Help me choose best bang-for-buck tire/wheel combo

[danwheeler]

I have installed the KYBs and FMS springs and now it's time to upgrade the wheels and tires.

I'm looking for most bang for my buck tire/wheel combo. I dont care what it looks like. I want best general performance and least possible clearance headaches.

I'm open to any combinations of diameters, widths, backspacing, offset, whatever. I like the Aero Race Wheels on SummitRacing but I couldn't find anything less than 7" width.

Ideally I would like an all season tire that I could take up skiing but I'm open to suggestions for both. If the wheels are cheap enough I'll buy a set of 8 and 1 set of summer tires and 1 set of winter tires.

thanks!
dan

[mattswabb]

On the BP and BPT car I have KYB's and FMS springs. Both have miata 14" wheels. The BP car has 165/65/14 tires. OK ride, car handle very nice. The BPT car has Toyo proxes? 195/45/14's and what a difference. Handling is excellent. This is the tire size I would recommend. No clearance issues at all.

195/45/14's


165/65/14's

[25Horseplay]

Ditto on the 195/45/14 Toyo's

[danwheeler]

thanks Matt, thats good to know that a 14 will fit with the KYB/FMS combo. That should open up some possibilities since I was mostly looking at 13s. As nice as it would be to have the 4x100 pattern i don't plan on swapping in the Aspire stuff anytime soon. I'm hoping I can find something cheap and simple. Do you have any aftermarket cheap/light wheel recommendations?

[danwheeler]

Ditto on the 195/45/14 Toyo's

so if the Toyos are a great tire and i'll trust you guys on that one how do i figure out what size wheel (width, offset, backspacing) I should go with?

thanks,
dan

[25Horseplay]

I have 14x6 with 38mm offset. No trouble with the KYB/FMS springs.

[danwheeler]

I have 14x6 with 38mm offset. No trouble with the KYB/FMS springs.

what wheel is that? how much backspacing? i dont totally understand the importance of offset.

i'm thinking the America Racing Estrellas might be nice. A little bit flashy for me but not too expensive and a nice looking wheel.

[DuritzCrows17]

the toyos also come in 195/45/15 as well, just food for thought.

[oxbrain]

1010tires.com has a good page that explains offset.

http://1010tires.com/tech.asp?type=wheels#offset

Basically, 0 offset would have the mounting surface of the wheel centered between the rims. + offset moves the mounting surface towards the outside rim, - moves it towards the inside.

[danwheeler]

hmm, 185/60/14 Yokohama AVS ES100 on American Racing Estrellas is looking nice too.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=AVS+ES100&partnum=86HR4ES100&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=0&speed_rating=T&speed_rating=U&speed_rating=H&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&minSpeedRating=T

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=ARE%2D954616&N=700+0&autoview=sku

[danwheeler]

having some trouble getting my head wrapped around the concept of backspacing and offset and the difference between the two.
Sounds like they go hand-in-hand though so if you get a wheel with the right offset it will probably have the right backspacing too?

http://www.customtacos.com/tech/index.php?article=40

[Diego]

I really dig the Aero wheels myself. I thought somebody on here was running those. Maybe they will post some pics

[oxbrain]

Backspacing is a better method of measuring the wheel. Wheel manufacturers/retailers don't use it because they hate the world. This is the same tire width is measured in metric, but wheel width in imperial.

Say you have a 5" wide wheel and a 6" wide wheel, both with the same offset. The 6" wide wheel will have .5" more backspace than the 5".

[danwheeler]

I see AeroRaceWheels.com has 10 Black, 13x6, 4 on 4 1/2, 3 1/2" backspacing in stock in their overstock area for $30 each. These wheels weigh about 12lbs I think. Would 3.5" backspacing work?
I also found DaimondRacingWheels.com which have an 11lb. 13x6 w/ 3.5" backspacing for $52. Probably not worth $22 per wheel to save 1 pound.

I'm thinking maybe the 13x6 Aero Race Wheels w/ Sumitomo HTR 200 185/60/13? Cheap and easy. Would this combo work?

[oxbrain]

On a 6" wide wheel a 3.5" backspace would mean an offset of -12. You might rub the fenders with those. IIRC the miata wheel is -45mm offset, the bmw bottlecaps I was looking at were -25mm.