Rim size?

[KaDrifter]

I know not another irm question right? But i searched I'm planning on putting 5zigen Pro-N1 wheels 17x9 in the rear and was thinking about some 16x7 in the front would their be a benfit running 17 rear and 16 front? My turbo Neon i ran 16 front 17 rear because the 16 was a quicker rim.....but that's fwd. Would it make the front to rear power transfer better

[yeswepromise]

why not just get 17s for front and back? just wondering*

[KaDrifter]

trying to save a little weight and was wondering or hoping for better weight transfer

[240marcuSX]

since your name is KaDrifter, are you trying to drift 17x9s on a fairly stock 240? youre not going to be able to break that out easily.. what are you using these rims for? you really dont need such a wide rim/tire for....well anything reasonable. IMO 15s and 16s with different types of tires work fine, for different uses. until you up the power alot. ill say it before exar-kun does, wider tire does not necesarily mean better traction. plus tires that big are going to kill your wallet.

just my 2 cents, not trying to criticize.

[KaDrifter]

thanks was thinking towards the future some, also was conteplating 16's all the way around with directional tires on front and all seasons on rear, with a little bit wider tire on rear, not only want to drift but handle good

[trpower7]

I really think the benefits of different wheels and tires on different ends of the vehicle outweigh the cons. Just go with some 16's all around, that way tires won't kill your budget. Directional tires will be just fine, remember you have to get out of the drift too........

[s15nc]

I dont know where I saw it any more but one of the Nismo built cars was running this setup.Front 235/45/17 8.5Rear 255/40/17 9.5 And if that is good enough for them, then it is good enough for me but I am a big fan of Nismo stuff and have never been given any reason not to be yet other than price.Oh yeah that setup was on a set of <drool> LMGT4's </drool>

[Exar-Kun]

I'll refer you to the wheels/tires/suspension forums, and check my stickies(with help from others) more information on tires and things than you could ever need...

and yes, wider tires do not mean more tracion(neccessarily).

if you were going to run a split setup, you should be putting down enough power to warrant such. Otherwise it's just a waste of money and adds weight. Try running a nice 16x7 and some sticky 225-50-16 tires, that should be fine, especially for "drifting", where you're gonna tear tires up anyway.-chet

[F4ucc]

Just my personal experience.

If all you want is nice looking style, go 17" with whatever tires you want. I would say 16" is more balance as our cars DON"T MAKE lot of power to start with. Good for looking and better handling.

For Drifing, you'd better off stay with 15" with 205 tires,unless you have SR power or Turbo K, runing 17" with 2xx tires you will find youself having hard time to mantain sliding big time. As a matter of fact, even now many people in Japan use 15" light weight wheels with 205/60 tires for street drifting. On track is different story though.

later

[KaDrifter]

thanks for the info proably going to run 16 all the way around

[dl240sx]

16 would be better if your racing, just with the smaller wheels your excelleration will be better than 17 would be. about being 7s in the front and 9s in the back, i don't know if you really need that but it would look so tricked out. i would do that. not a bad idea.

[powerdrifter]

Remember the +0, +1, +2 recomendation (see the Tire Rack to the left). If you're going to spend money on rims, don't do it twice. Get it right the first time. 17's would work nice in the front if you plan on a future big-brake upgrade. otherwise it doesn't really matter what set up you get. Also remember that you can't go too wide in front or the tires/rims will rub on the Mcphearson shock/strut/springs. Unless you got REAL coilover suspension then its not a concern which is why the GTLM4's have that particular setup. Find out what suspension was on the car too. Look at the whole package, notice the fine details when researching.

[Exar-Kun]

actually, with coilovers, rim width and offset become more important, not less, since the body of the coilover is wider than that of the strut(at least, the area the wheel/tire assembly is close to)-chet

[powerdrifter]

Unfortunately, I have to disagree with you because with coilovers, you don't have the spring perch as wide as the regular shock/struts. This means you don't have to worry about rubbing or clearance issue if you are sticking with the +0, +1, +2 Theory. With a 240SX/S13 we have room to go wider and taller just a enough to not make a difference. Just looking at the spring coils alone in the front should show you what I mean. You are correct, however with the rear assy. There's almost no difference. Try doing a side-by-side comparison and you will the differences in suspension assy. width.

[Exar-Kun]

dude, im not talking about the coil spring itself, the area the tire would scrub(the lower, thinner section of the strut, where the damper itself is) is much thinner in a standard strut than the coilover, whos body is much larger in diameter all the way down.

if this wasnt the case, why would wheel/tire setups that clear stock struts rub coilovers? just ask 240+keyy about it, or take a closer look at what I am talking about. Im not talking about the spring perch, which IS wider on the stock shock/strut, but the are benewath it, where the tires will rub if you go too positive with the offset or too wide with the tire(or both), this is where coilovers are wider, thus necessitating the added clearance so often spoken of.

whew. did I explain that well enough?

-chet

[powerdrifter]

Yeah, I'll give you props. If you add too much negatice camber on the car, it will rub. But if you leave the camber alone, you should be fine.