17x11 or 17x10 Front Wheels
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I autocross and am looking to get into doing HPDE's and I have been in the market for getting new rims. Possible sizes that I have been looking at are 17x11 on all four corners or 17x11 rear and 17x (10 or 9.5) front. I would use the rims for both daily driving and autocross. What are the drawbacks of having wheels this large? Also what are the improvements with having wheels this large performance-wise? Thanks
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With a wider tire you're more likely to hydroplane the car. The car will also follow ruts in the road. Not to mention its pointless to go to a rim that wide using street tires. a 275 R-compound on a 9-9.5inch rim will have more grip than a 315 street tire on an 11 inch wheel. That being said, it would get really expensive really fast DD'ing on soft tires.
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With a wider tire you're more likely to hydroplane the car. The car will also follow ruts in the road. Not to mention its pointless to go to a rim that wide using street tires. a 275 R-compound on a 9-9.5inch rim will have more grip than a 315 street tire on an 11 inch wheel. That being said, it would get really expensive really fast DD'ing on soft tires.
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Tires aren't very cheap depending on the sizes and availability. I run 555r nittos all around in my races that require 100 treadwear and above. There's NT-01 tires which are more expensive. Unfortunately no 555rII which would be cheaper than the NT-01. Then theres a bunch of SCCA r comp tires in that size like Kumhos and Hoosiers but those aren't really something you'd want to drive on the street.
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Thanks for all the great replies so far. The reason I would want to have tires so wide up front is so I wouldn't have to use r-compound tires. I would want to use the same set for both daily driving and on the track.
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I personally think it is much smarter to have separate track/street wheels/tires. Tires that work well on the track don't work well on the street and vice-versa. 245's are cheap, and running those on the street on stock 16x8's is easy. Then throw on some 275's at the track, and you have all the performance of the 315's on the track with no problems running them on the street.
Wasting good 315's on the street simply to avoid changing tires is a waste of money. I can get into plenty of trouble on the street in my car on 245's. You don't NEED to run your 315's on the street.
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I have 285's Kumho MX's all around and was actually thinking of going a bit narrower for my streets and using those wheels for wet track/autox days. I bring the 315 A6 or V710's separately for dry conditions.
If you can afford dedicated race tires/wheels and even a small tire trailer, that'd be best. Or tow the car altogether in case of tire damage which prevents the car from being drivable.
If you can afford dedicated race tires/wheels and even a small tire trailer, that'd be best. Or tow the car altogether in case of tire damage which prevents the car from being drivable.
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While the initial cost may be higher, not wasting good tires on the street will save money in the long run.