Track & Autocross wheel sizing?

[Brent]

Originally Posted by Heeley

Hi guys,

I just got my FD up and running last spring, and this year I want to start doing some autocrossing and lapping days. I'm looking for a little guidance:

Here's the questions:

1. Is it safe to use stock wheels for track and autocross for the first while? I have an early model R1, and i've read about associated wheel failure.

2. What is a good setup to go with in terms of wheel / tire size for best bang for the buck? 17's? 18's? staggered width? I'm just starting, but it would be nice to have room to upgrade to a BBK sometime down the road as well.

3. For lapping, are R compound tires really necessary? I want to get quicker safely, but I also don't want to throw money at the car when really i just need seat time to be faster.

4. Brake pads: What will be suitable for lapping with street tires and stock brakes, and be able to get me home at the end of the day?

As time goes by, i'll continue to add to the car and freshen things up with bushings, etc. I do have a mishimoto rad on the way to help with cooling issues.
Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

Matt

1. Shouldn't be a huge issue. I would just watch them for cracks. That seems to have always been the issue that I've seen over the years, but they should be fine starting out.

2. Eh, bang for the buck is a subjective term. If you can afford to, I'd run 10in wide wheel, whether it be 17x10 or 18x10. The Enkei RPF1 seem to be a good, light, and cheap wheel. BBK's fitment vary by size and your wheel offset. For example, I have the Porsche 993(Big Reds) on one of my FD's and I have ran 17x8 Factory RZ wheels without issue.

3. No, R Compounds aren't necessary and I would argue are counterproductive starting out because it will mask your mistakes. A good performance tire will be just fine(ie Nitto NT05, Falken Azensis RT-615, Dunlop Direzza Z1 starspec, etc) and will last much longer than a set of R Compounds will.

4. Brake pads, all kinds of good ones out there. For track days, something like the Hawk blues prob. wouldn't be bad. I like the HT-10's. It's really all what you prefer. As you get faster and start using your brakes harder, your stock rotors will start cracking every couple of events.

Glad to see you in the track section. Be careful though... driving the car like it was meant to be driven is very addicting... and can cause perma-grins