Wheel & tyre sizes for track use.

Wed Apr 16, 2008 3:52 pm

Hi all. Can anyone offer any advice/experience on the best size (diameter & width) wheels & tyres for my 325i track car?
I'm not interested in big bling rims & rubber band thickness tyres as I know if you go too big you end up going backwards as you cannot get the heat into the tyres hence no increase in grip so was thinking of something like 205/50/15. Also, what fits into the arches, I have Spax adjustables dropped 60/40. And finally (I promise) how much camber front & rear works well?

Wed Apr 16, 2008 3:57 pm

Camber depends on tyres, and a number of other things R888s for example like arond 4 deg

Size above looks good for tyres, you can get away with 195s (pbmw run 195/50/15) but a 205 would be better IMO

Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:00 pm

I'm running 195's on my 325i ( mainly because it's cheaper

) but the r888's are only a smidge away from the 205 kumho I had on it anyway. The Toyo's come up bigger so the car was going ok on them last time I used it.

If you running coilovers make sure you either run spacers (4-5mm) or get the right offset wheel (et20 iirc) as the coilover collars will probably foul the tyres with a 205.

Wed Apr 16, 2008 8:43 pm

Top tips guys, thanks for your help

Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:28 pm

Any chance of a picture of your track car mate?

Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:39 pm

cant beat 195/50 15 r888s for performance per Ã‚£.. just imho obviously...

Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:52 pm

yeah i run 195 r888's and they grip like fook. tbh you dont need any wider on a 325 track car with a few handling mods. if your running big power you might want to think about somthing a bit wider though.

Thu Apr 17, 2008 12:00 am

shorty73 wrote:If you running coilovers make sure you either run spacers (4-5mm) or get the right offset wheel (et20 iirc) as the coilover collars will probably foul the tyres with a 205.

No, they don't

No issues running 205/50/15 Toyo T1-Rs on 15" BBS, dropped 45mm.

Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:56 am

handpaper wrote:
shorty73 wrote:If you running coilovers make sure you either run spacers (4-5mm) or get the right offset wheel (et20 iirc) as the coilover collars will probably foul the tyres with a 205.
No, they don't
No issues running 205/50/15 Toyo T1-Rs on 15" BBS, dropped 45mm.

Offset of ET 24 I believe is what BBS BMW alloys are

If your fouling the coilover you probably have a bent strut, one of mine fouls, the other doesn't- hence my camber on the top mounts looks mad (ie one strut all the way over, and the other not)

Thu Apr 17, 2008 2:13 pm

JimmyC wrote:
handpaper wrote:
shorty73 wrote:If you running coilovers make sure you either run spacers (4-5mm) or get the right offset wheel (et20 iirc) as the coilover collars will probably foul the tyres with a 205.
No, they don't
No issues running 205/50/15 Toyo T1-Rs on 15" BBS, dropped 45mm.
Offset of ET 24 I believe is what BBS BMW alloys are

If your fouling the coilover you probably have a bent strut, one of mine fouls, the other doesn't- hence my camber on the top mounts looks mad (ie one strut all the way over, and the other not)

Err I hope not as I've got two bent Leda's!!

M3GTR will vouch for this, it's his old car, that the collars on the Leda's DO foul on the tyes as they'll dig a 1\2 inch trench on the inside of the tyres. My BBS (et24) foul but my Compomotives (et20) don't. Hence the 5mm spacers. You can have my old tyres if you like!!!!

Handpaper, yours probably isn't as low as mine was. The clearance is better now it's raised up a bit more.. Could hardly get a low entry jack under it!!

Jimmy, I thought you went for a 195 control tyre for PBMW for the reasons of fouling? Sure I read it on here somewhere.....

Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:48 pm

http://www.toyo.com.au/Pit%20Lane.htm

Correction Jimmy it was on the Seloc forum where I read the post. Was doing some "research" on dropping down a tyre size and found the thread on when you boys changed from Kumho's to Toyo's.

Fri Apr 18, 2008 9:55 am

Sorry I read you post as running spacers with the 195's, if they are fouling the BBS as mine do then as above ;)

Seen a few of the PBMWs with the same prob its not the leda or GAZ part that is usually bent but the old donor stubs

Mon Apr 21, 2008 9:10 am

I run a lightly modified E30 325i - works very well on 205/50 R15 86V ADVAN AO48 (Medium Compound). These are fitted to 15"x7J ET25 custom rims (made in Australia). Car runs approx 3.5degrees negative camber on coil over converted struts, no clearance issues.

I'd recommend a set of 15"x7J Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2s, or the new rim available from Bimmerworld.com (USA), the D-Force LTW-5. These weigh in at around 6.0kg per rim.

Mon Apr 21, 2008 7:02 pm

Have you thought about some old part worn slicks chucked on a spare set of rims? They are usually less than Ã‚£30 a tyre and will give you many smiles. Getting heat into them won't be too much of a problem. I manage ok with a front wheel drive car, just slide around for a bit