FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

I know this is sorta random, but w/ the whole craze over low profile tires and large rims, I'm curious if anyone runs fatties on their FD, but on large rims? I'm curious how the FD would look w/ a bit more rubber around my 18s...

I'm sure the car would sit much higher, but it can always be lowered, right? The other downside I'm thinking of (other than speedo error) would be handling, right? A larger/taller sidewall will flex a lot more, right? I'm not thinkin of anything crazy, but maybe a 40 profile on my 285s? That wouldn't affect handling too much, would it?

I know Vettes run fatties all the time, but they have very small rims. It looks real nice IMO. Kinda like this... (but of course it needs a drop):



Here's another car that's running fatties and is lowered. It looks REAL nice IMO, yes?

the_glass_man

iTrader: (2)

It will mess with your gearing, your speedometer, increases chances of rubbing, etc... My new setup consist of 275/40/17's at all four corners. While it is taller than the stock rim/tire setup, I'm not a fan of 18" rims nor running razor thin 30 series tires on my car. I'm also not a fan of the white letters on the plastic pig.

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

Damn...this thread got moved in RECORD time lol.

Yea I wouldn't paint my tire lettering either on my FD. BUT, if I had an old school Vette, I'd be hard pressed not to. I think it looks nice on those cars.

You got any pics of your 275/40s?

EDIT: I had 17s on the car, and IMO, they look too small. But that's prob cuz I have a body kit on my car, so it looks a lot bigger than normal.

the_glass_man

iTrader: (2)

No pictures of the new setup yet. I've got the 99 spec body and think they look just right.

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

99spec is hardly a "body kit" lol. But it sure is nice! Congrats

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Ramy, if you put fatass goodyear whitewalls on those SSR GT3s I am driving down there to take them back

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

Is that what they're called? Goodyear Whitewalls? Making note to self... lol. No don't worry Rich, I'm not tryin to do that to the FD. But I do remember seeing an FD on the forum that had a bit of thickness to the tires. Def. way less than stock (the 225/50s are huge IMO), but much larger than my super "there's barely any tire there" 285/30s. Looked very nice. What are you running on the FM5s btw?

maxcooper

The issue is that unless you lift the car and have uber-stiff springs, they will rub.

If it wasn't for the rubbing issue, I would opt to run larger sidewalls on my car with bigger tire diameters. More sidewall and larger diameter will help maintain traction under acceleration, and since we aren't talking about truck sidewalls here, a little more than we normally run on 18" wheels would actually make the car a bit more forgiving and would probably increase lateral grip on uneven pavement.

But again, it's the rubbing issue that will limit how large you can go. Most of the cars I have seen running the acceptable-but-big size of 275/40-17 have eaten through their fender liners completely in front. You can go bigger in back without running into too much trouble, but it starts to be a bit weird if the rears are much larger than the fronts.

-Max

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

Max

Thanks for the reply. I actually thought they might negatively affect handling. Looks like I need to frequent this section a bit more

I'm not running 275/40/17s all around...even when I had 17s I had 255/40s in the front, and 275/40s in the rear. I had absolutely no rubbing issues at all. Now, I have 245/35/18s in the front, and they rub the fender lining occasionally (during sharp turns), but the 285/30/18s in the rear have a HUGE amount of space. Then again, I'm still on a stock suspension. I plan on lowering the car a bit (nothing crazy), but in case I need clearance or wanna run wider tires in the rear in the future, I'm thinking of trying Jason's (JT imports) method of pulling the fender out a bit.

What do you think is a good profile to try on 285 18s? 35s? I'm thinking 40 is too much, considering 40s were pretty darn big on my 275/40s, and the 30s I have now scream "where'd my tires go??" lol

Thanks
~Ramy

maxcooper

Since it is the rear, 35 series should work just fine. I would expect them to be better than 30 series for the reasons stated above. For those running 18x10" wheels all around, the 35 series might be (is ) too tall in front.

-Max

rx7f4n4tic

im looking to be running 17x8.5s in the front with 17x9.5s in the rear, SSR comp type c's. But like they said its all about suspension. There are also some other cheater ways around it like getting the upgraded trailing arms off rx7store, they would provide you a little more room.

That said, with those rims im shooting for 245/255 in the front with 275/285 in the rear on a koni/eibach combo with the trailing arms and hoping for no rub.

Falcoms

I wouldn't suggest runing high-profile tires on an FD purely for the reason of sidewall flex. Although the look may appeal to you, in the end, you will definatley realize that the loss in handling, more of a "floating" feeling when cruising and cornering, is not worth the look. This is why everyone is trying to go with lower profile tires, they have less sidewall flex and give more control to you. You will actually be able to drive harder on low profiles than high profiles simply because of the sidewall flex. In the end, with an RX-7, function always takes priority over form, at least in my opinion

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

That's what I was initially thinking...but did you read what Max Cooper wrote? No offense to you, but he IS an authority on the forum. You don't exactly second guess him when it comes to this stuff

Here it is again, in case you missed it (it's a few posts up):

maxcooper

You will lose some "sharpness" by running taller sidewalls, but the ultimate lateral grip is likely to be higher on all but the smoothest pavement and you will also get more traction under acceleration and braking. Also, we aren't talking about tall sidewalls really, more like 40 series versus 30 or 35 series -- none of these are "tall" by normal standards. The current trend toward ultra-small sidewalls is mainly driven by image rather than performance. A rubber band on a huge wheel isn't high performance (says the guy with 30-series tires on 18" wheels ).

If you look at the plus size tests that Tire Rack and some magazines run from time to time, the best performance is usually somewhere between the stock size and the largest wheels they run. For instance, I would expect 17" to perform better than 16" or 18" or 19" on the FD, assuming the same widths and tire models. I run 18" wheels on my car for the track because tire sizes are such that I could get 285s with a reasonable outer diameter so that I can avoid rubbing and keep the car relatively low. If someone made 285/35-17 tires (no one does), I would trade my 18" track wheels for 17"s. I run 17" wheels on the street.

The vette and 240 pictures at the beginning of the thread are misleading -- those are tall sidewalls. But if you read the associated text, we're talking about 17" or 18" wheels, where you simply couldn't fit sidewalls like you see on the vette and 240.

-Max

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

A 275/40/17 is about as "fat" as you'd want on these cars.... I really thought that 17's made my car look a little dated, what with front-drive "sporty" cars coming with 17's now. I don't like the look of 285/30/18 rubberbands, so compromised at 275/35/18, and I think it's just about perfect.

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

Max, I went w/ 30s because the 40s on my 275/17s were HUGE IMO. Now that I see it (and yes, it IS a rubber band on 18s lol) I shoulda went w/ a 35 profile.

Yea those are fitted on something like 14" rims I'd imagine. Wouldn't do that w/ my FD, but I still think it looks good on those cars tho.

Yea? I wanna check that out sometime if you're free. You're practically in my backyard, too lol.

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

You can always check 'em out in person.. but here they are. I think Rynberg went the same route on his RP01's:

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

Looks real nice. I wouldn't mind taking you up on your offer of checking 'em out in person tho