^ Thanks for posting the photo. What is your drop, front and back? Are you running a staggered set up?

 

Are you taking about tire sidewall stiffness or actual wheel stiffness? We talk about the former all the time, of course, but you're right I've never heard the latter mentioned.

 

I left the drop as the coilovers came, which was ~3/4 in if I remember right. BTW pic is at Calabogie.

robrecht as an example here is a different wheel from my Enkei, built to be extra extra stiff, note the stiffening ring connecting all the spokes. The weight difference is 5lbs per wheel, so I went for lightness.

"The NTO3+M was originally developed for competition and used in the Japanese Super Endurance Racing Class 1 and is engineered with Enkei's Anti-Flex technology to support the highest G forces you can dish out."

http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda...t/60-1082.html

 

No not staggered at all...never...17x9 all around...does look staggered thou in the pic...me thinks it looks hot!! ... but I love my 8 so of course it's VR hot

 

Actual wheel stiffness. After all, if tire wall stiffness is an issue, then the wheel flexing is also an issue. Now consider how a normal wheel is, with only the outer edge of one side of the barrel being supported by the hub, and really it's not too hard to figure out that wheels do have some play in them. Any wheel flex magnifies tire flex as the tires mount to them.

 

Thanks, LZ & Spin9k, always good to learn stuff.

 

It was hard for me to justify too, but yhe Enkei 18x9.5 were on sale.

I wanted 9's but...............

The 2lb/wheel weight reduction plus the increased width is well worth the money.

Quicker response and better handling at 80 mph plus.

 

Here's some neat pics of ~1G tire stress the track photographer captured and the reason you want nice strong wheels!



on Enkei RPF1 18"x9.5"



on Enkei RPF1 17"x9"



esp. here it's easy to see the deformation when comparing the top and bottom tire sidewall on Discount Tire Direct Hot Wheels 17"x9"

 

so basically, as long as you keep the over-all diameter the same, the speedo will be accurate. I have heard that for every lb lost unsprung, it is about 3-4 times. I would think the best combo, from what I have read so far is, motegi tracklite 2.0 17X8 and some 225/50 for a cost effective and decent looking tire/wheel combo. Sound good?

 

Yes. Maybe a little less than 3-4x, but of huge importance is the fact that the wheels/tires are unsprung weight, which is important for handling (and comfort) especially on rough road surfaces. Here's a tire/wheel size calculator to compare new sizes to stock:
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

There's a lot of variation between tires, but on the same tire a higher sidewall will give you more flex than a lower one. This will also give you a more comfortable ride but some will complain of a slight loss of turn-in performance iin auto-cross settings.

 

It does sound like a very good price/performance option. My only concern with the Motegi is how they would look on an 8. Get the impression that they would look really small.

Personally, I put performance ahead of looks even tho I am not tracking at the moment. However, I do have to at last like the look of the wheel. At the top of the list right now for me is the Volk TE37 (18x8.5) in gunmetal. They are about 17 pounds and would look really good with my WB 8 but are expensive -- only thing holding me back.

If you find any picks of the Motegi's on an 8, would love to see them

 

There are some good and bad to the tracklite 2.0s. If you keep the same OD as stock, you get more flex but, if you get similar sidewall clearance from the rim, you will effectively gain gearing due to small OD and better handling due to light weight but, the only drawback for those that keep up milage is that the odometer will put more miles on that actually driven. What do you all think??? I am looking for a good set of very light/strong rims for about 400-450 per wheel/tire combo. Anyone have such a combo?

 

Did you read any of the above? Enkei 17x9 15.6lbs $250 + 255/40/17 NT-01 (or whatever) $175 26.2lbs= $425 @ 41.8lbs is 5-6 lbs lighter than stock (or more if you use flimsy flacid tires). They haven't broken or bent off the car yet at track.

 

I looked into them. Not bad at all. TPMS? or do you leave the light on?

 

I don't use TPMS, small piece of black pastic covers the light, never see it. Good-win-racing would know if TPMS fits on the wheel I imagine.

 

That looks good!