Need info 15's and 16's

[Bobby Smith]

Anyone here running 15's and 16's for auto-x. I'm thinking of trying this combo. I'll be in ASP so looking at a wider wheel setup with either A-6's or V710's. Any help is appreciated. Will also be needing to purchase wheels.
Bobby

[trappertrevor]

spoke with a guy last night running that size, the same set he has brand new are on ebay for under five right now rota slip streams, good but dont plan on getting bigger brakes was what he told me when i asked I think he tracks alot.

[elise/europa]

Take care on rear, 16 inches wheel will limit the wheel width, and the car height as well.

The lower wishbone can contact the wheel if you go with wide rim. The std 16 is 7 inches, and in my case, I have 8.25. with 8.25, and 245 tire, I switched with Nitron Pro shock in order to lower the car since the spring are a lot stiffer. No trouble with 7 inches wheel, stock suspension.

[Bobby Smith]

I'm thinking of the Rota Slip Streams 15x7 and 16x8. Anyone know if a 225/45-15 Hoosier A-6 will work on the front? Also, What Hoosier A-6 would fit on 16x8 for the rear.
Thanks, Bobby

[Sean G]

Originally Posted by Bobby Smith

I'm thinking of the Rota Slip Streams 15x7 and 16x8. Anyone know if a 225/45-15 Hoosier A-6 will work on the front? Also, What Hoosier A-6 would fit on 16x8 for the rear.
Thanks, Bobby

The 225 will fit, but it will be a little pinched. I run that tire up front on a 15x8" or a 15x9" wheel depending on my mood. You could also use the 205/50/15. The only real option for a 16x8" rear in an A6 is the 245/45/16. There is also the Kumho V710 in 205/50/15 and 225/50/16.

[trompazo]

225s up front are no problem.

I ran 15x10.5s on the rear last year with the A6 275/35-15 (this is shorter than stock and affects your gearing although it is not bad). But the big problem is the wheel hitting the A-arm so it has to be spaced out a lot and really makes the car wide, which is not good for autocross.

This year I will be running 18x10 rears with the new Hooser 255-18 (which is actually about a 275 but they labelled it a 255 for road racing homologation).

On the 18's the wheel can be pulled in alot more since it clears the A-arm. The tires and wheels will show up in about 2 weeks, but my calculations indicated I will need to flair the rear about 1". So this would be an expensive option if I didnt already have to remove and repair the clam due to an incident last year with a crappy Keizer wheel.

On that note, never ever use Keizer wheels if you have any concern for your car and your own physical health. They are light, but too light for a street car, even a lotus IMO.

I learnt this the hard way by seeing my rear wheel fly off into the trees at 60mph in my rear view mirror at Packwood NT last year. Luckily all I was left with was clam damage, but the car and some nearby course workers could have met a much worse result if it were not for luck.

[Bobby Smith]

I also had a friend break a Kieser wheel at an auto-x. A 1900lbs Miata and it damaged his fender. Lucky no one was hurt. I'm thinking about running the 225/45-15 on a 7x15 front and the 275/35 on a 15x8 or 15x9 rear. These tires are almost the same diameter. I've heard the Elise needs a stagger in order for the ABS to function properly. In other words a larger diameter rear. Any thoughts on this. Obviously you've run a similar setup. Any problems with ABS? Any rubbing with the 275 on rear at top of the fender edge? Stock spring rates?
Thanks for the help.
Bobby

[trompazo]

Yeah, I had big problems with it, but not with ABS.

The problem is the traction control. For some reason, even when it is turned off, it will come back on immediately when the tire diameters are off. The only way to remedy this solution was to disable all 4 wheel sensors and then I had no ABS. Without ABS, the brakes were very senstive to locking. So that was no good. The only adequate solution was to have CharlieX disable the traction control at the ECU level. SO I had a custom Gotham tune done and then it was fine.


If your car doesn't have traction control, then there should be no issues, but the wheels stick out way too much. I would never run that setup again.