16x8 Rota slipstreams are here!

[Dave Mac]

I'm getting the tires mounted tomorrow and the coilovers go on the car on Sunday. I'll post some pictures next week (late). Getting tires shaved to 4/32 for autocross. My friend is going to drive it in STX next weekend so we'll see how it does against the Mini's and WRX's.

Dave Mac

[mountjonas]

awesome

[Mallard]

What coilovers are you using? What tires?

Honestly, you may do well locally, but the WRX's will kill you in a National level event. (just giving you a heads up). My car was getting there, but it still couldn't hang. Was going to take more money then I was willing to spend.

[Jeph]

pics?

[Dave Mac]

I'm not really planning on running it at a national level. It's my daily driver and I just wanted to have some fun with it and tweak a bit. I'm racing an 05STi in STU myself and I'm letting a friend of mine drive my Mazdaspeed. I'll drive it for some local stuff and driving schools I'm instructing at.

Pictures won't be up until next week most likely.

Dave Mac

[low_psi]

beefy. are you running 245 tires?

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you lately about TA bushings. Things should settle down after this weekend and I'll have the time to design them for you.

[Dave Mac]

Yes. 245/45/R16 Falken FK-451's shaved to 4/32. Should be sweet.

Dave

[122 Vega]

This is the exact set-up I have been considering. What offset did you end up going with?


Honestly, you may do well locally, but the WRX's will kill you in a National level event. (just giving you a heads up).

Pure opinion until someone shows up with a fully prepped MSP.

Britt

[Mallard]

Pure opinion until someone shows up with a fully prepped MSP.

Britt
True, but I've run against Billy Brooks and Jason Wong on many occasions. In private autocrosses at school, local events, and national events. My car was getting closer, but their car is on another level that I feel an MSP will have a hard time achieving. Billy finished 5th at nationals last year.

[Dave Mac]

offset is +48. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures from as many angles as possible. I put the Rota's on the rear of the car with the stock suspension and there is only 1/4 to 1/8 of an inch of clearance between the rim and the strut. I'm sure it'll be better once I get the coilovers on.

Dave Mac

[122 Vega]

I wonder if it would fit with a 45mm offset and rolled fenders. Looking forward to the pics,

Britt

[Dave Mac]

I'm considering getting some 5 and 3mm spacers after I fit these on the car. I'll see what it needs and adjust as needed. Depending on how the car handles I may add spacers to the front to help plant it better. We'll be driving it next week, I'll post results and impressions post-event.

Dave Mac

[122 Vega]

Cool, thanks. I need to place an order for my coilovers, then I think the wheels are next. Either wheels or seats.

Britt

[Dave Mac]

Wheels are more important, they get more rubber on the ground. You can pick up a CG Lock to hold your butt in place. The seats will be next year for me. I'd like to put some nice 15lb TOTAL weight seats in, drop seat height about 2-3 inches. Next year will also be better engine management and lots of dyno tuning with an MPI tuner. I'd like to get it this year but I'd need a sponsorship to afford it (hint-hint). I believe that with some timing control we could get a lot better performance out of these engines even on stock boost.

Dave Mac

[Dave Mac]

Well I didn't get all of the coilovers on this weekend. I got the rears done. We had to drill an extra hole in the ear to mount the ABS sensor so it mounted properly. It looks like we'll need to zip-tie the fronts or make some custom brackets (zip-tie is most likely). We test fit the Rota 16x8's and they fit on the rear with minimal clearance on the rears and the fronts are rubbing on the stock suspension. I'm ordering some 3mm and 5mm spacer to test on friday to see of we can get everything centered properly. We've also got hella negative camber on the rear. We maxed out the slots and the camber adjustment on the rear hats. I'm sure we'll dial out most of that to help with rotation but it is sure nice to know it's there if you need to tune it. We also took detailed pictures along the way so that we can make a tutorial to help others with their installations.

Cheers!

Dave Mac

[msp102]

Sounds good...can't wait to see the final product!

[122 Vega]

Which coilovers are you going to run?

Britt

[murph1379]

We've also got hella negative camber on the rear. We maxed out the slots and the camber adjustment on the rear hats. I'm sure we'll dial out most of that to help with rotation but it is sure nice to know it's there if you need to tune it. We also took detailed pictures along the way so that we can make a tutorial to help others with their installations.


I'd love detailed pics and description on this, as what I've been told was that we couldn't get much negative camber on our cars. Is this a result of the coilovers, or something we can do in stock class?

I'm still looking for a shop locally that can do a decent autox alignment... *sigh*

[msp102]

I'd love detailed pics and description on this, as what I've been told was that we couldn't get much negative camber on our cars. Is this a result of the coilovers, or something we can do in stock class?

I'm still looking for a shop locally that can do a decent autox alignment... *sigh*

He's getting that much negative camber due to the coilovers...which are k-sports btw. On the stock Tokico's, you won't get much negative camber in the rear unless you plan on using camber bolts and I don't remember if those are allowed in stock class.

[Dave Mac]

You are correct, no camber bolts in stock class: unless specified from the factory as "crash-bolts".

Dave Mac

[Dave Mac]

Well peoples..we've got them mounted and holy schmoly are they W-I-D-E. The car looks like a steamroller coming down the road. NO RUBBING. The car is still at stock height but it looks like we can come down an inch or so. We ended up using spacer to make the fit a little more comfortable. 5mm on the front and 3mm on the rear. I'll take some pictures soon and post them.


Dave Mac

[ping]

PICTURES!!!!! Loving the steamroller look...

[122 Vega]

Hey Dave, are we ever going to see these? I have searched for 16"x8s everywhere and I can't find them. Where did you get them?

