Im currently running the 205s and 225s Hankook Z214 AX tires. Even in the middle of the Texas summers they never overheated if I kept the pressures under 24 psi hot. Im wondering if running 225/45/15 front and 275/35/15 rear Hoosier A6s would be more of a detriment because the car is so light or should I just stick with the current size. I do have room for them under the fenders. The car is still an angry 2056 but will hopefully get a bump to 2270 or 2316 this winter. Thoughts?

I love the feel and handling of my car with the wide tires.
This after running 205's front and rear for many years.

Car has good balance.





KT

What are you running up front? I'm kind of limited running SSM.

13x8. they spec out to 215-225's ( Goodyear radial slicks )


KT

Once you go to A6s you'll not be satisfied with anything.....ah...less expensive.
You'll find that they are only *good* for 50 passes....or less, however.

I went to Rspec (Kumho Victor racers) about 10-12 years back. After that, all I wanted was more.......

If you want to punish your wallet to go fast, the A6s are a good way to do it.
The punishment is not being able to match your times with lesser tires.
The difference will be 1.5-2 sec better than your present tires on a 50 sec course.....once you learn how to set up for em'/drive em'.

Going fast at AX is not cheep.

So ya'll think I should run the 275s?

Sure, particularly if you plan to add HP. The CSP Miata guys have 150 hp or so and run a square set-up.,,,,,because thay can. The front end of a 914 won't allow wide enuff wheels for em'. 225 up front is gud.

Suggest you run the numbers, i.e., determine the weight balance between the front and the rear, then select different tire sizes for the front and apply the f/r ratio to the back wheels. That way you have every inch of tire with the same weight.

I've gone from 205's square to 225 front & 245 rear, but unfortunately I have not driven the car yet with the new setup. Originally I wanted to go as big as 275 in back but the flares I got will not allow it. I do have enough room up front to run 245 square if that makes more sense than staggered sizes. It'll take some experimentation I think.

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I would have the same stagger if I run 225s up front. The current setup has the 225s an inch wider than the 205s up front. The 275s are only an inch wider than the 225s. So I shouldnt be changing the balance. The car corner balances if I remember correctly 45% front and 55% rear or pretty close to that. I wish Hoosier made a 245 DOT tire in a 15 inch rim cause that would be a no brainer and I could run it with my current wheels.

275/35/15 Hoosier A6s will fit just fine both in front and in the rear if your car has standard GT flares. Measure the backspace carefully and you can get there.

The only issue I found was lowering the car too much made it rub in the spot pictured below. Awfully expensive rubber to be wasting on yer fender wells instead of the pavement where it makes sense. The arrows shows the spot that will ruin your day. The ridge of metal that protrudes in that spot can be taken down but if the tire hits it, it makes lunch of the rubber super quick. The rest wasn't as bad as it looks.

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Do you have any pics with the 275s up front? I would have to go up to 22mm torsion bars or go up in swaybar size to run a square setup.

Sure

I'll be experimenting with 9" tires in front and 10" in the rear next weekend.


KT

I look forward to the results.

Finished up my Hankooks yesterday. Will order the new shoes next month.

Wheels came in today. These are 15x10 Etoile. I'll run the 15x8 BBS wheels up front till I can afford a matching set. I'll take these apart, polish the barrels, and paint the centers black. Should look good.


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Looks like 3" outers and 7" inners. The 7" inners should give you 6" of backspace, i.e., the perfect amount.

They should end up being right next to the body, or say within 1/4" to 3/8" of the body That is assuming the tire side is straight up and down. I know with the Avon slicks that is the perfect inner.....

If I have time tonight I'm going to mount one up and see. I have 4 5mm and 4 25mm spacers. The center shows a 25mm backspace. Do I need to replace the bolts if I take em apart?

Yes Randall you are correct. The outers are 3" and the inners are 7". I'm excited.

New tires are pretty special, especially when properly ratio'ed for the car. Can't wait to try mine on New Years Day.

My 10" rims have a 4.75" back space.
Any more than that and the tire will hit the inner fender well.

Mine are set up for use without spacers.

Front 8" rims use a 4" back space.


KT

Not going to have time tonight to test fit em. its going to have to wait till tomorrow.

Test fit the wheels last night. They're going to need a 10mm spacer. Maybe a 15mm. I'll know for sure when I get the tires.

