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Love to see the community is still alive, I read you guys for years (mic, jhp, trav, terrasmak, dkmura, darkz03 and lots of others... Alberto lol). I've owned the car for 7 years now and want to keep going... but something came up. Think this is Mic's wheelhouse. Sorry for the volume Mic, a whole of thanks-eh in advance.
I run an '06 GT with Rays v2 wheels, those are all I know in terms of rims as I've never even ridden in other Zs than mine. Yes I know the rears are heavy, but they track well for a daily and their weight is why I'm here today.
I got the car with 55,000 km on it back then (33K miles?) and I'm about to hit 100K (60K miles). The previous owner, an older gentleman, had maybe 3-5K miles on the 2nd set of RE050A that was on the car when he traded it in. Don't know why he went with the OEM model for replacements..? Gawd they're stiff. And little did I know, they don't grip super well up here in Canada - not to mention the no-comfort thing. About 15,000 km after I took over (9.3K miles?) I knew the car a bit better and had some bolt-ons installed on the car + tuned w/ UpRev, so in the Summer 2017 I spent big money on just-then-released Michelin PS4S, stock GT v2 sizes. I was a lot more comfortable financially then than I am now, by a large margin. The RE050A went dormant in the garage.
Lots of fun and 19 quarter mile slips later i.e. last week, the rear Michelins had to be retired due to tread indicator almost contacting the pavement. I'm picking up the front tires tomorrow to bring back as spares, they have maybe one Summer left in them.
So the RE050A's are back, but the car is different (+46 whp from baseline) and I'm different too. Feels like I was scared of the car back then.
Well now I'm scared again. It's Tokyo Drift out there, the RE050A's don't hook and they still have good life left in them. Maybe it's the cooler temps? I went for a ride in 25 celsius though last week and nope, this is nowhere near the grip than even the faded rear Michelins gave me. Car is on stock suspension except Eibach sways, medium settings fr/rear. Needless to say the PS4S were extremely versatile, but with the separation I have a lot less fun money than I did 3 years ago. So I want to invest in a dedicated weekend set of rear UHPs on lightweight wheels - at a reasonable cost, which for me is $1,300 CAD before tax as an absolute ceiling. It's the only thing I need to keep having fun for several years, as I've had Brembo replacement rotors & pads (Akebono ACT, centric posi) on the shelf here for a while now... never had a single issue with the car. I don't do road courses or auto-x, I'm thinking if I still have the car in 5-10 years i.e. into my 40's I might be able to pay for suspension upgrades to do that... I had the rear diff and 5AT (*hence the 'older gentleman' above) serviced in August.
-I don't live near the track and go mostly to hang out, 2 to 5 passes a day (or evening) depending on conditions. Can only do 2-3 days at the track, annually.
-I either have to drive 90 km (Luskville) or 250 km (Shannonville) to get to my fun day or evening. Travel distance / treadwear is the main reason for UHP... can't leave Extreme perf or Drag radials on-site, need to do a quick jacking of the rear here and leave the 19X10's behind. Fully aware that I would need to take it pretty easy on the car running different front/rear UHP tires, this is only to get to/from the track so I'll drive it like a caddy... or is this a ridiculous idea??
-I did my research by looking up the main factor affecting VDC freakouts since the fronts would remain the same... and that is total tire circumference, correct?
-I also looked up threads where stiff sidewalls are frowned upon for drag racing, meaning they're great for handling - but, strictly for a set of rears to go in a straight line, I'm better off with a soft (kind of) sidewall. I have a 12V compressor to pump them back up after races are done / before I come home.
Finally..... (don't forget I pay up the nose if ordering from a US site, exchange + brokerage + shipping + tax on entry to Can)
So the low end (A) runs fat 285's on a 9.5" rim and the high end (B) runs 275's on a 10" rim... but they both only change total circumference from the 265/35R19's by less than 1.5% (minus for A, plus for B). Considering the fronts remain the same, that's still alright for VDC..... right??
I would be interested to know, given the SIZEABLE savings in unsprung weight in the back, how each setup (and its contact patch) would feel... and if there would be be a real-world difference. The Rays v2 (rears) are probably the heavy end of the spectrum while those Konigs occupy the light end of it, along with forged wheels sold by their sister companies sourcing from the same plant.
Option A or Option B? Am I off track in any of my assumptions? Does the Z accommodate a booster seat?!
Thanks again, really appreciate your Zexpertise. A lot. Peace out.
For weekend drag use, I would probably lean more in the 17’s. Would really need to take a better look on what tires are available , their could be better options
I see old threads being revived with new questions from time to time, just wanted to bump this up for cold state/province owners...
"So the RE050A's are back, but the car is different (+46 whp from baseline) and I'm different too. Feels like I was scared of the car back then. Well now I'm scared again. It's Tokyo Drift out there, the RE050A's don't hook and they still have good life left in them. Maybe it's the cooler temps? I went for a ride in 25 celsius though last week and nope, this is nowhere near the grip than even the faded rear Michelins gave me. Car is on stock suspension except Eibach sways, medium settings fr/rear."
I crashed the car on a wet night 15 days after that post, outside temp was 10-12 celsius, exit of a roundabout in 2nd (5AT, WOT restriction removed via Uprev). Was about half or 2/3 throttle. Just my humble caution to cold temp drivers.
Comments/recommendations on weekend drag wheels
