Sorry for being a little off the main object of the SM thread but you guys are as close as I'm going to get in terms of comparing data.

My plan (XP) is to try a set of 295's and if the car can heat them up I'll move up to 315s.

The car is going to be lighter overall(less than 2700lbs) but much lighter in the rear than the usual SM evo; I'm concerned about not having enough rear weight to justify 315s, maybe a staggered set up 315 front/295 rear is going to be the ticket.

I'm fishing in new water and do not have much to compare to, I know Daddio used to run staggered at some point and if he could chim in it would be great.

I went with 17" wheel however for a couple of reasons, one being the weight of the wheels 17lbs for 10 " wide capable of supporting 295s and 19 lbs for 10.5" wide capable of hosting the ubber 315s. The other reason is that I'm allowed fender modifications to make them fit properly.

 

Actually SP/SM/XP all have fender allowances which could fit a 315 no problem. Nobody that I am aware of has flared a BSP evo yet and Jan has fit 295's on a 10.5" rim on the front of his SM evo w/HRS fenders.

As for heat, it's not too difficult to overheat a set of V710's when its warm so I see no reason why you wouldn't get heat in a 295 or 315. At a national event with less runs and more time in between you could still have heat in a 315 w/2 drivers. Now you could get caught with your pants down on a cold day (below 50 F) and the narrow tires would probably have an advantage.

The extra width def won't help in transitions or slaloms but would probably be great for steady state and getting more grip in the front. Honestly though how much steady state is there in a typical autox course.


John

 

If I had it all to do over again with the Evo, I'd probably bought one back in '03 non sunroof, change the diffs, get a decent suspension from overseas... and run the **** out of it in ESP... then BSP Then UD/BD over the years to an Evo IX engine/trans pkg.

And I would have bought a set of used front and rear fenders and have a body shop stretch and pull the life out of them so that I could fit a gigantic tires. I would keep the OEM fenders tucked away so I could resell the car at some point.

I think a 335/25/18 or a 335/30/17 tire would be necessary to fit even bigger size tires on the Evo effectively. Both tires would be under 25" OD, and you wouldn't need to raise the car much if you had gigantic fender flares.

 

Without speaking for Mark, his staggered setup was short lived and from what I remember he said that it did not get his setup where he wanted it by staggering.

 

ah, but you assume someone trying to run larger then 285's would still be using the stock trailing arm. From eyeballing it you could probably fit 315's in the rear with no fender mods if you make a new trailing arm.

 

or someone really skilled with a BFH!

 

so ive been having wheel/tire fitment issues in the front

a metal piece in the back of the fender gashed a huge hole in one of my brand new hoosiers.... did you guys just cut this piece out? can i just hammer it in? thanks let me know
im running 285/30/18 just like everyone else
wheels are an 18x10 +38 and i can only get them to fit with about 15mm of spacers but even then it is a very iffy fit with the fender

 

I think EVOlutionary has posted about cutting that piece out and relocating the bolt holding the bumper cover to the fender. I've seen that on some local cars as well.

Are you running stock rear fenders with just rolling?

 

yah i am fine in the rear tho, just problems in the front. maybe jarrod can chime in?

 

I'm not Jarrod, but I'm 99% sure that you will need a BFH to bend that piece in the front back. I'm not sure if that's legal in SM, so I'd check the rulebook - but it would be quite esoteric and more than a little silly to protest it.

When I was in BSP, I had to run an extra 5mm spacer to get my 275/40/17 not to rub on that piece. (Taking a BFH to the metal isn't allowed in SP).

 

what is a BFH? sorry im bad with acronyms...
everything fit fine when i had 275/40's but i cant get the 285/30's to work well at all

 

A Big Hammer...and, no, I didn't forget the "F".

 

BFH = big f'in hammer

Don't think I needed to massage that area on the red car, but I know I did on the silver car. With your wheel offset the 15mm spacers sound appropriate.

I will let someone else chime in on the legality of massaging that area. . .

 

front fenders can be completely replaced in SM guys...cut away what you want. for SP we can modify them as far inboard as the hub mounting face, so it would be a legal SP mod too.

John

 

Would it be SM legal to gusset the main hoop of my roll bar to the B pillar?

Would it be SM legal to remove the headliner so that I can position the main hoop higher?

What would be the best way to get definitive answer to these questions in a short time frame? Car goes in for the bar next week.

Thanks!