Road Racing - Wider rims, negative on handling?

Hi,

So I asked what a good size tire / rim set up would be for handling corners would be, and I'm planning sometime on buying some 10.5" rear rims, with 315 tires.
But, I've herd several people say that wide rear tires can be bad on rough roads, and there are plenty of those around here.
Also, I'm sure I've felt 'tracking' into ruts on the road with my stock rims, will it get really bad with the wider rims?

So should I get the 315's ??

i think the handling and better looks of the 315s will outweigh the tracking you sometimes get. its not like the wheel is going to be jerked out of your hands. as long as you keep a hand on the wheel, youll be fine.

you really dont need them for street driving. for autox/road race, then yeah. 315s in the rear is quick and easy, and doesnt require any modification.

look into changing your alignment specs, it may help reduce or control the tracking better then rim width.

Okay thanks.
Any doubts I had have been blown out the window.
Okay, most of my driving will be on the street, but the 315 are staying on my list .

do you know what youll need to run 315s in the front?

I was only intending 315's for the rear.
I know wider at the front would be good too, but I thought they would be too hard to fit.
Does that make any differance to my decision, considering I only intend to fit them on the back?

with the correct offsets and minor mod they will fit in the front..

I was only intending 315's for the rear.
I know wider at the front would be good too, but I thought they would be too hard to fit.
Does that make any differance to my decision, considering I only intend to fit them on the back?

thats what i was talking about. from your orginal post, it sounded like you were going with 315s all around. thats total overkill for the street. 315 rear is a dime a dozen, tried and true. wider tires in the front will cause your car to grab ruts and wander. i doubt youd notice a difference at all with the rears.

i have 315 rears and dont notice any difference in wander. granted shes not a daily driver, but with the horrendous north jersey roads, if it was ever going to wander, itd be here.

Thanks for putting me straight, good to know the problem won't get any worst.

Will just the wider rears be a very noticable improvement on the street?

Thanks again for the advise

no. the type of tire will have a bigger affect then an increase in size. a good, soft, high performance summer tire in 275 will easily outhandle a regular all season 315.

Really.
(BTW, I will be getting an alignment).

I need a tire that can handel plenty of bends, some rough roads, and occasional rain (Just in case I get caught out).

I currently have cooper zeon's 275 on all round, with plenty of tread.
Would it be worth the swap to a different set of tires? New tires will obviously help, but will the SOTP feel be noticeably better?

Now, assumeing new tires are worth the swap, if I put that same type of tire onto a 315, would I feel much of a differance to a 275?

Just trying to work out if it's worth swapping just the tires, or if 315 rears would be worth it too.

Thanks for all the help, I just want my car to handel corners better, without wasting money on unneeded extras.

suspension will help it handle better. tires will only do so much, until you get into slicks, which obviously arent for street driving. shocks and springs will make a noticeable difference in handling, and i dont just mean SOTP. depending on your road conditions, you may or may not want to lower it. is it a daily driver? living in england, it must rain alot. that will limit your tire choices.

for dry, you cant beat the BFG KD or falken 615s. for mixed, BFG KDW is still the best. goodyear GS D3 is popular, but i think its an ugly looking tire. the new nitto NT-05 is supposed to be a very good tire, more for dry but decent in the wet.

My konis are going on next week :D, I'll probably stick with stock springs, as the roads are a bit crap, (perch and hose mod)

I'm going to box my stock LCA and PHR (Import dutys suck!), and already have endlinks, some poly bushings and relo brackets.

I was thinking about getting stiffer springs to help with the control, but I'm under the impression the shocks do that and springs are more for lowering?..(C of G differances aside)

Weekend only car, it does see some rain, but rarely. (Some of the UK is fairly dry most of the year).

I'll look into BFG KDW, someone else recomended goodyear GS D3 too, and the NT-05 sound good.
With the tire choice it depends on availability prices, but I'm unsure if I'd really feel the difference.......?

Hopefully the Konis will be as good as everyone says :), and the 315 will be unnecesairy.

Thanks for all the help, do you think the tires will be worth the swap?

I know wider at the front would be good too, but I thought they would be too hard to fit.
FYI - 17x11s / 315s are actually easier to fit on the front than the rear.

17x11s / 315s are actually easier to fit on the front than the rear.
IDK that, thanks for sharing.
Hmmm.....

if you're looking for a 10.5" wide rim, the c5 z06 rear wheels work great, I have them on all four corners with the NT05 and i'm very happy with the grip

FYI - 17x11s / 315s are actually easier to fit on the front than the rear.

if hes not lowered, 315s will fit on the rear without any modification at all. if he has the right offset, even lowered will not require a thing to be done in the rear. youll need a spacer and longer studs in the front, also possibly trimming the splash guard.

My konis are going on next week :D, I'll probably stick with stock springs, as the roads are a bit crap, (perch and hose mod)

I'm going to box my stock LCA and PHR (Import dutys suck!), and already have endlinks, some poly bushings and relo brackets.