Britt

[Dave Mac]

Can someone host them for me? I can email them. I've not posted pictures on the net yet.

Dave Mac

[mountjonas]

upload them here to your usercp

[Dave Mac]

18racing.com is where i got them. $550.00 shipped.
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Dave%20Mac/20060421_IMG_0001.JPG
Dave Mac

[122 Vega]

I think I just filled the cup...

Thanks Dave, I know what my next purchase is going to be...

Britt

[pluto316]

Pretty nice fit for a wide wheel, I like it.

[TommyBDragon]

Do those wheels rub at all on the sides of the fender? I need a cheap light rim for winter and I was thinking about getting a set of 16X7 or 16X6.5 wheels to put either all-season or blizzaks on. I used rotas on my last integra so I know they are pretty good rims. You guys think either of those would fit no problem?

[sickspeed94]

question. i have 16x7 right now with a +42, by usig an offset calculator, i came up with this.

-ouside edge of wheel will extend an extra 7 mm

now here's the thing. my tires already rub WITH my fenders rolled. and they're only 205's... how on EARTH do those not rub? my falken ziex's with the same offset, same size tire never rubbed, it could quite possibly just be the brand of tire i'm running though. (fuzion ZRi.)

i always wanted to run a 16x8 but it just seemed like too much tire, now i would run them with 225's so that it would look stretched but still. i'm confused.

any insight as to why your 16x8 with 245 tires don't rub, and my 16x7 with 205's do would be greatly helpful.

thanks.

[vxfilmer1000]

I hope to get Rota Slipstreams in June

[Dave Mac]

question. i have 16x7 right now with a +42, by usig an offset calculator, i came up with this.

-ouside edge of wheel will extend an extra 7 mm

now here's the thing. my tires already rub WITH my fenders rolled. and they're only 205's... how on EARTH do those not rub? my falken ziex's with the same offset, same size tire never rubbed, it could quite possibly just be the brand of tire i'm running though. (fuzion ZRi.)

i always wanted to run a 16x8 but it just seemed like too much tire, now i would run them with 225's so that it would look stretched but still. i'm confused.

any insight as to why your 16x8 with 245 tires don't rub, and my 16x7 with 205's do would be greatly helpful.

thanks.

I am running a 45 series tire so the overall OD of the tire may be less. Also I am on heavier springs so the car does not roll much. The other factor is negative camber. You'll need some to fit the rear tires in the fenders. Right now for street setup I'm at -1 camber all around. Race setting with the 245's is -3 up front and -1 rear camber. I am no longer running spacers on the rear of the car so that I can get a wider track up front of +10mm. The car handles VERY well.

Dave
(math will tell you that bumble-bees can't fly either---don't tell the bumble-bee)

[122 Vega]

Dave, did you by chance weigh these before they went on? I'd be interested in the weight of the wheel and tire. Thanks,

britt

[xelderx]

I've been thinking of going up to a 245 series tire on my 16X8's, but my 225 Kook's are sill basically new. Falken still doesn't have the 615s listed in a 245-16. Hankook has the Z212 in a 245-16. I would gain 7/10" overall height and 7/10" width. I'm not sure I want the extra weight right now, but I'm not entirely happy with the 225s on the 8" wide rim. It just looks like it needs more tire.

The Hankook Z212 and Falken FK451 have the same specs. Looks like I would gain about 2lbs per tire upgrading to the 245. Ehhhh....what to do?

[pluto316]

Is 8lbs really that bad when you are gaining the tire you want? Just don't underwear or socks that day to cut down on weight. Maybe eat some Taco Bell to flush our your digestive system too, that's a couple pounds saved.

[xelderx]

Is 8lbs really that bad when you are gaining the tire you want? Just don't underwear or socks that day to cut down on weight. Maybe eat some Taco Bell to flush our your digestive system too, that's a couple pounds saved.

Lol....yea it is a little nitpicky I guess. Those small extra pounds turn into big extra pounds though once they start rotating. On a car that makes so little horsepower every pound counts.

[122 Vega]

We're talking about 8lbs of unsprung weight. The fastest way to increase handling is to reduce unsprung weight. Taco Bell won't help in this department. 8 lbs is a lot.

Britt

[nocar]

the faster way to increase handling is to reduce unsprung weight? So less rotational mass and thinner rims / tires will increase handling? What about sticking to the road? wont a 8 inch wide rim with a wide tire stick better around turns than a 7? im just curious to know.

[pluto316]

We're talking about 8lbs of unsprung weight. The fastest way to increase handling is to reduce unsprung weight. Taco Bell won't help in this department. 8 lbs is a lot.

Britt

I think we are going to different Taco Bells or something.

[xelderx]

the faster way to increase handling is to reduce unsprung weight? So less rotational mass and thinner rims / tires will increase handling? What about sticking to the road? wont a 8 inch wide rim with a wide tire stick better around turns than a 7? im just curious to know.

Keep the width...lose the weight. Yes...a wider tire will have more lateral grip, but if it weighs more it will slow acceleration, braking (to the extent that it is more mass to slow down), and will increase the forces needed to change the axis of rotation (steering).

[122 Vega]

It's all about allowing the suspension to do it's work faster. The faster the dampers can slow the movement of the wheel and control arm, the better the handling. Yes, the suspension is there to hold the car up, but the truth is that it is primarily designed to control movement of the wheels in relation to the ground, and therefore allows different ride "feels."

Kind of confusing, but so is suspension tuning.

Britt


the faster way to increase handling is to reduce unsprung weight? So less rotational mass and thinner rims / tires will increase handling? What about sticking to the road? wont a 8 inch wide rim with a wide tire stick better around turns than a 7? im just curious to know.