New Rims, want to lower

[ShadowXAlpha]

OK, so for Christmas, i got some new rims and rubber, which i thought was pretty sweet.

Enkei Arashi 17x7 with Wanli Tires, 205/40R17 80W

Yea, i know the rubber is kinda small, but after i burn through those, I'm looking to go 225/45 17 On to the question at hand...

I'm at stock height now, which works with the stock 16in rims, but we all know when i slap the 17's on it will look ridiculous. Right now I'm debating between Tokico Illuminas and Eibach Pro-kit, Tokico illumina Spring shock combo, and D2 Coilovers. I live in WI, so snow is kind of an issue, not so much with the fact that i have AWD.

I was just curious on all of your insights on this.

Thanks

Rob

 

[EclipseTrbo420A]

If you have the money ge the D2's

 

[suicidal2af]

OK, so for Christmas, i got some new rims and rubber, which i thought was pretty sweet.

Enkei Arashi 17x7 with Wanli Tires, 205/40R17 80W

Yea, i know the rubber is kinda small, but after i burn through those, I'm looking to go 225/45 17 On to the question at hand...

I'm at stock height now, which works with the stock 16in rims, but we all know when i slap the 17's on it will look ridiculous. Right now I'm debating between Tokico Illuminas and Eibach Pro-kit, Tokico illumina Spring shock combo, and D2 Coilovers. I live in WI, so snow is kind of an issue, not so much with the fact that i have AWD.

I was just curious on all of your insights on this.

Thanks

Rob

Putting 17's on without lowering won't look ridiculous. My car looks fine with 17's at stock ride height.

But before we can really answer this, are you just going for looks or are you going for performance?

Also, on a side note, AWD only helps in the snow when accelerating in a straight line. When it comes to slowing down or turning, it will actually hurt you, since you are carrying more weight and therefore more momentum.

 

[suicidal2af]

Is that why the GST cars track so much hotter than awd's?

What does a track have to do with a car's performance in the snow?

 

[slugsgomoo]

Your wheel gap won't be quite so bad, if you get tires that are the correct profile. 205/40-17 is a TERRIBLE tire size choice for your car.

Stock tires on DSM's are 205/55-16, and if you want to stay with a 205mm width tire, a 50 series profile would be ideal on a 17 (205/50-17). This would put your speedometer at +.8%, rather than +5.7%

I would personally go wider, myself, as it tends to help our big heavy cars in the corners.

Oh, and if you went with a correct tire size, your tires would be 1.3" taller, which would probably not exacerbate the wheelgap problem.

I like to use the handy tire size calculator at miata.net to make sure I'm getting the right profile with a given width, to keep my stock diameter- and speedometer reading.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

[v2ner]

it's the tires that make it look goofy because they are so thin. i feel you though, i once had that issue too....until i put snow tires on. snow tires=poor man's drag radials. if you do end up lowering your car, make sure you camber is right on. uneven tire wear is a B.

 

[definitiveno]

What does a track have to do with a car's performance in the snow?

Thats what I get for scanning posts instead of reading them.....

 

[wret]

Yea, i know the rubber is kinda small, but after i burn through those, I'm looking to go 225/45 17

Why don't you take the tires off new and sell them? New tires on ebay, even from private sellers, go for almost new prices.

 

[D_Eclipse9916]

Putting 17's on without lowering won't look ridiculous. My car looks fine with 17's at stock ride height.

But before we can really answer this, are you just going for looks or are you going for performance?

Also, on a side note, AWD only helps in the snow when accelerating in a straight line. When it comes to slowing down or turning, it will actually hurt you, since you are carrying more weight and therefore more momentum.

Thats mostly true. AWD cars are 3-400 pounds heavier, heavier is better in the snow which is also another reason why we bite better in the snow. Also his skinnier tires will be better in the snow than large wide ones.

Similiary reasoning as to why fwd is better than rwd in snow, (all the weights on the wheels that power)

 

[suicidal2af]

Thats mostly true. AWD cars are 3-400 pounds heavier, heavier is better in the snow which is also another reason why we bite better in the snow. Also his skinnier tires will be better in the snow than large wide ones.

Similiary reasoning as to why fwd is better than rwd in snow, (all the weights on the wheels that power)

Heavier is better in the snow for accelerating. More momentum when trying to turn or slow down in a low-traction scenario will reduce your traction even more.

 

[jtmcinder]

Whether or not heavier is better depends on so many factors that any general statement is a misleading waste of time. The earlier point that given X amount of total weight, it is better to have most of it over the drive wheels than elsewhere is a safe generalization, but the idea that adding to X will help is not always true and is often false.

- Jtoby

 

[ShadowXAlpha]

Wow... didnt have the chance to check this in a while... Thanks for all of the posts guys. Yea, i know the tire size right now, sucks, my stock 16's are running 215/55-16 and i would like to be running 225/45-17's on the new rims. And as far as taking off the tires, and selling them on Ebay... im not so good at the whole Ebay selling thing... So yea. I finally decided that i am going to go with Koni Yellows, and the Eibach Pro-kit. Im all about performance handling, and i was told that this combo is freakin sweet.


Rob