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I had around 3/4 inch clearance between the tire and the inner rear fender.....most of the time.

I wonder how much tire and suspension flex will be going on. Maybe I should order some 15mm spacers just in case.

A bunch, see pic....note outside rear tire.
I had around 5 inches of backspace on the rear wheels, no spacers.
You'll also need longer wheel studs/bolts.

When I did the 5 bolt conversion I went with 100mm studs. I could run 3" of spacer if I wanted.

Nice lookin yellow car there, sir. I hear they are faster when using all 4 tires.

I'm surprised that you need almost .40" of spacer. My 6"ers inners left me with over an inch of space between the tire and the inner fender. Maybe the offset on the Etoile inner is different than the Gotti....going to have to measure mine tonight.

I have been planning to go with a 7" inner to get my wheels/tires closer to the inner fender, but I'm going to try them first. Maybe the tire flex will take up that 1" of space that I have.

The centers are ET 25. I mounted them with a 5mm spacer and they barely touched the inner fender. I should probably take a real measurement and we can compare.

With 5 inches of backspace, using my Gotti wheels, I have about a quarter inch between the inner fender and the tire.

Brace your suspension ears and watch for cracks between events.

I've seen that happen a few times. Here is a stolen pic from Eric Shea's build. Those two hanging things go to the firewall. (Not for you Woodster, or any of the guys in this thread. Just wanted to present a graphic for anyone who might come along and be reading this)

I seriously need to do some bracing this winter.

The sidewalls will flex and move around in the fenderwell.
What appears to have clearance while standing still, may very well make hard contact with the inner or outer.




KT

When you start running slicks I think it's time to reinforce/brace the ears along with adding some substantial edge welding or whatever to make the ears themselves stronger. Then of course buy a set of Cris Foley reinforced trailing arms.

I'd like to say I figured that out before I cracked one of my ears, but like everyone else learned the hard way.

JP did know what to do and build his car right right from the start

Well looks like they have 6 1/4 of backspace. I think the 15mm spacers will do fine.


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Now that makes sense. My 6" inner barrels have 5" (and a bit) of backspace.

Ran last weekend on some 888s. Car was terrible. Completely wrong setup for them. Back end was all over the place. Definitely gonna need more swaybar if I intend to run the 888s at the track. Ordered the A6s today.

This was the 888s with 20psi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VebOnLkZT3c...be_gdata_player

I have never heard of anyone running 888's at 20psi.

Did you you try them at 35psi as well?


KT

I started at 30 and it was worse. Hardly touched the arrows at 22 so I went down to 20. It was better but still not where it needed to be.

Last years tires compared to this years.


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Wheels came out nice.


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First run of the year tomorrow. Hopefully the new setup works and doesn't rub. It's tight.


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You're at the point. NOW. where a mod to the rear ears for extra strength is needed.
In certain areas more strength than you "think" you need is a good thing.....and them ears are one such. The goal here is 0 movement in all directions.... no depending on "pre-loads" or any other BS....no bracing to panels that may themselves move. It's a tough goal in a tough location but here is my best shot.

The inner ear half was replaced with 3/16 steel plate ( this gets a bit tricky). A lot of 1/8" plate scabbed to the upper portion. In my book, failure is not an option.

BTW, 9 inch wide front wheels may work...I never tried. 10s won't. You get into a "scrub radius push" in the tight stuff which is incurable. I wasted a whole season trying to cure it.

Very nice and you will enjoy the extra tire. Car looks good.

After you do tire temps, don't be surprised if you get very little heat in the fronts. IMHO, and that the the Avon engineers, you might need to run a narrower tire in the front.

JP thanks for the advice. I intended to do some very similar bracing last weekend but life got in the way. It will be done before my next event. I like how you braced to the framerail instead of going to the firewall. The fronts are on 15x8s with a 20mm spacer and turn in was excellent, no noticeable understeer.

Randall the tires never got really warm. They were around 90 on the infrared but I was in the first run group and it was still a little cool out. The car is a completely different animal than last year. The Hoosiers are an inch and a half wider on each corner and blow last years Hankooks away. The setup with the Hankooks was spot on for the A6s. Didn't change a thing. I was very pleased with how it ran and nothing rubbed.

This was my fastest run today.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPTDnCa_KSw...be_gdata_player

Your car looks great Woody.
Hopefully I'll see you at the track soon.

Thanks buddy. That would be fun.