I wanted to put together a setup with R compounds for the track using 18" wheels. Reason for 18" wheels was the wide choice of R compounds and much lower cost of the 18" R compounds vs the 19" or even 20" ones.
Here are the things I was considering for my R-compound setup:
1. Not necessarily the fastest track setup, but the most cost effective and still fast setup
2. Reduction of understeer with wider front tires than OEM 255's
3. Identical front and rear tires and wheels to allow swapping them around to optimize wear.
4. Lowered car
5. Identical front and rear diameters to keep diffs happy
6. Quality wheels designed to take the load
7. Good looks
A while back, Sharif tried out the Enkei NT03's and found they didn't come close to fitting in 18". I knew of Volk TE-37's and CCW's C-10's in 18" that fit, but I wanted something less expensive. Since Enkei makes wheels for the McLaren Formula 1 team, I figured they were worth investigating a little more. So I got in touch with King at the US Enkei distributor. He didn't know what fit from their line, so he inquired from the factory in Japan. He forwarded their reply to me in Japanese and translated it to confirm that both the 18" and 19" models of the GTC-01's in 10" width would fit over the brakes front and rear, clear the suspension, and only negative is that wheels stick out further than OEM in front. No one else I talked to seemed to know if they would work out, but I found them on a fire sale so I decided to take the plunge and ordered four.
For tires, I have run a bunch of different ones, and I like Hoosiers and Michelin Pilot sport Cups the best. I have never been a fan of Toyo RA-1's because they are too easy to overheat if they aren't shaved, and if shaved you have wasted money to shave them and taken off a bunch of rubber that reduces their life and makes the other tires I like a better and faster choice. But the Toyo R-888's are out, and an equivalent tire made by their subsidiary in Japan, Nitto NT01 is said to be good with heavy cars. They have wide tread blocks unlike the RA-1's, so much less likely to overheat if not shaved. They happened to make a size that worked out perfectly for my 18x10" wheels, a 275/40/18. This tire is rated for the load of the GT-R, and is quite tall for an 18" at 275/40/18. Outside diameter is specified at 26.65", which is about 1.5" less O.D. than the OEM tires which are around 28". So car is lowered by half that at 0.75" drop, more or less. And they are low cost compared to Hoosiers and Sport Cups, so I fugued I had the tires and the wheels that met all my requirements. I ordered them all together, mounted and balanced, and it has all worked out perfectly. everything clears, and fits, and I think it looks good.
Wheels front and rear are Enkei GTC-01 in 18x10 with 22 offset all around.
Tires front and rear are Nitto NT01 275/40/18
Specified weight of wheel is 24.5 lbs, so not as light as Volk TE-37's, but a ton cheaper. I measured front OEM wheel and tire (255/40/20 on 20x9.5 wheels) at 62.8 lbs, and rear OEM wheel and tire (285/35/20 on 20x10.5 wheels) at 65.6 lbs. My Enkei's with NT01's mounted weigh 52.2 lbs. So total for 4 OEM wheels and tires is 256.8 lbs vs. 208.8 lbs for my track setup. That is a saving of 48 lbs of unsprung and rotational weight, which is a bunch.
Rear tire and wheel combo fits just about the same as OEM, and the fronts stick out a bit past the OEM's. I figure that might be a bonus in reducing understeer as front track is increased which reduces total weight transfer for the car and in particular reduces front weight transfer, thus increasing front grip and reducing understeer. Negative will be increased scrub radius and increased steering effort with less optimal feedback through the steering wheel. I asked King at Enkei if they had 10" wheels with more offset than 22, and he said they did not. It turns out that a 10" wheel with much more offset than 22 would not likely fit due to the clearance with the upper part of the front knuckle. The knuckle starts close to the wheel at the center and curves away from the wheel as it goes up-wards toward the upper A-arm. This means that lower diameter wheels have less clearance than larger diameter wheels. So a 19" in the same width could have more offset than an 18", but less than a 20". The OEM 9.5" wheels have an offset of 45 mm, but that offset would never fit with an 18" wheels in 10" width.
