called), anything from Compomotive (MO5 or MO6), or Volk TE37 [emoji14]

K8R

Forget the name

Ultraleggera

M05

M05

M05

 

[M-Sport fan]

Can we still even get Compomotives in the states??

I actually had a set of silver MO5s that they took over half a year to custom drill/make up for me way back on my '90 T-Bird SC, of all things.

 

[spoon]

You can get anything if you really want them. [emoji14]

 

[neeqness]

Because you still have a little more sidewall 'cushioning' than the factory rubber bands, but don't give up so much of that sharp turn-in response as one does with the 195/55s.

Also, once you move away from the BFG SC2s in 195/55-15s, you get a ridiculously narrow tread width in that size, although it is somewhat made up for by the much stickier compounds of those other tires.

The major disadvantage of the 225/45s is their much lower overall gear ratio due to being so much shorter than the OEM overall diameter, even though Rick (RAAMaudio), and others on here would disagree about this (but most of them are on BT kits which could benefit from a 'steeper' effective final drive, which the shorter tires give them, in order to get spooled that much quicker).

It also just LOOKS better than even the wider than most 195/55s BFG SC2s.

Thanks for the info. You gave me something to think about. I mostly cruise freeways and not too many canyons so the 195/55s might still suit me best overall for what I'll be driving but considering what you said maybe I'll try a 205/50 instead now.

Ahh, decisions, decisions.

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[neeqness]

I like the ultra leggeras also but they don't seem to come in 15x8. I'm still on the fence though whether I'll get a 15x7 or 15x8...which is why I'm here in this thread, lol.

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[spoon]

What tire are you going to run? Choose your tire first, then choosing the wheel size should be easy.

 

[neeqness]

Lol, I'm not sure about that either. I want to use the PSS but if the wheels set me back too much I will go with a cheaper one.

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[neeqness]

I still have time though. My current tires are at about 1/2 and I already have about 13k miles on them.

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