Wheel choices got my head spinning!!

[Trmx2]

Ok, so I took the entire work day to read the wheel guides and the wheel thread. Tbh, it made me even more confused.

All this talk about +/- camber, offset, flushness, staggered, etc.

Here's my dilemma: I plan on dropping the car (tastefully, no more than an 1" maybe 1.25" *strong maybe* I was just going to throw on some springs, either RCE Yellow, Eibach Pro-Kit, or the H&R Sport. Then I started thinking about coilovers...but I have NO IDEA where to begin with that...if I did do springs, I would want them to be as street drivable as possible. I don't want to have to worry about adjusting ride height or tuning my suspension constantly. I want a set it and forget it kind of suspension that provides increased performance and good street handling. If it's slightly rougher/stiffer than OEM I'm ok with that, but nothing too severe.

Anyhow, my real issue is with wheels. I've seen a few (hundred) that I like. Not sure what to go with, or what size to go with, and the offset issue drives me insane.

I don't want to go too wide....8-8.5 is my max I'd prefer 8"

18 is fine but if I can get a nice look with closed wheel gap with 17 that'd be great too. I think 18 looks nicer I'm sure.

Some of the wheels I like:
Advan RG2 Gold 17x8 - these cost so much though are there any suitable wheels that mimic these? They're absurdly expensive.
Advan RS2 18X8.5 same issue as above with price
http://i1144.photobucket.com/albums/...psb871eed5.jpg - THIS looks nice from user @Digital_assasin but I'd probably not run staggered.
Black Racing Pro N1 17X8.

CST Zero-1 Hyper 18x8
TSW Nurburgring 18x8

The Trd ones *note only if I decide to go full TRD with the car*

I like some of the XXR's and some stuff from Drag as well.

Really not sure what to do...I need lots of help. I've seen a lot of things I like.

My concerns:
Rubbing (don't want any, even at full wheel turn)
I have stock suspension and plan on lowering, I also don't want any issues there.
I want my wheels to not have alignment issues and such either.

I've read the wheel threads up and down, I just need some more advice clarification. I'm spinning....

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Trmx2

Ok, so I took the entire work day to read the wheel guides and the wheel thread.........
I've read the wheel threads up and down, I just need some more advice clarification. I'm spinning....

DANG, Trmx2 ..... I see your mod fever hasn't gone down....

I'm not much on lowering the FR-S any more than it is, due to clearance concerns .... but if I were to do so, I'd just do it by changing out the springs.

I also understand that "wheels" for many, are a prime sign of personalization so, let your pocketbook do the talking.

I think that 17" wheels "fit the look" of the FR-S just fine; maybe playing around with some plasti-dip for a color change might be fun and inexpensive ..??

humfrz

[Trmx2]

Originally Posted by humfrz

DANG, Trmx2 ..... I see your mod fever hasn't gone down....

Burning at 110 degrees I'm afraid. I knew that when I bought this car, I wanted to mod it. I want everything to be tasteful though, I'm not a ricer or a weekend racer, I just want the performance and looks that make me happy.

As for plasti-dipping, I think that's a cheap and unattractive solution. I don't really like it, same with powder coating and all of that.

I do like the look of 18's with most of the wheels, the wider stance looks nice, TRD's build has 18's and it looks amazing.

I'm thinking of going with springs for now and possible as a future mod changing the suspension fully.

TRD's build has new shocks/struts, as well as the roll bars and such.

I read that the Eibach Pro-Kit has a really decent compression ratio and is very similar to stock and only slightly stiffer giving a good balance of drop, performance and handling.

The RCE Yellows are a bit more conservative but are also on my list.

I know wheels are a personal choice but it's so hard to make a decision when I am looking at members cars but then I see they chose this offset or that offset and they are on xxxxx coilovers or xxxx springs, or whatever...it's confusing because I can't tell what the car will look and drive like with JUST the wheels and tires.

I wish everyone did wheels first without any mods and then said "car drives _________________" and posted pics, that'd help me perfectly.


