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15X8 with adapters/spacers to fill flares..Question.


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Sorry if this is hashed out many times before... I did make an attempt to search.

 

I am looking at using 15x8 with 0 offset on my Z. I have (coil overs) and standard ZG flares. I am looking at using the bolt-on adapters/spacers and think 20mm or 25mm will work for the rear and about 15mm for the fronts.

 

I measured about 6" from the rear drum to the edge of the flare (car was not at the correct ride height so it will be less then 6" (closer to 5.5" I think) when it's set correctly.

 

The reason for 15x8 is there seems to be better options new and used in 15x8.

 

Thanks

 

 

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Are you trying to achieve safe clearance from both the strut and the flare or are you trying to achieve a certain closeness to the flare for the hellaflush look? The answer will direct my advice. If you have the wheels on hand, please measure backspacing. Offset is a difficult quantity to measure/give advice from.

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I run 245s on either 7 or 8 inch wheel with stock fenders. If you went through the trouble of flaring, why wouldn't you go to something like a 10 inch wheel to be able to take advantage of all that rubber. Unless you're going for a hellaflush look as stated above.

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Pardon my ignorance, but I'm baffled as to why 15x8 wheels with zero-offset wouldn't be a natural fit in the rear of an S30 without any spacers whatsoever?  Or is the concern just aesthetics, of "filling out" the flares?  Perhaps the flares could just be removed?

 

And at the risk of changing the topic, how and where did kerrys914 manage to find 15x8s with zero offset in 4x114.3 bolt-pattern and 73mm hub-diameter (assuming that these are what he has)?  Congratulations, sir!

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Another issue on the same topic is tire selection. R-compound tires are available in 15 in. and some non-high preformance tires. However, high performance street tires have a very limited selection. I have 16x8 without flares. As 15 in. tire selections decreased about 6-7 yr. ago used 15 in wheels started showing up on ebay. As long as you are willing to run R-compound tires there will be tires available. Most vintage race cars run a 15 in. wheel so availability will still be around.

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Another issue on the same topic is tire selection. R-compound tires are available in 15 in. and some non-high preformance tires. However, high performance street tires have a very limited selection. I have 16x8 without flares. As 15 in. tire selections decreased about 6-7 yr. ago used 15 in wheels started showing up on ebay. As long as you are willing to run R-compound tires there will be tires available. Most vintage race cars run a 15 in. wheel so availability will still be around.

 

Good point.  Casual perusal of Tire Rack's online offerings shows astonishing contrast between what's available in 15" diameter vs. 18" diameter.  Toyo makes a semi-streetable wheel in 235-width, 15" diameter.  This is what I'd use for my purposes on a 15x8 wheel, but my street-driving would be limited to 3-4 car shows per year, plus maybe a half-dozen angry midnight runs down the rural roads in my locale.

 

Beyond 8" width in a 15"-diameter wheel, the tire selection really becomes paltry.  All over the interwebs, though fortunately less so on this Forum, there's talk of using 225-section tires "stretched" onto 9", 10" or even wider wheels.  Personally I think that this is idiotic, but preferences brook no objective judgment.

 

However, true drag-racing slicks (not radials or DOT tires) are still typically for 15" diameter wheels.  Speaking of wheels, in a perfect world of rainbows and unicorns, I'd be running something like this: http://weldwheels.com/shop/drag-oval/drag/alumastar-series.html on the track, and like this: http://www.americanracing.com/wheel/20414/vf479 on the street. I do however need to more carefully investigate the weight of the latter; it might be heavy.

 

All of these wheels are by my reckoning reasonably-priced.  The problem is the preparation and modification of our cars, that would be necessary to accommodate such wheels.

Edited by Michael
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