I'm thinking about selling my bronze TE37's (19x8.5 +22 front, 19x9.5 +22 rear) for some aggressive 17" wheels. Can't afford/justify another set of wheels with the wife. The 19's are useless for racing and that's really all i want to do. My stock 17s with 225's F and 235's R aren't that great either...just use for daily driving.

Looking at the Enkei RP-F1 17x9 F and 17x10 R.



Work RSZ-R which are available in 17 now.



Volk CE28 17x9 F and 17X10 rear



Whaddya people think? I figure i care less about looks i realized, just want to autox and track it (not strip, don't really care for that).

 

All three look good IMO. But if I were to rate them

1. Work
2. Enkei
3. Volk

 

Leaning towards the Enkeis myself. Figuring running 255/45/17 Front 285/40/17 Rear Kumho Ecsta MX...the kumhos are a good balance tween traction and being able to drive to and from events.

You know what? I think I'm going to do this. Gonna sell the TE's.

 

if your serious about racing, might wanna consider the volk gram lights. lightest rim around that doesnt look like crap.

oh and I like this idea, but thats only cause I wanna be the only one with the super black bronze TE37 combo. if you could, dont sell your rims to anyone with a black Z. thanks

 

the enkei's... yes those are nice. second Id go with the Volks... Work last.

 

Thought about the Gram Lights too...too many friends have these...don't want to be part of the Gram Lights crew though I may reconsider at this point.

I posted For Sale of the TE's in the SoCal regional forum btw (prefer pickup and cash).

Unlikely you will be the only SB with Bronze TE's...that color combo is too awesome to be kept to 1 person. Besides, money is money and I'm selling to the first with cold hard cash.

 

I just went through this same thing and ended up with another set of 18s of all things.

Smart money is on a set of SSR Comp Hs in 17x8.5 +31 and 17x9.5 +35. Wrapped in Kumho Ecsta MXs 245/45 and 255/45 were going to run me $2388 shipped from Tirerack. I had a set on order, but they got pushed back to the end of Nov (were supposed to come in this week) and I became very impatient.

REALLY smart money is on throwing a set of Falken Azenis Sports in 225/45 and 245/45 on your stock 17s and calling it a day. Closest thing to R-Compounds for ~$500 a set shipped? Sign me up.

 

You wouldnt go for max tire widths? Any particular reason? Cost? I was thinking 255/45/17 front and 285/40/17 rear Kumho MX's...good dry traction without the expense of R-compunds as i think R-compunds would be wasted on a novice in autox and I usually have to drive 100 miles to and fro events.

I noticed a considerable amount of understeer and plowing...likely due to entering too hot as i tend to do but i keep reading that max front widths considerably alleviate the understeer without having to swap sway bars.

Hmmmm....

 

And wider fronts work the power steering that much harder. Michael-Dallas and I both have boiled the PS fluid on track. The more time I've spent on the track, the more I've learned that a lot of understeer is driver induced. Just by paying extra-close attention to my turn-in, I can all but eliminate understeer.

A 255/45 in the front will be like a balloon on a 17 and will have a lot of give in the sidewall with that aspect ratio. OK, not a lot, but more than a 40. Right before I bought the VOLKS, I had finally settled on wanting the run 245/40 and 275/40 on the 17" SSRs. I would look into that combo if your thinking about open track, or 255/40/17 all at all four corners on 9" rims for Auto-X.

 

I have 2 piece FORGED Axis wheels WITH HOOSIERS for $1700 shipped. They are 18X10 all around with 275/35 and 305/30's that are nearly brand new with only 1 heat cycle. My wheels are the obvious choice if your serious about tracking or autocrossing the car.

 

having wider on rear, while it looks cool and isnt so bad for drag racing. it encourages understeer by having so much more rubber in the back on an already understeer prone car.

by bringing the back around with 255 or 265 only 10 or 20 larger than the fronts, the back will be a bit more willing to slide out for you. and traction in the back isnt as important on an autoX, since your ussually accelerating from a roll, where the Z doesnt have enough power to just break traction unassisted anyway.