I was thinking about getting stiffer springs to help with the control, but I'm under the impression the shocks do that and springs are more for lowering?..(C of G differances aside)

Weekend only car, it does see some rain, but rarely. (Some of the UK is fairly dry most of the year).

I'll look into BFG KDW, someone else recomended goodyear GS D3 too, and the NT-05 sound good.
With the tire choice it depends on availability prices, but I'm unsure if I'd really feel the difference.......?

Hopefully the Konis will be as good as everyone says :), and the 315 will be unnecesairy.

Thanks for all the help, do you think the tires will be worth the swap?

what konis are you getting. the shocks are designed to work with the springs. if you get konis made to work with lowering springs, and keep your stocks on, they wont work right. they both work in conjunction, but in short, the springs lower the car, not the shock. you need to get them matched. standard length shock for stock springs, and lowering shock for lowering springs. stiffer springs will always help, but whats most important is the shock/spring combo are matched.

if you dont care about rain, get KDs or NT05s. KDW is the best all around comprimise. new high performance tires are always worth it.

boxing the LCAs is alright, but worthless to the PHB. an adj. PHB is for when you lower the car, to center the rear end. it doesnt actually 'help' in handling other then keeping the car aligned. getting a watts link is a huge waste of money for a street car thats never raced. all PHBs are the same, other then manufacturer and if its steel or chromemoly.....and end link options of course. as long as the adjustment isnt in the middle of the rod, theyre all the same. its not like a UMI rod ended PHB is going to handle or ride any better then the equivelent BMR piece.

315 rears always look good. id do it just for the hell of it. theyre my street rims, and keep 275s all around for racing.

and to comment on the rain handling, i'm in FL = terrential down pours on a regular basis. i've never hydro planed, but since i wrote this i'll probably hit a guardrail tonight. seriously though, wet weather traction is good. might not be the best, but certainly not a safety concern.

The Koni SA, proably going to do the perch mod also.

I didn't realise there's different koni shocks for lowering springs, I'm surprised they never asked me which I'd like.....:eyes::eyes:

new high performance tires are always worth it.

I will seriously consider new rubber once I've finished my exhaust.

Thanks for pointing out boxing the PHB won't really help any, that should save me a few bucks :cheers:

315 rears always look good, theyre my street rims, and keep 275s all around for racing.

Ahh, so you prefer your 275 for racing and cornering over your 315!? Wow, would of never guessed that. I might stick with my stock rims for now then...

Thanks too for your opinion on your NT05 tires, I'll have to look into availability, but will get them if they're reasonably priced.

if hes not lowered, 315s will fit on the rear without any modification at all. if he has the right offset, even lowered will not require a thing to be done in the rear. youll need a spacer and longer studs in the front, also possibly trimming the splash guard.

After fitting two different sets of 17x11s (cheapo ZR1s and new CCWs) to the car and running various ride heights, I'm aware of what is involved.

Okay, newbie question, always wondered.....

Is there a type of 'spacer' that I can fit, that will make the wheels (rear) stick out from the car more, effectively widening the wheel base? Kind of like having a longer axle.... and would that improve handeling at all?

I know some of my questions aren't really road race based, but with the roads here and not being into drag racing, I thought some of these questions fitted better here than other places.

After fitting two different sets of 17x11s (cheapo ZR1s and new CCWs) to the car and running various ride heights, I'm aware of what is involved.

i dont care. i wasnt talking to you, i was talking to taws6, as i have been this entire thread.

Okay, newbie question, always wondered.....

Is there a type of 'spacer' that I can fit, that will make the wheels (rear) stick out from the car more, effectively widening the wheel base? Kind of like having a longer axle.... and would that improve handling at all?

I know some of my questions aren't really road race based, but with the roads here and not being into drag racing, I thought some of these questions fitted better here than other places.

the spacer wouldnt do anything. you wouldnt get any wider then you would with 315s anyway. youd get more problems then anything good.

i use 275s for racing because theyre cheaper, i can rotate all 4 tires, and more race rubber is offered in 275 then 315 on 17in rims. on street tires it wont matter, but having 315 rear with slicks will overbalance the cars traction, making it push the nose through the corners. the rear traction with overwhelm the front traction.

Ahh, I see, very good explanation Echomirage, thanks for explaining.

I think after re-reading all the replies, I'll save buying new rubber untill I can afford the 315 rears. Good to know I needn't worry about tracking problems with wider rears, and that the rubber makes a bigger differance than the rim width.
Great thing with LS1 Tech, is I learn something new everyday.:nod:

Thanks again for all the help,

Paul.

i dont care. i wasnt talking to you, i was talking to taws6, as i have been this entire thread. Not talking to me but quoting my posts, gotcha. :eyes:

At least you're consistent with your jackassery.......

below me. at least i helped the guy when he asked for opinions.