[mattkosem]

I had my EG to its (and, also, mine in this format) road course event yesterday at Nelson's ledges in Ohio.

The car ran well, really well. Body roll was well controlled and very minimal, understeer/oversteer balance was predictable, and power was delivered to the ground well. The weight of the car left me able to brake late, around the spots where Miatas were. Unfortunately, in my later sessions when I was picking up and holding more speed, my tires became a real problem. Not to say this is a surprise, since they're cheap tires and the first ones I put on the car after it rolled off the carrier when I bought it in 2020 (Yokohama Advan Fleva V701).

Tire wear suggests proper alignment, no sidewall roll-over, good pressure, etc. The tires did their job as honorably as you'd expect a 300 tw tire to do. I need more, though, since they got goopy and slippery about 15 minutes in on my 20 minute sessions. These Yokos are 195/50R15s. I don't know what the offset of these wheels is, but they seem to be 15x7. I'll ultimately get whatever wheel size is right for the tire I need.

Car has a k20z3 with some mods, nothing major, and the stock LSD that came in the tranny.

Suspension is setup as:
H&R OE Sport Springs (Integra model)
KYB AGX Shocks
98Spec ITR front Swaybar (25mm)
ASR 24mm rear Swaybar (24mm - softest setting)
Adjustable arms/links at every point with hard rubber in every spot but the rear ASR LCAs and front Skunk2 UCAs where bushings are poly - Mixed brands of whatever I could get my hands on in 2020.

So, with all that in mind, hopefully I didn't miss any relevant details. I need some better tires. I see lots and lots of recommendations out there, mostly with no data and even no pics. People claiming 225s fit, even with no mods, but google image examples suggesting a low-rider-like look. Some folks even suggesting 255 or more might fit up front. I want to find some tires that make it the whole 20 minutes (not a big ask), and to do so as I gain skill and speed.

I don't have a need to go super wide, but I do think I need to go a little wider.
I'm a novice driver.
I don't have forced induction or aspire to have it.
I don't want or need slicks.
I'd rather not have to roll fenders.
I'd rather not massively increase bearing wear by going too wide.
I'd rather not impact the turn in or handling characteristics by pushing to a wildly different offset.
I'm running -1.5 F -1 R camber, but will definitely increase that. Even on the street, it seems like I can go bigger there.

It seems like 205/50R15 is a sure thing. It'll fit in a variety of offsets, leaving lots of options for tires and wheel offsets. I can see lots of pictures of lots of cars with widely variable suspension setups not showing them poking past the fenders. I am curious about 215 and 225, though. I see some non-data-validated suggestions that 225/45R15 will fit an EG without any mods in the right offset and camber but can't find any pics validating this with a known wheel offset or tire model nor any data suggesting that they're sufficient under full suspension load track conditions.

So, without further adieu...

Can 215 or 225 200 treadwear tires fit on these cars and not rub at all with no fender rolling in the front or back? With what wheel offset and width? With what camber? With what tire model? Pics please! Ride height is high, since I want full suspension travel and had ground clearance issues, but it shouldn't matter a ton overall since they need to fit without rubbing through the full articulation of the suspension anyways (yeah, I do get that dynamic camber may impact this to an extent).

--Matt

 

[Bjorn]

I have no experience in which tyres will fit under a stock eg. I do know, your tires will always be your limiting factor. The fastest race cars in the world are still limited by their tire grip. Keep that in mind.

 

[mattkosem]

I have no experience in which tyres will fit under a stock eg. I do know, your tires will always be your limiting factor. The fastest race cars in the world are still limited by their tire grip. Keep that in mind.

Most definitely, and completely acknowledged. That's kinda why I was trying to stress that I'd rather not go wide for the sake of wide, so wide as to degrade the handling characteristics of the car, and also that I don't want or need slicks.

I need to focus on skill and consistency, at this point, and can't do that safely when my tires are giving up on me 3/4 of the way into my session and I'm sliding all over the place. Tires don't last forever, so I'll buy more sooner than later, and I don't want or need the absolute most grip I can get...just enough to keep things safe at this point.

--Matt

 

[KBuilt]

225 definitely fit, although you may have to raise the car a bit. If you have over 170ft of tq or so then a 225 is a good tire. With a stock z3 a 205/50/15 in a good tire should give you the grip you want.

 

[mattkosem]

225 definitely fit, although you may have to raise the car a bit. If you have over 170ft of tq or so then a 225 is a good tire. With a stock z3 a 205/50/15 in a good tire should give you the grip you want.

