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Lightweight 17's?

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#1
is there any 17x8 rims that are light enough to makwe a true performance difference or will I have to go down in rim size?
 


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Location
Belleville
#5
Why not go down to 16s or 15s? Wheels are generally less expensive, as are tires. Plus, the same wheel/tire setup will be lighter in 15" or 16" than 17".
 


OP
Original J-Pat
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Thread Starter #6
see thats the HUGE debate im going through I feel like if i go that small it looks funny not so much 16s but 15s look silly to me and then seems like 16s dont have a good selection and the oz ultra and supertismo don't come in 17x8 do they?
 


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#7
see thats the HUGE debate im going through I feel like if i go that small it looks funny not so much 16s but 15s look silly to me and then seems like 16s dont have a good selection and the oz ultra and supertismo don't come in 17x8 do they?
I guess the question is - what do you care about more, performance or looks? I agree that 15s don't look perfect on the car, but you'll save at least a few pounds per corner. 16s might be a good in-between, if you can find what you want.

Not sure about the OZ wheels coming in a 17x8, unfortunately Tire Rack is like the only distributor in the US for them, and they will only show you fitment details for specific cars (and if you put in Fiesta ST, they'll just show you the 17x7s...). You can ask Tire Rack though, they have a pretty good chat system that you can use to ask a Tire Rack representative. They might be able to tell you if there is a 17x8 4-108 OZ wheel.

For what it's worth, on my other car (2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8) I went with 19" wheels, and I think they look fantastic but they are not ideal on the track. For me, I probably should have gotten some 18" wheels to save a bit of weight on the track. But the 19"s looks great on the street..... I understand your dilemma! [idea]
 


OP
Original J-Pat
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Thread Starter #9
I guess the question is - what do you care about more, performance or looks? I agree that 15s don't look perfect on the car, but you'll save at least a few pounds per corner. 16s might be a good in-between, if you can find what you want.

Not sure about the OZ wheels coming in a 17x8, unfortunately Tire Rack is like the only distributor in the US for them, and they will only show you fitment details for specific cars (and if you put in Fiesta ST, they'll just show you the 17x7s...). You can ask Tire Rack though, they have a pretty good chat system that you can use to ask a Tire Rack representative. They might be able to tell you if there is a 17x8 4-108 OZ wheel.

For what it's worth, on my other car (2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8) I went with 19" wheels, and I think they look fantastic but they are not ideal on the track. For me, I probably should have gotten some 18" wheels to save a bit of weight on the track. But the 19"s looks great on the street..... I understand your dilemma! [idea]
Yeaa exactly Idk what to do I really probably just need to see another FiST with 16's or just stick with 17's
 


RAAMaudio

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#11
Hardly anything made in low weight 4x108 in wider than a 7" and a decent price unfortunately.

I swapped to 4x100 for my 15x9 track wheels but ended up with 17x7, 16.8 lb, $105 each konig feathers for the street.

Now I am waiting to see what will come out for the new Miata as I have read it went back to 4x100 but most will want 17's for it so more wide 17's will be around before long:)

----------
The wheel design can have a big effect on the diameter look, the 15x9 I have look like 16's and the 17x7's look more like 18's.



 


OP
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Thread Starter #12
Hardly anything made in low weight 4x108 in wider than a 7" and a decent price unfortunately.

I swapped to 4x100 for my 15x9 track wheels but ended up with 17x7, 16.8 lb, $105 each konig feathers for the street.

Now I am waiting to see what will come out for the new Miata as I have read it went back to 4x100 but most will want 17's for it so more wide 17's will be around before long:)

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The wheel design can have a big effect on the diameter look, the 15x9 I have look like 16's and the 17x7's look more like 18's.



I guess I will have to wait I'll probably just plastidip my rims in the meantime and wait til some more 17x8 lightweight rims come out because I feel like staying at that size cuz I haven't seen any rims I really liked in 16's or 15's
 


RAAMaudio

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#13
If you take a look on good win racing . com they have a bunch of 15's up to 10" wide, roll formed, light weight, strong, low cost.....but in 4x100.

I bet they will be working on the 17" 4x100 wider wheels very soon once it is confirmed which it probably is by now the new car went back to that pattern, at least I hope so.

I have had a ton of wheels, up to custom made 18x13 CCW.s, Iforged 3-piece I bought used as would never be silly enough to spend $7k on a set of wheels, etc....we can get forged wheels for this car that are around $2k a set but they simply are not worth it, far more for bragging rights than real need.....There will be more roll formed low cost wheels coming along that can handle most of what anything we do with a car.

Unfortunately Ford has some weird ideas about picking a pattern that is so uncommon. Engineering wise it might make sense but even a 5x100 would not weight much more and be as strong or stronger.
 


OP
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Thread Starter #14
How would you convert to 4x100 without redrilling is there any adapters available? Because I'm leasing my FiST
 


RAAMaudio

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#15
Adapters add more weight and width so finding wheels with the proper offset becomes an issue but I think I saw some 17x8 with 47mm offsets that might work. I am not a big fan of that kind of adapter.
 


OP
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Thread Starter #16
I think I might just keep searching around, looking for wheels is much more complicated than I thought and I don't want to end up with anything unless I really like it.
 


RAAMaudio

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#17
I spent at least 100 hours finding wheels and brakes to fit my "needs" and making them work just because I was determined to run 15x9 with 225 DOT race tires and BBK front and rear under them and I made it work, very well. I had to design caliper mounts, cut and modify the rear axle for a camber change I wanted for handling as well as wheel fitment, different rear toe, have off the shelf parts custom machined, roll the fenders, etc........but, it works great and a bit fun to have a one off set of wheels and tires and brakes all around. I would help guide anybody that wants to do this and it is not that costly really now that I have worked it out.

It is not cheap but might be less than one set of higher end forged wheels and tires.
 


OP
Original J-Pat
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Thread Starter #18
I spent at least 100 hours finding wheels and brakes to fit my "needs" and making them work just because I was determined to run 15x9 with 225 DOT race tires and BBK front and rear under them and I made it work, very well. I had to design caliper mounts, cut and modify the rear axle for a camber change I wanted for handling as well as wheel fitment, different rear toe, have off the shelf parts custom machined, roll the fenders, etc........but, it works great and a bit fun to have a one off set of wheels and tires and brakes all around. I would help guide anybody that wants to do this and it is not that costly really now that I have worked it out.

It is not cheap but might be less than one set of higher end forged wheels and tires.
Do you have any recommendations in wheels 17x8 4x108?
 


RAAMaudio

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#20
There is nothing I would consider light weight that just bolts on but the TD's are very solid wheels that fit and will hold up to most any use imaginable and still lighter than stock.

I would not run wider than a 205 to 215 on an 8" wide wheel as sidewall support is very important to optimum handling and they would weigh less than a wider tire, usually at least.
 


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