Hey guys, I am trying to decide between two different wheels for a track setup and wanted opinions.
Rota DPT 17x9 +35 with a 255/40/17 tire
Rota G-force 18x9 +30 255/35/18 tire

Now I know the tires are more expensive in the 18" sizes, but that is not a deal breaker for me. What I am concerned with is the performance case for the 17" vs the 18" wheel size/weight, as well as concerns with rubbing on the track under hard cornering. I will either be on a bilstein hd/swift setup or eventually some coilovers.

Any ideas? I am sure the 17's would be the logical choice, but I just LOVE the way the g-forces look on the evo, and they don't make them in a 17" for the evo.

 

my buddy had 255/40/17 rs3's on a 17x9 rpf1. i got the same set-up on a 9.5" rpf1. iirc the tire had another .25" contact patch with the 9.5".

imo the wider the better. it makes the side wall effectively stiffer.

here's a 255 on a 9.5"

 

did you need to roll the rears for the 17x9.5's?

 

The performance difference from a 17 to 18 is probably negligible on track. Width is more important imo. I run 17s for the sole purpose of budgeting. Wear items can get expensive when you have to buy them often. 18s may look good, but thats about it. A decent set of 18 inch tires will cost 200-300 more than a set of 17s. Some shops even charge for mounting, and cost goes up in size. The only reason I would suggest buying 18s is for the merely fact of being able to buy r-comp takeoffs as they are pretty widely available compared to 17s.

 

it looked fairly close but i never rubbed while driving around town, although i have pretty stiff springs (12k). i did roll them as a precaution before my first autox.

 

meh. thats whats preventing me from 9.5's. i really dont want to roll.

 

Been rocking some Rota DPT's and 5Zigen FN01R-c's both in the 17x9 +35 size with 255/40/17 rubber on the track for 2+ years (245 when I run Hoosiers). Trouble free setup with no rub issues. No fender rolling. Car is not excessively dropped, running JIC coilovers 9k/10k rates. I would reccomend that size type setup to anyone wanting a decent DE/Track day setup.

 

basically what ive come down to is either rpf1's, dpt's, tc105's or fno1r's.

-people sketch everyone out about rotas
-people sketch everyone out about spacers for the rpf1's
-tc105s are 1800 a set (800 more than dpt's/rpf's)
-fno1's are the only one out of the group ive seen real examples of failure

i cant make up my mind lol