911SC track wheels - anyone run 16x7's all around?

[aldente295]

I currently only have one set of wheels for my '80 SC - standard 16x6 & 7's, with 225/50 and 205/55 Bridgestone Adrenalines. I'm starting to do a few more track days, and so am looking to pick up a second set of wheels. In an ideal world I would be buying a set of 16x7's and 8's Fuchs for the track, with Toyo R888s on all four corners.

As it turns out, a set of 4 16x7's is available at what seems like a reasonable price.

I'm interested to hear people's opinions on running the same size wheel all round on the track (or the street). What will I notice by having that extra inch of width at the front?

Increased 'heaviness'/effort required when turning?

Increased grip = more oversteer = higher propensity to lose the back end?

Can I run the same profile tire all round, and then rotate front to back? What are the downsides to doing this? I definitely don't want to be adjusting ride height every time I swap wheels - does this rule out having four identical tires?

All opinions welcome....

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by aldente295

I currently only have one set of wheels for my '80 SC - standard 16x6 & 7's, with 225/50 and 205/55 Bridgestone Adrenalines. I'm starting to do a few more track days, and so am looking to pick up a second set of wheels. In an ideal world I would be buying a set of 16x7's and 8's Fuchs for the track, with Toyo R888s on all four corners.

As it turns out, a set of 4 16x7's is available at what seems like a reasonable price.

I'm interested to hear people's opinions on running the same size wheel all round on the track (or the street). What will I notice by having that extra inch of width at the front?

Increased 'heaviness'/effort required when turning?

Increased grip = more oversteer = higher propensity to lose the back end?

Can I run the same profile tire all round, and then rotate front to back? What are the downsides to doing this? I definitely don't want to be adjusting ride height every time I swap wheels - does this rule out having four identical tires?

All opinions welcome....

many run 7 & 8, which was actually a factory option for some years, or 7 & 9

your current 7" rear are moved to the front and you obtain 8 Et10.6 or 9 ET 15 for the back.

You can use 7s all around, steering effort won't be appreciably affected unless you also use 225 tires in front

The net effect of 7s all around is to reduce understeer/increase oversteer, which ever way you choose to think about it. If you are an A-Xer that might be desireable.

I do know people that use 7s all around generally w/ 205/50 tires all around but sometimes w/ 205 front and 225 rear too.

Most folks that track though want a wider wheel and tire in back to reduce higher speed oversteer/increase understeer

[KTL]

There's quite a few people who have done this with good success. I did it at the beginning of my track addiction. It's a cheap way to get a set of track wheels and you can make your tires last longer by shuffling them around the car to balance wear. Eventually you may get a fix for more speed and move away from this setup. But it's a decent setup nonetheless.

I ran the 16x7 all around with 225/50-16 tires- Hankook Z211 and also Kumho Victoracer. Then progressed to 16x8 all around with 225 all around and 225F/245R tire combinations, depending on what tires i could find for cheap. Car is indeed a bit tail happy but I don't mind a car like that vs. understeer which scares the crap out of me. Plus with an adjustable sway bar you can adjust around the square behavior a bit. Most of my local tracks are not technically "high speed" so we're not taking long sweepers at 120 mph, where a bit of understeer is definitely a nice safety feature. I didn't find the steering effort to be excessive either. But definitely more effort than narrower wheels and tires up front.

To make the setup work best, you should install spacers at the rear to maintain a rear track width that is greater than the front track. I installed 72mm studs and 930 rear spacers. Works nicely for the intended purpose.

It's not the optimum setup by any means and certainly not dangerous It is quite driveable and I was able to go quickly enough to keep up with some of the fast pack. That said, the staggered setup is indeed the preferred method to get good balance and ultimate speed. I've got 17x8 and 17x10 on my racecar and i'd never consider running the old square setup on it. Staggered is clearly faster. The only square setup i've considered is rain setup- narrow and less wide = cheaper investment that rarely gets used.

[racer]

I know folks who autocross with 7x16 all around with 225-50-16s with no real issues.

You could still run a staggered 205/225 set up with the 7's all around if you are afraid of any oversteering tendencies.

[aldente295]

Exactly the feedback I was looking for - thanks guys. If I can get this set at the right price i'll go for it.

[ben parrish]

Bringing back an old thread.
I have had 7's on all four corners for a about 18 months with 205/225 tires and 20mm spacers in the rear. The car exibits major oversteer at high speed. If you come off the throttle or tap the brakes in a slight curve, the rear gets light quickly. I'm pretty tired of it...had a few pucker moments when cars pull out of blind drives. I and am switching to 9" on the rear. I may have an understeer issue soon but that is better for me as I think I can deal with a heavy front end easier than a light rear end. My plan is to use 205's on the 7's in the front and 245's on the 9's.

[aldente295]

I ended up going with 7s and 8s in the end, very very pleased with the result, and the look. Would love to get some 8s Fuchs and have the same setup on my street tires.

[McLaren-TAG]

You can do almost as much in the way of set up changes simply with tire pressure and sway bar adjustments (if you've got adjustable ones) and it's a lot cheaper.

That being said I've got 8s in the rear.

[CRNT918]

+1 on what KTL said...

[mph911]

It might sound strange, I would run 205/50 all round.