Hey all,
I've got an '04 Track, and with all these pictures of the unbelievable wheels that have been flyin' around the forums lately, I wanted to ask a few questions....

1. Since this is a pretty costly upgrade, I'd probably sell my Ray's 18" wheels. Anybody have an idea on what the resale value of these is?

2. Given that I have a track, and I want to move to 19's (20 are just too damn thin for the roads around here), what wheels/offsets can I use that leave room for the brembo calipers/discs?

3. If I move to 19's what effect does this have on performance? I'm sure I won't get to the race track as often as I'd like to this summer, but is the size increase going to noticeably affect performance?

4. Because I'm changing the rolling diameter of the tires, how far off will my speedo be with 19's.

5. With the different size front/rear's that I have now, what size tires should I be looking for front/rear?

Ok, that's it, I'm out of questions for now....Thanks for any replies!



Want 2 C my Z?

 

if the stock wheels in perfect condition you could probably fetch 1600 for them.

I would go 19x8.5 front 19x10 in the rear, will need spacers, tire size will be 245/35/19 front, 275/35/19 rear, recommended tires are Toyo T1s, bridgestone S03s.

If you go with volks wheels, you won't lose much in terms of rotational mass, because they are lightweight forged wheels. I'd assume the 19's weight as much as stock 18's. If you get some bling bling crapp-o 19's that weigh more than a tank, then yes i would say some performance would be sacrificed... otherwise if u get a lightweight forged rim (like the volks) you should be just fine.

your speedo won't be off by much at all... i ran 245/40/18 when the stock size was 245/45/18 in the rear and my speedo was off by 3 mph. in your case, the sizes should be relatively perfect.

 

Keep your outside wheel diameter within 3% of stock or you will experience poblems with ABS etc. Go to this link to determine size differential...

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Go to zcoupe section, look at the top, I posted a thread entitled something like "read this before modding your Z". Read it, it addresses tire issues as well as other things. It should help you ..good luck,

Jeff - zland

 

Jeff, Thanks for the heads up...Now does that 3% indicate a delta between front and rear circumference as exists with the stock setup or is that a 3% change from the original circumference to the modded circumference of a given tire? I know the VDC/ABS system has to take into account that the fronts turn faster than the rears, but as long as I keep the existing delta between front and the rear the same, am I ok? I'll go read that post, too.....Thanks.

 

Hey Themyst,
Thanks for the info! Is that $1600 for the wheels only? How about with a set of RE040's with less than 1K miles on them?

 

Hey Jeff,
So I went to the URL you provided and plugged in themyst's sizes compared to stock. I get .4% too fast on the fronts, and .8% too fast on the rears. I should be ok with this, right?

 

you can get a little more than 1600 for a perfect set of track rays w/ new tires.

even more if you include the TPS's.

 

You bring up a good point....Are the TPS's transferrable to the new wheels, or do I lose that function by switching to 19's. It would kinda suck to have a computer with the functionality to display TP, but no sensors to report it.....Thanks for mentioning it!

Also, anyone have any input on the spacers that themyst mentioned. How would I know what size, etc. to get to fit my car....Are the stock lugs deep enough to accomodate them for, say a set of Volk 19s?

 

Yes, increasing your wheels' diameter will affect performance. The only way it wont affect it is if it weighs significantly less than the the track rays (~18lbs) b/c there is more weight from the axis of rotation. -This affects breaking and acceleration.

You do the math...

 

Right, I understand that the farther you place a mass from it's point of rotation, the more force it takes to spin that mass at a given speed....But if you take the weight of the wheel out of the equation, doesn't a larger circumference equate to lower torque, but I higher top-speed? It's been a few years since math class, but it's kinda like trying to stop a spinning bicycle tire....It's relatively easy if you grab the rubber, but try to do it from the hub, and it'll damn near rip your hand off, so doesn't a smaller wheel transfer power to the ground more efficiently than a larger one....Man, my head hurts.....

 

I did the math for you, kcobean, and your new 19's are gonna slow you down under acceleration, and make it harder for you to slow down as well. Switch to an alternate set of lightweight 18's, or better yet, get yourself some 17's. Many do fit over the stock Brembo's, including the Base and Enthusiast models stock 17's (but they're heavy). Look into SSR Competitions or some Volk wheels.

 

Hey Blue Liquid,
Do you say this because of weight or because of rolling circumferece? I did the size calculator that Jeff referenced, and because of the smaller sidewall, a 19" actually has a smaller circumference than my 18's do (by mere fractions of an inch). I can't seem to find a good site that lists the weights of the wheels. Any suggestions?

 

Check out this site, sort wheels, by name, size or weight. Weight is the enemy of speed. Plus, if you want to go fast on the track, you'll need R compound tires, and good luck getting them in 19 inch sizes (or even a decent 18 inch selection). 17" owns for r compound tire selection.

http://www.wheelweights.net/

 

I buy track wheels from you yes 130 US dollars yes. email me yes

 

I'm assuming this was a joke? I can't really read it, but $130? Nah, think I'll hold out for a better offer....Thanks!

 

180 US final offer yes

 

^^^^^ LMAO -- this guy has been smoking some good s**t !

 

I bought my new wheels a few days after I bought my '04 track, so it was pretty easy to sell my stock wheels. I got $1900 shipped for them.

The stock track wheels are light but the tires are not. My new rims and tires weight about 2-3lbs LESS each wheel. They are also just a tiny bit smaller in overall diameter even though they are 19's. Bottom line, no loss in performance.

 

Ah hah!...It's good to know that you CAN do this without detracting from performance...Thanks for the info....BTW, what kind of wheels did you end up going with...And in regards to my earlier post, did your Tire pressure sensors go in the new tires?

 

Ok, you can stop wasting bandwidth now....