[aspensti05]

Originally Posted by Rac10000

The tires are Dunlop SP Super Sport Race's size 225/45ZR17.

225's on an 8.5"?!?!?! Why? Left overs?

Damn I am waiting to get these until I make sure 245-255 fits.

[spazegun2213]

Ben,
wow they look so nice and are even lighter!!! But you are going to paint them!!! man, do a good job, they are hot wheels. and when did you strip the paint off the calipers? did i just miss it? oh, and you need to put IWSTI on them

still hot car!!

[spazegun2213]

Originally Posted by aspensti05

225's on an 8.5"?!?!?! Why? Left overs?

Damn I am waiting to get these until I make sure 245-255 fits.

i know a guy running 245-45s on his 06 with pinks. he had a little rubbing because of the 45, he said that 40 or 35 would have taken car of it. oh, and he was on 17x8's...

[aspensti05]

Originally Posted by spazegun2213

i know a guy running 245-45s on his 06 with pinks. he had a little rubbing because of the 45, he said that 40 or 35 would have taken car of it. oh, and he was on 17x8's...

This has nothing to do with the info I was hoping to gain from Ben and these wheels but thanks anyways.

Need to make sure I can run 255/40/17 on 17x8.5" ET 40 otherwise it's 245/40/17 on 17x8" ET 45s but that's over an inch of tread width per tire that I would like to use if possible.

[spazegun2213]

Originally Posted by aspensti05

This has nothing to do with the info I was hoping to gain from Ben and these wheels but thanks anyways.

Need to make sure I can run 255/40/17 on 17x8.5" ET 40 otherwise it's 245/40/17 on 17x8" ET 45s but that's over an inch of tread width per tire that I would like to use if possible.

oh, you were looking for offset info, pardon me. I thought you were looking for tire size info.

[aspensti05]

Originally Posted by spazegun2213

oh, you were looking for offset info, pardon me. I thought you were looking for tire size info.

No.

I'm waiting on purchasing to find out if I will rub running 255s on ET 40 17x8.5" wheels.

Someone on NASIOC has them with 255s but not lowered, Ben is lowered and has the wheels but not the right tire size.

[Fast_STi]

[ChaoticSTi]

once you get those wheels painted white they will look insane

[Big Cam]

impressive.

[Ben]

Originally Posted by aspensti05

225's on an 8.5"?!?!?! Why? Left overs?

Damn I am waiting to get these until I make sure 245-255 fits.

The section width of the Dunlop Super Sport race tires are that of a normal 235 tire. It's also worth noting that 225 is the recommended tire size for 8.0 and 8.5 inch wheels anyway.

You also have to keep in mind that tires stretch and compress when you mount them on a wheel. Can you put a 245 or 255 tire on these wheels? Sure. Would it be as effective as a 255 on a 9.5 inch wheel? No. When you compress a 255 tire to fit on these wheels the sidewalls are billowing outward and the tire doesn't fit right. You're not really benefiting from the 255 tire like you should be. The same is true for a 225 or 235 tire. If you put it on a bigger rim is it the same size? No. It stretches, just like your 255 compresses. A 225's contact patch is actually going to be bigger on an 8.5 inch wheel than on an 8.0 inch wheel and the steering response is going to be better.

For autocross it may be different, but on the track you have to weigh out the pro's and con's.

A 255 tire is heavier, creates more friction / drag / resistance, and probably rubs. The only pro is slightly better traction. Unless you mount a 255 tire on a 9.5 to 10 inch wheel, you don't even fully benefit from it and get that better traction. So for me, it's a no brainer. I've found my lap times are better with the "smaller" tires.

Many people like to think that "bigger" tires are going to make them go faster, or that "bigger" brakes will make them stop faster. Bigger isn't always better, atleast in my experience.

I'm not going to tell you that putting 255's on your wheels is the wrong thing to do, because I don't autocross, and our preferences are probably different. I am just saying it's not something I would do.

And to answer your last question, yes, they are leftovers. I have 3 sets of these tires (that I absolutely love) to burn up before I go buy slicks. And yes, when I buy the slicks they will be 225 or 235 depending on their section width for the reasons stated above. (Difference between slicks and r-compounds: 3-4 seconds. Difference between 235 and 255: +/- .25 seconds.)

[Ben]

Originally Posted by spazegun2213

Ben,
wow they look so nice and are even lighter!!! But you are going to paint them!!! man, do a good job, they are hot wheels. and when did you strip the paint off the calipers? did i just miss it? oh, and you need to put IWSTI on them

still hot car!!

Thanks. I never stripped the paint off the calipers. The Brake Man calipers come with a nickel coating; no paint. They are designed strictly for racing, where no one would care less about the color of the caliper . Personally, I don't care what color they are because they are usually covered in brake dust, but for taking pictures and going to car shows they should definitely be painted .

[Ben]

Here are some better pictures. I drove the car so the suspension set (little lower than the previous pictures) and the lighting is a little better.















I took some pretty hard turns / bumps during my quick ride around the block and didn't notice any rubbing, but I won't know for sure until my next track day on April 19th. I would have done some more extensive "testing" but I generally can't drive for more than 10 minutes before the cops start looking for the car . Today might have been a new record actually; 5 minutes until I saw 2 cops and had to turn around.

[GZA]

Car's looking great Ben! Can`t wait to see the rims and calipers painted.

[JJ18Sniper]

amazing job, looks like you haven't taken a single shortcut
Keep up the good work, and stay away from those cops!

[Nivek]

Originally Posted by Ben

Here are some better pictures. I drove the car so the suspension set (little lower than the previous pictures) and the lighting is a little better.

That picture embodies so much.