So here are some pictures
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I'm anxious for the snow to melt so I can burn them up!
Here are the things I was considering for my R-compound setup:
1. Not necessarily the fastest track setup, but the most cost effective and still fast setup
2. Reduction of understeer with wider front tires than OEM 255's
3. Identical front and rear tires and wheels to allow swapping them around to optimize wear.
4. Lowered car
5. Identical front and rear diameters to keep diffs happy
6. Quality wheels designed to take the load
7. Good looks
A while back, Sharif tried out the Enkei NT03's and found they didn't come close to fitting in 18". I knew of Volk TE-37's and CCW's C-10's in 18" that fit, but I wanted something less expensive. Since Enkei makes wheels for the McLaren Formula 1 team, I figured they were worth investigating a little more. So I got in touch with King at the US Enkei distributor. He didn't know what fit from their line, so he inquired from the factory in Japan. He forwarded their reply to me in Japanese and translated it to confirm that both the 18" and 19" models of the GTC-01's in 10" width would fit over the brakes front and rear, clear the suspension, and only negative is that wheels stick out further than OEM in front. No one else I talked to seemed to know if they would work out, but I found them on a fire sale so I decided to take the plunge and ordered four.
For tires, I have run a bunch of different ones, and I like Hoosiers and Michelin Pilot sport Cups the best. I have never been a fan of Toyo RA-1's because they are too easy to overheat if they aren't shaved, and if shaved you have wasted money to shave them and taken off a bunch of rubber that reduces their life and makes the other tires I like a better and faster choice. But the Toyo R-888's are out, and an equivalent tire made by their subsidiary in Japan, Nitto NT01 is said to be good with heavy cars. They have wide tread blocks unlike the RA-1's, so much less likely to overheat if not shaved. They happened to make a size that worked out perfectly for my 18x10" wheels, a 275/40/18. This tire is rated for the load of the GT-R, and is quite tall for an 18" at 275/40/18. Outside diameter is specified at 26.65", which is about 1.5" less O.D. than the OEM tires which are around 28". So car is lowered by half that at 0.75" drop, more or less. And they are low cost compared to Hoosiers and Sport Cups, so I fugued I had the tires and the wheels that met all my requirements. I ordered them all together, mounted and balanced, and it has all worked out perfectly. everything clears, and fits, and I think it looks good.
Wheels front and rear are Enkei GTC-01 in 18x10 with 22 offset all around.
Tires front and rear are Nitto NT01 275/40/18
Specified weight of wheel is 24.5 lbs, so not as light as Volk TE-37's, but a ton cheaper. I measured front OEM wheel and tire (255/40/20 on 20x9.5 wheels) at 62.8 lbs, and rear OEM wheel and tire (285/35/20 on 20x10.5 wheels) at 65.6 lbs. My Enkei's with NT01's mounted weigh 52.2 lbs. So total for 4 OEM wheels and tires is 256.8 lbs vs. 208.8 lbs for my track setup. That is a saving of 48 lbs of unsprung and rotational weight, which is a bunch.
Rear tire and wheel combo fits just about the same as OEM, and the fronts stick out a bit past the OEM's. I figure that might be a bonus in reducing understeer as front track is increased which reduces total weight transfer for the car and in particular reduces front weight transfer, thus increasing front grip and reducing understeer. Negative will be increased scrub radius and increased steering effort with less optimal feedback through the steering wheel. I asked King at Enkei if they had 10" wheels with more offset than 22, and he said they did not. It turns out that a 10" wheel with much more offset than 22 would not likely fit due to the clearance with the upper part of the front knuckle. The knuckle starts close to the wheel at the center and curves away from the wheel as it goes up-wards toward the upper A-arm. This means that lower diameter wheels have less clearance than larger diameter wheels. So a 19" in the same width could have more offset than an 18", but less than a 20". The OEM 9.5" wheels have an offset of 45 mm, but that offset would never fit with an 18" wheels in 10" width.
So here are some pictures
I'm anxious for the snow to melt so I can burn them up!