EDIT: I also wish I had wheels and tires for my car

[mfbmike]

The only thing I did on my car before wheels was coilovers.

Typically, aftermarket wheels can look "out of place" on stock suspension.

I know a lot of people like the eibach sportlines as they offer the most drop (1.4") of any of the springs offerings for this car. Most offer 1".

First, find the wheels you like, then find the fitment you're interested in. More importantly, how much do you realistically want to spend on new wheels. Factor in new tires as well. Don't forget to factor in the cost of an alignment if you do any changes to the suspension. With that being said, a proper alignment on this car may require rear lower control arms and/or front camber bolts as these cars do not come with camber adjustment from the factory, only toe adjustment.

I'm running 18x9.5 +40 enkei nt03's with meaty 265/35 tires. It's a very aggressive, but still very functional setup. Not for everyone though.

Something 18x8.5 with 225/40/18 tires will be very conservative but still offer a good amount of improvement with being able to run a stickier and slightly wider tire while retaining drivability, closing up some of the wheel gap and not having to mess with too much stuff i.e. suspension components, rolling fenders, etc.

17's vs 18's. Completely subjective. Before I got the car, I knew I wanted to move up to 18's. I almost sold myself on 17's for weight savings but realize I don't track or autox enough to justify going away from what I thought look better on this car, 18" wheels.

Don't feel overwhelmed. It may seem daunting or confusing, but once you get it, it's pretty easy to understand.

[PineappleFriedRice]

Originally Posted by Trmx2

EDIT: I also wish I had wheels and tires for my car

You said you like xxr's? Well here are some cheap ones that looks similar to the ones you said you like:

(Advan RS2, CST Zero-1 Hyper)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/17X9-XXR-527...553a6b&vxp=mtr

(TSW Nurburgring)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/17-XXR-530-B...3b9d10&vxp=mtr

(Advan RG2 Gold)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/XXR-522-17x9...cf33c5&vxp=mtr(They're 17x9's tho)

If you're looking for budget springs as well, try these
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34158

They drive pretty close to stock but a little more on the stiff side.
Comparing quality of the springs, I really can't tell the difference between them and the eibach sportline's I had on my Tiburon. (Different car I know, but and Eibach spring is and Eibach spring)

With any of those wheels plus those springs, you can have them both for around $670ish.

[Trmx2]

Originally Posted by mfbmike

The only thing I did on my car before wheels was coilovers.

Typically, aftermarket wheels can look "out of place" on stock suspension.

I know a lot of people like the eibach sportlines as they offer the most drop (1.4") of any of the springs offerings for this car. Most offer 1".

First, find the wheels you like, then find the fitment you're interested in. More importantly, how much do you realistically want to spend on new wheels. Factor in new tires as well. Don't forget to factor in the cost of an alignment if you do any changes to the suspension. With that being said, a proper alignment on this car may require rear lower control arms and/or front camber bolts as these cars do not come with camber adjustment from the factory, only toe adjustment.

I'm running 18x9.5 +40 enkei nt03's with meaty 265/35 tires. It's a very aggressive, but still very functional setup. Not for everyone though.

Something 18x8.5 with 225/40/18 tires will be very conservative but still offer a good amount of improvement with being able to run a stickier and slightly wider tire while retaining drivability, closing up some of the wheel gap and not having to mess with too much stuff i.e. suspension components, rolling fenders, etc.

17's vs 18's. Completely subjective. Before I got the car, I knew I wanted to move up to 18's. I almost sold myself on 17's for weight savings but realize I don't track or autox enough to justify going away from what I thought look better on this car, 18" wheels.

Don't feel overwhelmed. It may seem daunting or confusing, but once you get it, it's pretty easy to understand.

Great response man, thank you!

Which coilovers did you choose? We need to meetup, I need to see your car. I haven't seen anyone with a tuned up FRS other than this guy around FIU with a dark blue very low FRS he has some pretty nice gear on his car, no idea who he is though.



