handling car 17's or 15's?

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Duster708

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looken for advice on wheel size 17s or 15s ... car is a 70 Duster and under construction... car will be built mostly for handling (road race/autocross) but will ocasionally throw on the skinny fronts for drag racing... want widest possible for both front and rear.. i care more about performance than looks

main questions are will the 15's have clearance issues on the front ball joints and brakes?

will the 17's be too big and hurt handling?
 
You will have more options for a performance tire if you go with a 16" or 17".

But I wouldn't even bother with wheels and tires if you haven't done a front end rebuild, shocks, subframe connectors, torsion bars and possibly rear springs.

I see this is your first post.

Welcome!
 
yep been nosing aroung here for awhile thought id join now... reason im looken for wheels now is im going to chop my rear axle and want to fit the wheel/tire combo in the tub and measure the distance...

and yes there are more options in those sizes because new vehicles are coming out with bigger and bigger wheels.. even most trucks use 17's or bigger now 15's r becoming rare
 
main questions are will the 15's have clearance issues on the front ball joints and brakes?

will the 17's be too big and hurt handling?
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if a 15" fits or not depends on the brakes used. i would think 17" would be better because of less sidewall flex..
 
17s = better tire selection and big brake kit upgrade later
 
abodyjoe said:
if a 15" fits or not depends on the brakes used. i would think 17" would be better because of less sidewall flex..
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Joe has it right. 15's would work if you could find a low enough profile tire with enough grip.But problem with that is a 15 with that low of a profile would only be like 22" tall,and look really weird,hahaha. I think the 17 is your best bet maybe 18.That way you get a low profile tire and still have it be 25.5"-26 tall tire,and it willl look proportional.
 
actually low pros on 16's dont look bad gives more of the stock car look.... the highth doesnt give u more traction its the width... highth will affect accleration/top speed
 
If you're going for handling, you should keep your considerations to 17's or 18s. Personally, if I had the coin, I would go 18s. Might be a bit more going in, but if you do suspension or brake upgrades later, you don't have to worry too much about whether the wheels will clear or not. Trust me, if you're building a handling car, there will always be upgrades....
 
Oh, and....
15x8 with 225/50vr15s on all 4 corners. Doesn't look THAT bad.....
 

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18" look bad ***...

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17" aint so bad either... :)

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hey joe, do you mind posting the size rim, witdth, offset of yours? is your car tubbed? any rubbing issues? any wheelwell mods at all? is that the largest you can put under it?
 
Duster708 said:
actually low pros on 16's dont look bad gives more of the stock car look.... the highth doesnt give u more traction its the width... highth will affect accleration/top speed
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Not sure if this was in responce to my post, but I didnt say anything about tire height offering more traction,only that our cars look weird with short tires.
 
340plot said:
hey joe, do you mind posting the size rim, witdth, offset of yours? is your car tubbed? any rubbing issues? any wheelwell mods at all? is that the largest you can put under it?
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its a 17x8 with 5.72 back space. no wheel well work no mini tub. i don't run leaf springs though so i have some ectra room. the tire does rub at time up in the wheel well somewhere but doesn't scuff the tire at all. yes i think its about as big as you'll get in the stock wheel wells.. they are 275/50-17..


i did have my front wheels on the rear of jamies car and it was close but fit. same rim but with a 225/50-17 tire. with the short sidewalls i would be confident that they wouldn't hit the springs. her car has stock wheel wells, stock suspension but has a large bolt pattern stock width 8 3/4 in it..


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As 68FormulaS pointed out, if you haven't rebuilt the front end, then having cool tires/wheels will, be cool, but will transfer the handling "problems" elsewhere in the suspension.

What I mean is, when the car was designed, they took into account spring tension/travel/shock and (recommended) tire size. So if you picture a pot hole, the car dips in, the side wall gives in conjunction with the spring/shock combo. IMHO, taking away that sidewall (without other suspension modifications) and it's gonna be a rough ride and possible bent wheels.

My experience (and $.02) with larger wheels was an Audi S6 w/ 18" wheels/low profile tires. Even that car came stock with 17" and I had bent rims....

Not that changing all your bushings/ball joints/tie rods/shocks etc. will help with that, but if you go through and do the poly bushings, larger sway bar/gas shocks etc., at least the entire food chain (so to speak), will track well and be predictable.

I'd be interested in how Joe's car rides (I think you're in NJ, no?). It is an awesome looking wheel combo.....I'm in New England and spend the early part of spring dodging (steering around) winter damaged road. It sucks!

FWIW, I have a '68 GTS that I went through last year. All new upper/low ball joints/poly bushings/tie rods/larger T-bars/KYBs/Helwigs front & rear, then had 15" steelies made (still SBP). My car doesn't even budge if you lean on any fender. My objective was to tighten the car up and make sure it was safe.

Also, I believe if you were to compare two tires, (with the same width) that a taller tire would naturally have a larger contact patch. Yeah, it's taller, but it's diameter is just plain bigger, which would lead to a larger (front to rear) contact patch ...no?

Just my overall $.02
 
Good points Keating. nice rims/tires aren't all you'll need to take the turns fast.
Abodyjoe's dart is riding on RMS suspension front and rear, so its kinda hard to compare ride caracteristics, but I'm betting it drives real nice.

I've installed a B body rear on my car and i get a little over 1" clearance either side on the rears, without spacers, using 17x8 Cobra rims with 245/45 tires and 5.72" backspace. with the extra room provided by using B body rear, i'm seriously thinking about 18x9 FR500 rims using later mustang backspacing, but i need to triple check fitment on the front before pulling the trigger.
 

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This may be heresy, but here goes. You may want to consider different profile tires, front and rear. If you look at major road racing series where tire sizes aren't rule bound, you may see that low profile tires are used on the front and higher profile tires are run on the rear. Reason: The low profile tires provide sharp steering response (less slip angle), the higher profile rear tires have a larger (longer) contact patch that lets them put the power to the ground.
 
The point about having the suspension rebuilt/upgraded first is right on.

But I think 17's are the best choice at the moment for balancing size, weight and selection for both rims and tires. 16's would be a better rim size and profile, but tire and rim selection is very limited. 18's are getting a little big, the rims get heavy because of their size, and you need some sidewall for traction.

It's about balance, and with the current technology and selection 17's probably give you the best options.
 
after sayin all that, i've got other fish to fry before i get around to new wheels
 

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17x 8's and 9's. i am eventually going to do like pauly and do the B-body rear. i have one in another car to do some swapping. these made a huge differnce in my car. lowering the car as much as you can i am learning from some racers is very important also. i am 2" lower than stock and shooting for 2" more in the front.
 
Get the 17's. Wide tire selection, and handles great. I have KBY shocks, SS springs out back, 1.00 bars up front, and the stock 340 sway bar. MT Street 295-45-17' on the back and Nitto 450's 225-50-17's on the front. 60's in the mid 1.6's, and with Cordoba drilled/slotted rotors up front and T-bird discs in the rear, stops very quickly.
 

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