The Central Hub for DSM Community and Information

For 1990-1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, and Galant VR-4 Owners. This is where the DSM platform history is documented and archived. Log in to help us in our mission, and to remove most ads from the browsing experience.

Extreme wheel and tire combos

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

mavisky

DSM Wiseman
5,390
62
Sep 13, 2002
Atlanta, Georgia
I'd like to start a thread where we can examine some of the larger setups on dsm's that are out there. With more and more interest in road racing and autocross, people are going to begin to gravitate towards larger wheel and tire combinations. Let it be understood that most of these wheel and tire combinations were never designed to be bolted onto stock vehicles. At minimum you'll need to ditch the factory springs for smaller diameter coilovers and most of these will outreach the factory fender and in doing so may require anything from fender rolling to full on flares with cutaway fenders underneath.

Now the biggest two setups I can personally recal are Sean Caron's 2g which runs a 18x10.5 Volk Racing wheel with a +15 offset running 285's, and Dennis Grant's old 2g setup which was a 17x9.5 with a +12 offset running 275/40-17's.

The only big tire setup I know of on a 1g is Greg Collier's 1g FWD running 275/40-17's, but I can't find any info on what width and offset he's running.

Of course all dsm'ers like things cheap and one great advantage is that we share the bolt spacing pattern with the Ford Mustang which means that there's a plentiful selection of 17x9 - 17x10.5 wheels out there in a variety of offsets along with 18x9 - 18x11 as well. Many of the 9" wide wheels sport an offset around the 22-24 range with the 10.5"-11" sitting closer to the 26-28 offset.

For those with a 2g there are a plethora of websites dedicated to what fits, here's one of the best I've ever found.

http://www.martincheck.com/wheel_tire_fitment_FAQ.html

But I don't see much information on 1g's. I was always under the impression that the 1g FWD was the easiest to load big tires under, but what kind of mods would it take to stick something like this Anthracite FR500 17x10.5" under a fwd or awd dsm assuming that fender cutting and coilovers are acceptable?
 
How about 295/35/17 on a 17x11? The offset would have to be around +5 on a 2G and it's larger in diameter than 285/30/18, but it's smaller than 275/40/17.

- Jtoby

ps. ACM has been running 285/30/18 for at least two years
 
My main reason for looking at the 275/40-17 size is that I can still get a fairly agressive street tire in that size(Falken RT-615) while still having lots of options for race tires as well.
 
275/40/17 didn't work well for those who tried it. It forces you to raise the car (a lot). I wouldn't go that route until it's your only way to get more than 245s. 285/30/18 gets you a ton of tread at the same height as 245/45/16 or 245/40/17. If you are going to commit to larger tires, might as well get 295/35/17, which are still shorter than 275/40/17.

- Jtoby
 
Falken RT-615
225/50-16 - o.d. 24.8
255/40-17 - o.d. 25.0
275/40-17 - o.d. 25.6
265/35-18 - o.d. 25.4
275/35-18 - o.d. 25.6
315/30-18 - o.d. 25.6

And of course everything in the 285/30-18 department is $250 a tire and up, and the 295/35-17 only lists the Hoosier R6 and A6 as options.

Grumble, grumble.

Just checked out the new Nitto NT-01 and they offer a 275/35-17 with an "inflated overall diameter" of 25.55 as compared to their 275/40-17 in the same tire at 26.65. They also offer their Nitto NT-555 II in 275/40-17 and 285/35-18 but all are "larger diameter" than what Falken lists for the same sizes.
 
I forgot that you run in a street-tire class. That limits your options quite a bit. But, in any event (as it were), I would never autocross on Nittos. Their sidewall stiffness is lousy. Might as well loosen the bolts on the steering rack. ;)

- Jtoby
 
They were far from my first option. I was hoping to work with something in the Falken line as I have a local company I could work with on that brand.

My second choice would be the Hankook Ventus for pricing reasons, followed by the ADVANs if I were writing checks out of someone else's checkbook.
 
What about 265/35/18 Kumho SPTs? Going with a larger wheel and less tire should offset the one issue with these: namely, the softer-than-Azenis sidewall. If you spent a snootful on the wheels, it could still be light with a not-so-bad moment. Yes, they are slightly larger than what we usually run, but you're traction-limited, so it's not like you need the gearing of smaller tires.

- Jtoby
 
Hadn't seen those, not a bad idea. I'm mainly looking at Mustang wheels right now due to cost effectiveness. Obviously staying away from the chrome, but for the money it's hard to find anything that wide and anywhere near the right offset.
 
Back in the day, the 275/17 was the fastest setup. Won more races under DSMs than any other combination.

But when the 285/18 came out, that became the faster setup. You get a half inch more rubber for the same section width because the tire is more "square", and the shorter sidewall picks up some steering response.

The only serious choice nowadays is the 285/18.

And I, incidentally, still have a set of like new 285/18 A3S05s mounted on Enkei RPF1s for sale. PM me if you are interested.

DG
 
For the archives, just got this e-mail from Greg Collier.

Greg Collier said:
The 17 x 9 Mustang rims I use have a 5.5-inch back spacing or 24 mm offset.
In order to use a 275/40-17 you must have coil-overs because the tire will
hit the spring perch on the stock suspension setup. I can fit the standard
Mustang 17 x 10's in the rear with no problem.
 
With Greg's setup I know he has some as he runs the RRE max-camber plates but used modified fenders with flares. Not sure on a stock setup.
 
Would you prefer a narrower setup with more camber and a slightly more drop with Rs or the 17x9 option with almost no drop and less camber.

My main concern is to know if it is benefical for road racing to go a lot larger but with the stock height and larger tires not tucking in...
 
I'd think that a wide setup with alot of caster and a good bit of static camber would work the best.
 
What size rim/offset is required to run 285/30-18's on a 2g? Will I need to modify the fender wells or suspension?
 
I'm not 100% sure, but I think they have to be +15 or less. And when you're cutting it that close, the specific tire will make a difference. It might be +15 for Hoosiers and +12 for V710s (or the other way around). ACM would know for sure. The suspension won't need to be modified, but these tires (of course) don't tuck, so fender work and/or very high springrates are required.

- Jtoby
 
Well I'll be ordering 275/40-17 Falken RT-615's and 17x9 Mustang FR500 wheels with a +24 offset here this week. Still not sure what I'll have to do about ride height, fender flares, or wheel spacers.
 
Go with stiff enough spring rates and you won't rub on the fenders even if they don't tuck. Granted it won't look pretty but you can get fender flares later if you want. My 500#/front 400#/rear keep mine from rubbing on the fenders.
 
That's what I've got now, and with enough height I'm sure I will clear. I'll still probably get the 240z fender flares while I'm at it though. Not sure when they'll actually make it on the car, but I can at least get them ordered.
 
Well I'll be ordering 275/40-17 Falken RT-615's and 17x9 Mustang FR500 wheels with a +24 offset here this week. Still not sure what I'll have to do about ride height, fender flares, or wheel spacers.

let me know how they work

I put 225 615's on the stock rim. Did not want to put alot of money in the car this year. They worked pretty good for auto X but not as good as when i put my EVO's BBS and ADVAN's on

I want to run about the same size but i really don't want the mustang wheel what else is light and good priced that is not the mustang design.
 
I'll be running the FR500 designed wheel for the mustangs which costs a little more, but at 20lbs for a 17x9" wheel isn't horribly overweight.
 
Add Value - Be Respectful - No Trolling - No Misinformation - Participate Often!
Support Vendors who Support the DSM Community

Build Thread Updates

Latest Classifieds

Back
Top