Fitment, I'm most interested in is 18x8 or 18x8.5 like you suggested, I don't want staggered since it's harder to whip the rear of the car out. I definitely want to lower the car, either with springs for now and then later with a GREAT suspension setup...that will be $$$ I might just bite the bullet and get Cusco or KW at some point.


How would ADVAN RS2's with 235/40/R18 look? Thoughts?

Thanks again for the helpful post, I'm still confused though, mostly due to my own indecision haha

[Trmx2]

Originally Posted by PineappleFriedRice

You said you like xxr's? Well here are some cheap ones that looks similar to the ones you said you like:

(Advan RS2, CST Zero-1 Hyper)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/17X9-XXR-527...553a6b&vxp=mtr

(TSW Nurburgring)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/17-XXR-530-B...3b9d10&vxp=mtr

(Advan RG2 Gold)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/XXR-522-17x9...cf33c5&vxp=mtr(They're 17x9's tho)

If you're looking for budget springs as well, try these
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34158

They drive pretty close to stock but a little more on the stiff side.
Comparing quality of the springs, I really can't tell the difference between them and the eibach sportline's I had on my Tiburon. (Different car I know, but and Eibach spring is and Eibach spring)

With any of those wheels plus those springs, you can have them both for around $670ish.

Great recommendations! I've actually added those very XXR's to my list, my favorite are probably the XXR 530, I really like those a lot. I'm stuck on the ADVAN's now though...fml. After seeing those, the XXR's just don't seem to do the job lol.

[SirBrass]

Honestly, sticking with 17" will save you lots of $$ in the long run on tires. The price diff between 225/40/R17's and 225/40/R18's is close to $100/tire for the really good tires like PSS's and S-04 Pole Positions, etc. That was enough to convince me that I wanted to stay with 17".

I haven't changed wheels/tires yet, but I'm planning on it.

[mfbmike]

Originally Posted by Trmx2

Great response man, thank you!

Which coilovers did you choose? We need to meetup, I need to see your car. I haven't seen anyone with a tuned up FRS other than this guy around FIU with a dark blue very low FRS he has some pretty nice gear on his car, no idea who he is though.



Fitment, I'm most interested in is 18x8 or 18x8.5 like you suggested, I don't want staggered since it's harder to whip the rear of the car out. I definitely want to lower the car, either with springs for now and then later with a GREAT suspension setup...that will be $$$ I might just bite the bullet and get Cusco or KW at some point.


How would ADVAN RS2's with 235/40/R18 look? Thoughts?

Thanks again for the helpful post, I'm still confused though, mostly due to my own indecision haha

I'm down in Miami. If you ever come down, we can meet up.

I run Racecomp Engineering Tarmac 0's. Love them. They don't go super low, but plenty enough for me - again, I wanted a functional setup. I was undecided between those and kw v3's for a while but realized, again, I'm just going to set it and forget it and don't need all the settings that come along with the v3's. The T0's are made by KW suspension, with RCE's custom valving.

I also suggest against staggered setups as it prevents you from being able to rotate your tires.

I personally don't know what those wheels look like off the top of my head.

I had only seen a few other FR-S running the wheels I currently run on my car. Most weren't even the same finish, and if it was, it was on a different color FR-S. Sometimes you just gotta go for it. lol.

Originally Posted by SirBrass

Honestly, sticking with 17" will save you lots of $$ in the long run on tires. The price diff between 225/40/R17's and 225/40/R18's is close to $100/tire for the really good tires like PSS's and S-04 Pole Positions, etc. That was enough to convince me that I wanted to stay with 17".

I haven't changed wheels/tires yet, but I'm planning on it.

That's debatable. It all depends how smart of a shopper you are and how willing you are to search for deals.

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by Trmx2

My concerns:
Rubbing (don't want any, even at full wheel turn)
I have stock suspension and plan on lowering, I also don't want any issues there.
I want my wheels to not have alignment issues and such either.

