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Enkei PF01s and Tire Selection

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Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
I have been reading all the info you guys have been throwing out and I am impressed with the knowledge that is shared. Thanks for helping us noobs from wasting our money.
This thread is right on the point of what I am looking for my 2012 Boss.
I've been sliding around on stock rubber for five years, time to move on.
Here is what I have so far on the car.
Suspension: Vorshlag CC plates, stock struts & shocks w/Boss 5300T springs, Whiteline Sway bars
BMR lower control arms w/relocation brackets, Whiteline Watts Linkage, ARP studs all around, brake ducts.
Looking at the Apex C7 18x11's and use 315/30 Rivals all around.
Will this work without massaging fenders?
I'm fine with running a spacer up front, any advice where to get a quality spacer?
I do drive some on the street, main use is autocross. Might give BIR a go.
Thanks in advance for your input.

It'll be tight and I'm pretty sure that you'd need to run near the higher negative camber side just to make it fit. The 315 is a 12.6" wide carcass on the 11" rim so there won't be a lot of wiggle room. If you street mileage is much higher than your auto-X use, then you might have issues with inner front edge wear and may need really frequent rotation front to rear and running exactly 0º toe.

It's my opinion that any hub-centric spacer would be okay regardless of brand. I wouldn't hesitate to use something like Maximum Motorsport.

You'll also need clearance at the top sway bar links. Either cut the end, use washers to space it back or go aftermarket.

I have very limited experience with Rivals, but they seem okay for Auto-X though they tend to get a bit greasy when hot for track use.

Welcome to TMO!
 

xr7

TMO Addict?
706
821
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Minnesota
Thanks for the replies, I put my post in a new thread as I probably should have in the first place.
 

drano38

Wayne
1,130
318
If you're buying new wheels, go with 18x11.
Tires -- I ran NT-05 for about 3 years. Better than stock, good squeal feedback, consistent entire session and all day (don't get greasy). They last a long time, and are cheap. But they're not a great tire.
BF Goodrich Rivals are good, but now very limited sizes.
Last summer I picked up a set of Hankook R-S4 in 295/40. Wow. Amazing for a street tire. When my Bridgestone RE-71R wear out, those rims will get teh R-S4 also.
Of course, NT-01, slick takeoffs, or Hoosiers are a whole new ball game.
 

xr7

TMO Addict?
706
821
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Minnesota
Thanks for the feedback, slicks would be fun but I'm going to stick with 200 wear rated tires, I'm leaning towards the 295/40 tire size, get some more experience with some better grip.
 

Norm Peterson

Corner Barstool Sitter
939
712
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
a few miles east of Philly
I've read that the Ford engineers say the Boss suspension was engineered to work best with the stock staggered setup.
Which means that the smaller front tire is going to define where the upper limits are.

Personally, it feels like they were working at cross-purposes with themselves to be crutching understeerish tire & wheel sizing with oversteerish suspension tuning. Apparently providing a stronger guarantee of limit understeer as a hedge against unknown customer driving skillsets had to take top priority.


Norm
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
1,797
2,001
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
5 miles from Mosport
Same with my PP car, even with 285/305 on 10s and 11s, which I did to maintain close to the same front rear tread width difference as Ford had, it was very difficult to make it oversteer. The front end would pretty much always give up before rear end, and understeer is pretty easy to manage. I think I got the rear end a bit loose once exiting a very tight hairpin, that was after about 60 laps of creeping up on the grip limits. Very forgiving and an easy car to drive quickly, especially for a rusty old guy like me.
 

xr7

TMO Addict?
706
821
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Minnesota
Thanks for the input, I will have to look at my options for the shorter sidewall. 295/40/18 size is very close to original tire diameter so I don't have to mess with the pcm. I have 3.73 gears and the shorter tires don't help. I find myself hitting the rev limiter at some bad points on the course. I could really use a taller gear.
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
Gearing is the best reason to go to a taller tire. I wish I didn't check the 3.73 box when I ordered the Brembo GT. Didn't have the option with the Boss.
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
1,797
2,001
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
5 miles from Mosport
Thanks for the input, I will have to look at my options for the shorter sidewall. 295/40/18 size is very close to original tire diameter so I don't have to mess with the pcm. I have 3.73 gears and the shorter tires don't help. I find myself hitting the rev limiter at some bad points on the course. I could really use a taller gear.

I get that, I went with 35's and they're a little less tall than the stock 40's. I expected little difference, but on one track I run there are two spots now were I need to shift that I wouldn't have to with a slightly taller tire. On the other track I've been at it makes no difference in shifting. Make up time with more grip but lose a bit due to shifts, win some, lose some!
 
167
218
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Irvine, CA
I'm curious - "one of the weakest" in what way?


Norm

From what I know, it has poor synchro design. I believe Ben Calimer stated so during a discussion about his tranny rebuilds, and I'm inclined to believe him.
My 5th gear synchro has been hurting since I bought my car with only 5k miles, and I had to change my 4-5 shifts to a 2 step, deliberate shift to avoid grinding, especially with "cold" fluid and trying to shift quickly and/or when going downhill.
 

Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
5,237
4,227
Santiago, Chile
+1 on all that from Ben

I dont Speed shift (come from a backround of Alfa romeos.....read glass syncros, and never killed a alfa gearbox), I have killed the MT82s fifth gear three times..... Once cruising up a hill, twice on the track.....
 

Norm Peterson

Corner Barstool Sitter
939
712
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
a few miles east of Philly
+1 on all that from Ben

I dont Speed shift (come from a backround of Alfa romeos.....read glass syncros, and never killed a alfa gearbox), I have killed the MT82s fifth gear three times..... Once cruising up a hill, twice on the track.....
I don't speed shift either and I rev-match almost every downshift, which makes it a shame that those nice close ratios from 2nd to 5th in the original MT82 are wasted by marginal durability.

I wanted to like that transmission.


Norm
 

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