coil overs and wheels

Tvl1970

Forum User
hi all, after a bit of advice
just about finished the body work and now moving onto suspension and wheels
what id like to know is do I require camber adjustment plates? (going to be using gaz coilovers,, would like the car low but not on the ground. the car will mainly be used for fun and the odd trackday)
next up is wheels, whats the biggest size I can fit front and rear without doing any body work? wheels I will be using are the rs watanabes 8 spoke in 15 inch, which leads me onto my last question wheres the best place to buy them? and what offsets will I require?
cheers

this is how I would like it to look, anyone have any ideas on rim and sizes
http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/2013/08/15/vintage-auto-salon-part-01-jdm-machines/

should have added its the blue one about 12 pictures down
 
Last edited by a moderator:

moggy240

Insurance Valuations Officer
Staff member
Club Member
I think negative to +10 is OK .I have 16x8 with +10 offset which fit ok
 

richiep

Club Member
The wheels in the photo are almost definitely RS Watanabe R-Type in 15x8 0 offset. These will fit without any issue. Next size up is 15x8.5 et-6. You might start to be into arch clearance issues from there up, depending on camber, ride height and tyre. 15x9 et0 may work too without much hassle depending on tyre and ride height. I know someone locally with et0 15x9s on their 240Z, which is lowered with a bit of tyre stretch, and he only gets very occasional rubbing. The arches are not rolled either.

I'm assuming you know this, but Watanabes are brutally expensive. Newera Parts are dealers in the UK. The R-Types in aluminium in "magnesium" colour, 15x8, et0, are £417 EACH. The solid magnesium versions are £573. You could inevitably get them cheaper from Japan via Yahoo auctions, but there's fees and shipping to consider there.

TBH, if I was just buying 15x8 et0, rather than one of the larger offset sizes (15x9.5 et-19 etc.), I'd save a whole lot of money and buy Rota RKRs. These are Rota's replica/total copy of the R-Type and come in 15x8 and 15x9 et0, and are only 130ish a wheel. This is what I intend to do with my car either this year or early next. If I was fitting overfenders and chopping the arches to fit big negative offsets then I'd spend the pennies and get the real deal. but for 15x8? No.

Ultimately, it depends on if you want to have the real thing and pay the Watanabe Tax for a basic sized wheel.
 

johnymd

Club Member
15x9 et0 Rota's will be my choice too you do have to keep the tyre size down to 215 though or it will rub.
 

datsfun

Club Member
15x9 ET-13 Atara Pissang if you want a more aggressive fitment and these should clear stock arches, all dependant on tyre choice.
 

richiep

Club Member
Isn't -13 with 9s going to require quite a bit more stretch to not rub? (I know you aren't averse to a bit of tyre stretch! :p )

That's the kind of size you might see on the front of a car with overfenders fitted.
 

datsfun

Club Member
Wheel and tyre fitment is a personal taste. There will be folk here who insist that a 14x 6.5J wolf race slot mag wrapped in 215 -70 series is the only way to go..and at the polar end, others will have 18" wheels on tiny rubber band profile tyres :smash:

It's cerainly a case of one size doesn't fit all:p


Isn't -13 with 9s going to require quite a bit more stretch to not rub? (I know you aren't averse to a bit of tyre stretch! :p )
.

Agreed. Have a look at the attachment which has the 15x9 ET-13 fitted to a stock bodied S30. For the record, the tyre size the guy is using is 225/45/15 and I think it looks the nuts:cool:

Has anyone fitted a 15x9 zero offset? That size has a back space equal or greater than 4.5" and so I suspect the inner rim bead will either foul the strut to be very close.( may need a slim spacer?)
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    137.6 KB · Views: 40

richiep

Club Member
That photo does look good. Defo stretch at work there. Did he roll the lips though?

Re: 15x9 ET0, that friend I mentioned earlier that is running them - I forgot that his car is running adjustable suspension, so he has the extra clearance at the back to avoid fouling without spacers.
 

datsfun

Club Member
That photo does look good. Defo stretch at work there. Did he roll the lips though?

Re: 15x9 ET0, that friend I mentioned earlier that is running them - I forgot that his car is running adjustable suspension, so he has the extra clearance at the back to avoid fouling without spacers.

No idea( I just picked it up from Atara's main site as an example) but IMHO if you want a 7.5J + wheel and a lowered/ slammed ride , then is going to require some fettling or rock hard suspension if you want to avoid arch rub.

FWIW the 15x9 ET-13 fit on stock suspension with no back space issues.
 

johnymd

Club Member
Are you really going to run stardard suspension on a z with this type of wheel. The only way to get the ride height correct is with adjustable platform 2.25" springs and that should give you the space. I have not taken any measurements but I run 8" et+10 wheels and have quite a bit of space behind(I'll check later how much) so a 9" et0 will require 2.5mm extra space behind the wheel. The front face of the wheel will be pushed 10mm out the front for a better look.
 

johnymd

Club Member
The ET-13 does make the wheel look much more agresive as it then has the appearance of a 10" rim. There's no dought it does look better than the Rota size. I will have to run it through the tyre/wheel calculator again and take some accurate measurement of the car.

How much do they go for?
 

datsfun

Club Member
Are you really going to run stardard suspension on a z with this type of wheel. The only way to get the ride height correct is with adjustable platform 2.25" springs and that should give you the space. I have not taken any measurements but I run 8" et+10 wheels and have quite a bit of space behind(I'll check later how much) so a 9" et0 will require 2.5mm extra space behind the wheel. The front face of the wheel will be pushed 10mm out the front for a better look.

With 2.25" ID springs you shouldn't have any back space issues. If you are moving from a 8J + 10 offset to 9J zero offset, then there is an extra 1" to account for and backspace increases by 2.7mm but the outward poke by 22.7mm by my rough calculations.
 
Top