Wheels for Track- Anyone use 17's?

[joeking1978]

I have been using my stock 18's now... anyone swap out to 17's for track use? how does it feel? a lot different?

Is the fit good? Hows the look (you got to look good to go fast, right!?


Thanks!

[bman6074]

I am interested in this as well. I want to get 17's with R-compund for my M3 but would like to use them on the 1er occasionally

[mikeo]

Larryn has experience with 17" autocross setups. PM him.

[larryn]

PM box was full. Had to delete about 900 to get down to under 250.

I have D-Force LTW5 ET43 17x9 wheels on my car for track events. I shave 12-18lbs a corner by swapping out the stock runflats & 28.5lb stock wheels with 16.5lb LTW5's and wider Star Specs.

Throttle response feels much improved, and acceleration, is a lot more brisk, seeing it's a lot of shaved unsprung weight, plus a lot grippier rubber.

[nordique14]

I have the D-Force 17x8.5 ET40 with Nitto NT-01 r-comps. Use them in autox. Like Larry said, the wheel/tire combo is much lighter than stock. The 17x8.5" wheels only weigh 16lbs. That is about 12lbs just on the wheels. Figure another 5-6lbs per tire. When you consider that unsprung weight is worth about 4lbs of sprung weight, the weight saving is huge (and the car handles better too). Also there are lots of tire choices in 17". I suspect that 18" size choices will catch up but it may take a few years until 18" wheels are more common.

Larry, are the 17x9 D-force ET43 or ET41? I thought they were ET41.

[larryn]

Whoops.. you are correct. Serves me right for quoting details off the top of my head.

[joeking1978]

thanks guys... I am arranging buying some LTW5's as we speak! (the same guy has SSR type C's in 17x9 as well... but he wants less for the LT's plus the LT's come with R compounds that are about 50%. The Type C's... not so much).

[Addict...Nah Im A Junkie!]

Originally Posted by larryn

PM box was full. Had to delete about 900 to get down to under 250.

I have D-Force LTW5 ET43 17x9 wheels on my car for track events. I shave 12-18lbs a corner by swapping out the stock runflats & 28.5lb stock wheels with 16.5lb LTW5's and wider Star Specs.

Throttle response feels much improved, and acceleration, is a lot more brisk, seeing it's a lot of shaved unsprung weight, plus a lot grippier rubber.

What tire size do you run on those rims? Is there any rubbing? Where did you pick them up from? I'm only really seeing **********s. Thanks.

[larryn]

Originally Posted by Addict...Nah Im A Junkie!

What tire size do you run on those rims? Is there any rubbing? Where did you pick them up from? I'm only really seeing **********s. Thanks.

Turner Motorsports and Bimmerworld sell them too.

I've had 255 Yoko Advan Neovas and 245 Dunlop Star Specs on them, and those tires are equally as wide. Back had no problem. Front required additional camber (good thing), and the sharp tab inside the fender (that attached the bumper cover to the fender) trimmed, and belt out of the way. If you have any bigger tires up front, you'll gouge the tire against that (badly designed) tab. Stick your hand towards the front of the wheelwell, and ou can't miss it. The thing is pretty sharp too.

The thing grips tenaciously while cornering with larger tires and added camber.

[Addict...Nah Im A Junkie!]

BTW Larryn....love the new "ranking". As always I enjoy your humor

[nordique14]

Originally Posted by squeak

17s are good for track use only since there too small and look odd

very true. The 17" wheels on my car look very small compared to the 18s. Plus it doesn't help that the tires I run are a smaller diameter than the stock tires.

Keep in mind that lighter wheels will have a tendency to bend quicker when they hit a pot hole. Not great when you consider some of the crappy highways we have out here. That is why I use them only for the autox/track (and to drive back and forth from the autox/track).

[FJP135i]

Hi I have the bmw performance rotors on my car. Does anyone know if they are the same diameter as stock on a 135i? DOes that mean I can fit 17s? Also looking at them for track use.

thanks

[fourtailpipes]

Originally Posted by nordique14

very true. The 17" wheels on my car look very small compared to the 18s. Plus it doesn't help that the tires I run are a smaller diameter than the stock tires.

i'd argue that it DOES help that the tires have a shorter rollout than OEM... the gearing in this car is pretty darn long, and a smaller tire slightly counteracts that.

[fourtailpipes]

Originally Posted by FJP135i

Hi I have the bmw performance rotors on my car. Does anyone know if they are the same diameter as stock on a 135i? DOes that mean I can fit 17s? Also looking at them for track use.

thanks

you can fit 17".

[nordique14]

Originally Posted by fourtailpipes

i'd argue that it DOES help that the tires have a shorter rollout than OEM... the gearing in this car is pretty darn long, and a smaller tire slightly counteracts that.

lol. I was talking about the smaller diameter purely for a looks point of view. The smaller diameter tires do not fill out the wheels wells and look tiny compared to the stock size. For track, the smaller size mean and extra 1-2% torque to the ground.

[FJP135i]

Thinking of going with 17x7 ??? What do you guys think. I have read the same width should fix the understeer problem a bit, but will it have enough grip on 7inch width? Or should I go 18x7.5 or potentially 18x8... want to keep the cost down so hence was thinking of the 17s...

[nordique14]

Originally Posted by FJP135i

Thinking of going with 17x7 ??? What do you guys think. I have read the same width should fix the understeer problem a bit, but will it have enough grip on 7inch width? Or should I go 18x7.5 or potentially 18x8... want to keep the cost down so hence was thinking of the 17s...

Why go with 17x7 when you can get a 17x8.5 to fit on the car? The 7" would be lighter but you would not be able to fit any more than a 225 on a 7" rim. If you are looking for a square setup you can run 17x8 or 17x8.5 on all 4 corners and should be able to run 245s (I run 235 on 17x8.5 with no issues).

[FJP135i]

Originally Posted by nordique14

Why go with 17x7 when you can get a 17x8.5 to fit on the car? The 7" would be lighter but you would not be able to fit any more than a 225 on a 7" rim. If you are looking for a square setup you can run 17x8 or 17x8.5 on all 4 corners and should be able to run 245s (I run 235 on 17x8.5 with no issues).

main reason is I've got to get these off a mate and he only sells 17s with 7inch width so I kind of have to go up to the 18s for a 8 or 8.5... I think I will head that way but will see if I can get a similar setup to yurs. Off to see him now and see what he can do for me...

thanks