I'm looking to buy a set of 17X9.5 ET 44 Enkei NT03+M wheels off a local Evo 8 owner since he's going to 18s'. Right now they have a set of 275/35/17 V710 tires on them but when I finish those off I'll probably get some 255 or 265 street tires and put them on for autocross next season.

Does anyone know if there will be any fitment problems of this wheel on a bone stock RX8? I will be getting either konis or coilovers before next season as well and I wanted to know if a wheel this wide with this offset will rub the fenders/suspension. Car is an 05 sport 6spd by the way.

Also what's the narrowest tire you can run on a 9.5" wheel, 255?

 

According to Falken Tire, the smallest tire (RT-615) for a 9.5 wheel is a 235. But this may vary slightly by manufacturer.

http://www.falkentire.com/rt615_sizes.html

I know for a fact that 18X9.5 with a 45 offset (with 275 tires) fit perfectly with no issues or rubbing of fenders.

If you're offset is just 5mm further out (40 as opposed to the 45 offset) then a tire that is 10mm narrower than the 275 would fit exactly the same.

In other words (if my math is correct) a 265 on a 40 offset sticks "out" just as far as a 275 with a 45 offset.

It should work perfect with 265s. I'm not so sure about 275s -- but it might work. The only potential worry you'll have is fender rubbing. You'll have to try it and see.

 

265/35-18 Yoko Advans mounted on 18 x 9.5 Enkei 38mm wheels rubbed the rear fender lip for me

 

Enkei RPf1 17x9.5x 45mm off set work so I don't see why the NT03's would be any different.

 

Great, thanks just wanted to make sure. The NT03 doesn't really have a fat lip or anything so it should be just fine.

I'll probably burn off the V710's and then go with a 255/40/17 street tire like the RT615 or the Neovas. The owner ran a 20mm spacer on the Evo for the fronts but their factory offset is completley different.

The factory offset for the RX8 is 50mm correct?

 

BTW what tire do you run on that wheel? Also are you lowered, if so by springs or coilover and how much?

I'm looking to run a 255/40/17 tire with some tein SS or JIC/KW V3 for autocross with a slight drop to gain a little more camber. I hope this is a good wheel for that.

 

Just looked it up, the offset is actually 44 not 40 so that's closer to the stock range.

 

Picked the wheels up yesterday, did a test fit and everything clears by a lot. Just have to pick up a set of 275/40/17 falkens or kumho MX's now.

 

Post pics

 

I'll get some pics this sunday at the first autocross. The car is also now on koni shocks and ms springs and the wheels will have 255/40/17 falken rt615's on them.

 

So how are the 17s/ Notice any dif to the 18s in ride or handling or too many changes to tell. And oh yea pics?? we need them

 

Went out to the first autocross of the season. The car was incredible, very balanced and able to be steered by throttle inputs. The combination of the MS springs and Koni shocks (which I don't believe anyone here has, or has posted about at least) are perfect. The shocks are at 2.5 turns from full soft front which matches the spring rates very well. My alignment was set at 1.5 front, 2.0 rear with 6+ degres of castor and 0 front toe 1/12th total toe in rear. Overall I don't think I can make any improvements to how the car handles with this setup except maybe play with tire pressures a bit (went with 34 all around).


The acceleration is definetely better with the 255/40/17, as the overall diamter is smaller so I got better gearing and could feel the difference. The handling had much more raw mechanical grip from the bigger softer tires and I noticed I scraped a few big speed bumps when I had more than just me in the car but that was not the case with the 18's at all.

And now the pics:













And finally the $95,000 Porsche 996 GT3 that I got within 4/10ths of (on a 45 second course).

 

Cosmos, are you sure you mean 2.5 turns form full soft on the front? IIRC, we set your rear shocks at 1.5 turns from full soft during installation.

I'll say this - I drove this car a number of times today, and I was quite impressed with it. The car turned in well, was very neutral in transitions as well as steady-state corners, and it put the power down well coming off of corners. It didn't stop or launch quite as well as my own B Stock car, but I'd attribute most of the difference to the added mechanical grip of my V710s.

Joseph's car was consistent and a lot of fun to drive. My best time in the car was about a second behind my own B Stock car on a ~45-second course, and I really enjoyed driving this car today.

 

Thanks for posting them up! What size tire did you end up with? They don't look too wide or tall for the wheel.

 

Excellent!

 

I'm going to miss Pennington , small site but the surface and location are great

I'll be in the area the next two weekends trying to get my house ready to sell ...

 

There's an autocross at mineral wells next sat (north tx s2000 club) feel free to stop by and best of luck with the house.

 

Oops, yeah i was thinking in half turns or my brain hasn't gotten used to getting baked in the sun all day I think the car was great and Altian was actually my instructor for the day and did a great job, he set a blazing time which was FTD for most of the day and was faster than the GT3, 911 turbo and many other fast porsches out there in my car. I picked up a lot of good applicable information and was happy with my driving for the most part, I hope it holds up next weekend and the rest of the season. Big thanks to Altian again!

 

255/40/17, seemed to fit fine and the sidewall was pretty stiff. I may eventually experiment with a 275 just to see if there's extra grip that can be used.

 

I'm so jealous of your warmer climate. I have to wait until April for the local season to start around here.

 

nice run cosmos
17inch rims make a difference...