I think an 18x8 +40 or so sounds like the perfect wheel for you. You can run up to a 245/35/18 tire on it and regardless of what you do with your suspension, you will never have to worry about rubbing. Wheels don't affect your alignment. The amount you lower your car will effect how much extra negative camber you gain in the rear which can cause your car not to be within the OEM specs for rear camber.

[dori.]

gotta agree. run 8 inch wide wheel, with offset between +35 and +45. that'll be fine with stock suspension or whatever drop you do.

if you want it to be closer to stock (as far as the back end being 'playful') go 225 wide tire

[Trmx2]

Originally Posted by King Tut

I think an 18x8 +40 or so sounds like the perfect wheel for you. You can run up to a 245/35/18 tire on it and regardless of what you do with your suspension, you will never have to worry about rubbing. Wheels don't affect your alignment. The amount you lower your car will effect how much extra negative camber you gain in the rear which can cause your car not to be within the OEM specs for rear camber.

This is what I'm leaning towards too or a 17x8. I'm definitely not going to do staggered. I plan on lowering about 1" maybe 1.25" depending. Future future mods are gonna be coilovers. That's a ways away though.

Can you explain camber a bit more for me? When I get the car aligned do they compensate for that? I'm not sure how it works. What about caster do wheels affect that at all? The reason I ask is because my 2006 Mazda 3 could NOT drive with Uni-direction tires on it. No one told me this until very late into owning several sets of tires. The unidirectional tires would pull the Mazdas caster off greatly and it was a bitch to fix. I ended spending tons of money to fix everything. Including going back to non-unidirectionals.

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by Trmx2

Can you explain camber a bit more for me? When I get the car aligned do they compensate for that? I'm not sure how it works. What about caster do wheels affect that at all? The reason I ask is because my 2006 Mazda 3 could NOT drive with Uni-direction tires on it. No one told me this until very late into owning several sets of tires. The unidirectional tires would pull the Mazdas caster off greatly and it was a bitch to fix. I ended spending tons of money to fix everything. Including going back to non-unidirectionals.

On almost every car except for race cars, the caster of the suspension is non adjustable. Very vew cars even have any kind of camber adjustment from the factory. The FR-S has small camber adjustment in the front and no camber adjustment in the rear along with fixed caster. The toe is adjustable in both the front and the rear. Because of the design of the rear suspension on these cars they gain negative caster as the suspension is lowered. That is why some people have to get rear camber arms to give a way to adjust that camber to get the alignment back within spec. I have never heard of tires changing the alignment of the car, so I don't see how a unidirectional versus a non unidirectional was changing the caster on your car.

[Trmx2]

Originally Posted by King Tut

On almost every car except for race cars, the caster of the suspension is non adjustable. Very vew cars even have any kind of camber adjustment from the factory. The FR-S has small camber adjustment in the front and no camber adjustment in the rear along with fixed caster. The toe is adjustable in both the front and the rear. Because of the design of the rear suspension on these cars they gain negative caster as the suspension is lowered. That is why some people have to get rear camber arms to give a way to adjust that camber to get the alignment back within spec. I have never heard of tires changing the alignment of the car, so I don't see how a unidirectional versus a non unidirectional was changing the caster on your car.

How low does that car need to be to notice these changes in the camber? What all would I need if I was deciding on wheels and springs and eventually coilovers (for now I'm just doing wheels/springs) would I need the camber adjustment arms? Do I need anything else?

I had never heard of it either but after years and years and years of this issue happening finally a tech from Mazda diagnosed the problem. Took Unidirectional tires off the car, put on some all-seasons got an alignment and the problem never returned.

Baffling....I know.

The list of repairs for that car was insane...
Numerous tire brand changes (all were unidirectional)
Brand new suspension because one tech said the suspension was bent (it wasn't....but they changed it anyway)
Mazda once kept my car for 7 days to do an entire front end inspection and workup on the car...they fixed the caster, alignment, adjusted everything to factory spec...I drove the car home and the pull came back.
It wasn't until I stopped using the uni tires that the problem went away.