ryank771

Here's a close up picture of one of the wheels. I'll be going solid black soon probably...red is too much of a pain in the *** to keep up with. Chips easily, and when changing out race tires they rub off even on "touchless" mounting machines.

EricMeyer

Advice for wheels:

Take them off frequently and wipe them down. SOME brake pad material produces brake dust as a byproduct. This can be corrosvie and eat your clear coat and/or become impregnated in your wheels.

Too many people buy wheels for their looks and less on performance. Buy light wheels with the proper offset (to avoid brake caliper clearance issues). 17" wheels have better track rubber choices and are more readily available than 18" wheels. 18's are heavier too. New pretty 19" wheels are for A-holes. No logic to them at all other than looks. Looks=slow. Period.

Material imcompatibility of brake rotors and brake pads can lead to premature pad or rotor failure.

You DON'T need anything but stock rotors. Drilled or slotted do not perform any better and if you have data to show this then you'll know what I mean. You can't measure performance gains of drilled/slotted over stock. Stock is less expensive.

We are sponsored by Hawk Brakes and after trying a few others in the past few years I think they are the best. HOWEVER, it is a well know fact that Hawk Blues produce a dust that when used in the rain create a dust that impregnates in metal---wheels, body panels (personal experience) and can ruin stuff. The HPS series is great for street and open-track. Look into it.

It was my hope to shed light on wheels and the larger WHEEL SYSTEM.

Also, learn how to bleed brakes. Motul 600 is a great brake fluid to use.

Transam kid 01

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the tips. I am well aware of the weight issue on wheels and I am aware of how capable the stock 8 braking system is (and how drilled and slotted are not worth the money). What I wanted are a set of light weight, preferably 18 inch (since I am dropped with RB springs and don't want to mess with the level of my control arms) but I am looking at the colors now. I have been tossing around the idea of black on black, but I want better pictures of them. I was thinking of the RPF1s in black.

What would the effect of putting 17s on my car with the RB springs be on my control arms? I am more concerned about the handling and performance the looks.

Thanks

ryank771

I agree....the slotted and drilled rotors where purchased by myself prior to becoming a track enthusiast. I realized the first time I drove with them on, that the stock rotors seemed much more firm. I am running HPS pads on the front, and I WAS running stock pads on the rears until I ran them to **** after the first day at Putnam last outing. After I took the rims off, the rears were brown on the inside and I can't get them clean. I can't afford the really nice light weight rims, so I got another set of stock rims cheap and painted them since they are fairly light to begin with. Oh well....gives me a reason to convince the fiancée to allow me to purchase some new rims.

I wouldn't worry about the wheels size v.s. the springs. I run the racing beat screens and the .5 inch drop isn't going to be a problem with 17in rims and proper tire size. Eric may know more, as I believe he runs 17in Enkei's. He also runs slicks though

Alex (Gray Ghost) runs 18in Enkei RP1 (I think?) rims with a wider tire, while riding on springs with a 1in drop I believe. He runs into rubbing issues, but only on bigger bumps. He didn't have any problems out at Putnam, but it's a rather smooth course for the most part. I'm sure this is due to the wider tire and different offset the Enkei's have. Again -- this is all new to me, so I could be way off.

I have so much to learn, and so much money to spend yet. I thought I had my perfect track setup.....nope. I want lighter rims, a beefier front sway, different springs with a tighter compression rate.....the list goes on and on. I think joining NASA next year will allow me to learn a lot more. FYI -- this is my first manual transmission car, and the first year I've ever driven on a track. It's amazing what you can learn just by talking to people like Eric and other track enthusiasts on forums such as this one. I don't think I will ever be able to give this racing passion up now.

Transam kid 01

iTrader: (1)

What tire size are you running? I was looking at 245/40s. Will I rub with a RB spring drop and 17s at that width?

As for track set up, I have something I think I will like:
AutoExe front and rear 4 point strut bars, AutoExe member brace set, front and rear progress tech sways with stronger bushings, RB springs and konico dampers. And for tires, I will be using Dunlop Direzza Z1 star sport (w/e the name is, lol) at 245/40 and some sort of lightwieght wheel, 18lbs or less.

And there are also some performance mods

ryank771

Crap -- you just HAD to ask, didn't ya? Kidding....honestly, I can't remember off the top of my head, but I believe I'm running 245/40/18 Hankook RS2's. They are a bit smaller, and a bit widder on my 18's, and I dont' even come close to rubbing since it has a smaller sidewall. My speedo is off about 2mph according to my scanguage....but like that matters on a track. The rest of my track setup is in my sig, but that will soon be changing. I got rid of the short shifter for the time being, and will be changing the suspension setup a bit to get rid of a little more "roll" I noticed this past event as I got faster and faster (thanks to Eric, and myself for growing some *****).

Gray Ghost

iTrader: (3)

Hey Transam Kid 01 -

I am running Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec's in a 245/40/18 right now and was very happy with them out at Putnam last month. I am running Tein H Tech springs and have about a 1-1.5 inch drop. The tires aren't what is going to cause a rubbing issue, it is the offset of the wheels. As long as you stay close on the wheel offset then you should be fine with that size of a tire.

This is all new to me this year but I am having a great time learning to go faster. I am lucky and am getting help from some awesome people like Eric Meyer and Patrick Strehl. I wouldn't jump to making decisions on parts until you have some seat time though. I thought that my set up would be perfect, but now that I am spending time at the track I realize that there is so much more I can get out of it. But everything you gain on the track costs you on the street.

ryank771

Is THAT why you were always behind me?

Kidding....Ghost was fast on the track. It's always fun to have some friendly competition!

EricMeyer

Please explain