Any downsides to using 7" lace wheels on the front of '88's? (Page 2/2)
Patrick OCT 06, 12:15 AM

quote
Originally posted by Raydar:

My white car in the pic above has 17x7, 38mm wheels on the front, with 215/45-17 tires.



The wheels I used at autocross a few years ago were 16x7, 38mm offset with 225/50/16 tires on all four corners. I bought these wheels originally to use on my '84. I feel that this offset is a bit too much for an '88 (stuck out a little too far in the front), but really good for an '84-'87. In the following picture, you can tell the front wheels are sticking out a bit by the way the sun catches the top of the tire. Fortunately, when the front suspension compresses, the tires do just (barely) tuck up under the upper inside edge of the wheel wells.



Just for fun, I looked up an old video that someone shot of my Formula at autocross. They stuck their camera on the outside of the car. I get a kick out of watching the driver's side front wheel/tire going up and down in this video. All the "plinking" sounds you hear are little stones being kicked up by the front tire and striking the camera!

Raydar OCT 06, 10:01 AM
Pretty cool video. I have thought about going to a 225 section width, but the car that I was thinking about doing that with, uses the 48mm offset in the front, so it still might be tucked under.
Patrick OCT 06, 02:01 PM

quote
Originally posted by Raydar:

I have thought about going to a 225 section width...



As much as I liked the handling with 225 on all four wheels while autocrossing on a tarmac, I did not like those tires on the front while driving on the street. I found that the wider tires on the front had a lot more tendency to follow the crown of the road, which is also much more of an issue with manual steering. I felt like I was constantly fighting to keep going in a straight line. No such issue with 205 on the front (with, I should note, on wheels with a different offset sticking out less).

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 10-06-2020).]