First, let me say that my wife and I autox for FUN, not to be class competitive. That said, I'm looking for a lowcost wheel comp tire setup for our MCS so we don't thrash our street 17" Yoko ES100s. I've seen a few R81 7-hole (aka Imola) ET45 12.0lb for sale at a resonable price but the 5.5" width concerns me as I am thinking about 205x50 R-compound tires.

Am I headed in the right direction or are there better/cheaper solutions out there?

 

The 15s are not legal in stock class for your MCS. You may get by with them until someone protests you, but it is better to be legal.

find a set of R84 V-spokes or buy a set of NZO Monzas (16x6.5) and put Toyo RA-1 205/55/16 tires on them. they will wear well and fit on the car correctly.

my .02

 

I say be on the lookout for a used tire/wheel combo. I picked up a set of slighltly used Victor racer on borla wheels for $350.00......

Also, as long as you're doing it for fun, keep using your street tires....wha'ts the big deal...... 5 miles every month or so of hard drivng won't do much harm to them....

My nickel's worth.....(.03 more than above!)

 

>>First, let me say that my wife and I autox for FUN, not to be class competitive. That said, I'm looking for a lowcost wheel comp tire setup for our MCS so we don't thrash our street 17" Yoko ES100s. I've seen a few R81 7-hole (aka Imola) ET45 12.0lb for sale at a resonable price but the 5.5" width concerns me as I am thinking about 205x50 R-compound tires.

It all depends on your racing class. If you are doing SCCA G-stock (you have a stock MCS with only drop in air filter and cat-back exhaust) then you are limited to 16" or 17" rims. In that case either the stock 16" X-lyte rims would be good with Kumho V700 tires or AK monza 16x6.5 rims with Kumhos.

If you have the pulley upgrade then you are in SCCA street mod class and you can run any wheel combo so then the light 7 hole 15x5.5 rim is OK with either Falken Azenis sport 205/50-15 (yes they will fit) or Kumho victoracer V700 tires (lasts a bit longer than the Kumho ecsta V700).

AK monza in 15" also is an option (not for stock class) but I think you can get the stock hollie rims for less and the weight is pretty close.

 

Great suggestions, guys. I think my plan will be to:

1. Buy and install a rear swaybar.

2. Watch the market for used wheels/tires, and since I will probably do the pulley upgrade eventually, 15" or 16" won't make much difference as I'll be running in a mod class. Maybe just run my street 17"s this season and wait until winter to pick up a setup.

Thanks!

Mike

 

Just a suggestion. You might think about getting the wheels and tires first before you do any mods. I got the Monza wheels and they work very well. I run a bone stock MCS in GS street tire at Reno and do OK with the wheels and Azenis tires. If you want to do the mods you will probably not be very competitive in a mod class without quality tires. I beat a MCS with suspension mods & pulley mod because he can't get the power to the ground with crummy tires. I started out last season saying I didn't care how competitive I would be but that tends to change with some success. Too bad there are any evolution schools out here in the west.
Good luck.

 

You might want to take a look at some ROTA Slipstreams. I have a set of 16x7 Slipstreams and their great! Lightweight and strong. I run them on Azenis but they should work fine for R compounds. Of course u said u were worried about running on 5inchers so i think ur looking for wider wheels which would push you out of stock class, i think.

http://www.machiii.net has the best prices i've found for a new set of ROTA's, a whole set shipped for $500. But there are some pretty good deals on Ebay.

 

It would be good to know what mods you have so you can figure out which class you are going to be competing in. If you are going to race in G-stock, you cannot install a rear sway bar and stay in that class. I know you are not concerned about winning, but you still want to be in a class where you can be competitive.

Assuming that you are racing in G-stock, you need to stick with either 16x6.5 or 17x7 wheels.

Since 16" wheels and tires are cheaper, let's ignore 17" options.

A set of 16x6.5 OEM V-spokes or AK/NZO Monzas are inexpensive wheels. The V-Spokes can be found used for about $100 each or less. New Monzas go for about $150 each.

A great performing tire would be the Falken Azenis. I am running 215/45/16 Azenis on V-Spokes. They cost about $100 each.

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SE Regional, BAMA Club Moderator: PM me

 

I also suggest going with a 16" used factory wheel. I bought a set for $400 and then put on a set of Kumho ecsta v700s. They work very well. I would stay in GS as well. This had the added bonus of giving me a new set of tires to replace the shredded runflats from last season.

 

A tip that I got here is that Miatas run the same bolt pattern as the Mini. There are a lot of used wheels for Miatas on Ebay and Mazda forums.

That being said, I ended up with Victoracers on Kosei K-1's. Love'em!