I've only got 157lb/ft. Raising the car would be a lil nuts at this point, since it's barely dropped at all from stock. 205/50R15 should give me a touch more ground clearance and fill out the wheel wells a bit better too, which is cool.

Any ideal offset for that size?

Thanks! 👍

--Matt

 

[KBuilt]

I should have zoomed in on the pic of your car first, you have room to put a 225 as it sits from the look of it. My 205/50/15 are tucked inside the fender on the fronts so I would have to raise mine to fit a wider tire but I shouldn’t have assumed yours is that low. For my stock k24 on the street the 205 nitto neo gen do pretty well in wet and dry driving , but I could definitely use more traction in first and second. I honestly don’t know anything about wheel offsets 😂 Other than usually track wheels have a higher offset and stance bois go for zero.

 

[mattkosem]

Thanks! I wish I knew anything about these existing wheels. I've got some unknown data points to wrangle. They don't have any markings on them indicating their offset, and don't seem to have been for sale for a while. Oh well, I'll get there. Thanks for the info and tips!

--Matt

Edit, it was hidden in some muck behind the spokes but these wheels are apparently 15x6.5 ET35. One more mystery resolved.

 

[mattkosem]

Ordered a set of 15x7 ET38 Kosei K1s and Dunlop Direzza ZIII tires. Seems like it should clear my Fastbrakes setup, even if I later opt to get the Wilwood calipers, and get me the rubber my instructor suggests I'd have done better to have.

Hopefully it all fits. Everything I can find suggests that it will, won't rub, and won't look stupid. 🤞

--Matt

 

[TedR]

Here are 225/45/15 Hankook RS-4 tires on 15x8 wheels. The front fenders have peen pulled/rolled a little bit.

 

[mattkosem]

Here are 225/45/15 Hankook RS-4 tires on 15x8 wheels. The front fenders have peen pulled/rolled a little bit.

View attachment 108362

Wow, looks good! What's the offset of that wheel?

 

[TedR]

Wow, looks good! What's the offset of that wheel?

They are +36 if my memory serves me correctly. They are Jongbloed Series 500 wheels. Current picture of the car.

 

[mattkosem]

They are +36 if my memory serves me correctly. They are Jongbloed Series 500 wheels. Current picture of the car.

View attachment 108364

Slick! Lookin good! 👍

 

[katman]

Here's 225/45/15 square.
Wheels are 949 racing 6UL 15x8 +36.
All corners are rolled. no mods made to the rear trailing arms, only need mods if going 15x9.
I also have another set of 15x8 wheels with a +32 offset that clear the fenders without issue.

 

[mattkosem]

Haven't mounted em up yet, because my other project on this car is taking up all my time, but they're giving me inspiration to hurry up 😁

If I have any luck at all, I won't come home from my next event with them looking like this 🤦

Yeah, I definitely suspected that they'd be inadequate...since I bought them in 2020 when this car still had it's d15. Didn't expect em to get torn up quite that badly though. Seems like they'll recover and have a nice long life on the street for the rest of their days.

--Matt

 

[Them Witches]

Here's 225/45/15 square.
Wheels are 949 racing 6UL 15x8 +36.
All corners are rolled. no mods made to the rear trailing arms, only need mods if going 15x9.
I also have another set of 15x8 wheels with a +32 offset that clear the fenders without issue.

View attachment 108418

View attachment 108419

15x8 feels good under that I bet... I remember feeling like hot shit when I got 15x7's under my eg hatch.

 

[mattkosem]

Haha, I'm going from 15x6.5 to 15x7. If that'll make me feel like hot shit, it should be just fine. 😁 If not, I guess rolling fenders is a next step. Let's hope 15x7 suffices though.

 

[Them Witches]

Haha, I'm going from 15x6.5 to 15x7. If that'll make me feel like hot shit, it should be just fine. 😁 If not, I guess rolling fenders is a next step. Let's hope 15x7 suffices though.

15x7 with the right tires feels wider... lol

 

[mattkosem]

15x7 with the right tires feels wider... lol

Hopefully these Dunlop's are OK. I had the older Star Spec on a VW some years back and they were badass at first, they didn't seem to like daily driving and we're like rocks by the time I had to part ways with them. Too many heat cycles on a daily, I guess. I won't daily these ones, based on that, so hopefully all good.

--Matt

 

[mattkosem]

Well, the fit is great. They may actually poke a little less than the setup I had. Probably would be good to roll the rear either way, but I've got an easy 2.5" between the tire and fender in back.

Road manners seem great on the street. We'll see how they do at Mid-Ohio on Monday! 🤞

--Matt

 

[Them Witches]

Are these the Kosei 15x7 ?