[TheBat-Dad]

Hey folks,

Does anyone have any advice on a wheel/tire set up for track/street use for a V6 1LE?

When the time comes and I need to replace the stock goodyear F1's (only got the car a month ago), I am considering also buying a smaller set of wheels as the cost savings from the tires may pay for the wheels over a couple sets, not to mention the weight savings on rotational mass. However I am not sure which wheel sizes will fit (ie are 18s or 19s possible?), as I know you have to upgrade to the 20's to get the brembo brakes.

Help and advice is much appreciated!

[MosaicX1LE]

Right now I'm thinking about using the stock wheels for street all season tires, but looking into some 19s for the track. I like to AutoX in the Street class so I can only go down 1" diameter, and can't mess with the offset too much. I'd also like to know what issues there may be with the Brembo up front.

[apexit53]

since the v6 1le has the same wheel and tire setup as my SS you can find some autocross guys with OE spec forgestars for sale in 19". otherwise order them new they are decently priced.

[DetCam]

Yup, 18 or 19 would be possible. I've got two sets of 18" wheels that I run on my 2016 1SS with Magnetic Ride Shocks (which I believe is worse case fit than the non-mrc).

I have:
18" dia x 8" wide square set with snow tires.
18" dia x 9" wide square set with 275/35R18 tires for track duty (Hankook RS4's)
OEM 20's (8.5 wide front and 9.5 wide rear) with Street/Autocross tires (RE71R's).

If Track and Street plus saving money is your goal, I loved my Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's in stock sizes on my OEM wheels. (245/40R20 and 275/35R20) They were excellent on the track, lasted long, and were much better than the stock run flats on the road (I daily drive my car year round).

If you are prioritizing performance over money, let the games begin. Lots of options... none of them "cheap". If you want to autocross in the "stock" classes, less options... if you want to win, even less.

I'm playing that "dedicated set of track wheels will save me money in the long run" game... we'll see if it actually pans out. Honestly, in my case, I don't think it will.

Your car is new enough that you'll have lots of time to read what everyone else is doing here. Figure out what you prioritize: Fit, looks, traction, wear, cost, flexiblity, etc. and see what best fits your needs.

(Don't get in a hurry to throw away your stock tires, they are actually pretty good tires... just not in the snow.. you'll die).

Some guys buy one nice set of All season tires on the stock wheels and love them. Others would rather get stabbed in the eye than drive on an All Season tire in the summer. It's all personal preference and what your priorities are.

[TheBat-Dad]

Originally Posted by DetCam

Yup, 18 or 19 would be possible. I've got two sets of 18" wheels that I run on my 2016 1SS with Magnetic Ride Shocks (which I believe is worse case fit than the non-mrc).

I have:
18" dia x 8" wide square set with snow tires.
18" dia x 9" wide square set with 275/35R18 tires for track duty (Hankook RS4's)
OEM 20's (8.5 wide front and 9.5 wide rear) with Street/Autocross tires (RE71R's).

If Track and Street plus saving money is your goal, I loved my Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's in stock sizes on my OEM wheels. (245/40R20 and 275/35R20) They were excellent on the track, lasted long, and were much better than the stock run flats on the road (I daily drive my car year round).

If you are prioritizing performance over money, let the games begin. Lots of options... none of them "cheap". If you want to autocross in the "stock" classes, less options... if you want to win, even less.

I'm playing that "dedicated set of track wheels will save me money in the long run" game... we'll see if it actually pans out. Honestly, in my case, I don't think it will.

Your car is new enough that you'll have lots of time to read what everyone else is doing here. Figure out what you prioritize: Fit, looks, traction, wear, cost, flexiblity, etc. and see what best fits your needs.

(Don't get in a hurry to throw away your stock tires, they are actually pretty good tires... just not in the snow.. you'll die).

Some guys buy one nice set of All season tires on the stock wheels and love them. Others would rather get stabbed in the eye than drive on an All Season tire in the summer. It's all personal preference and what your priorities are.

Great info, appreciate it.

Since I posted this I stumbled across the FFI500s, seems like a great budget track tire that still fits the oem rims. I think I might go with them for the rest of this season, see how it does, and then revisit new wheels next spring. For the price they are an absolute bargain for 20” wheels, like half the cost of most other options. Im not looking to get into competitions, so they will likely be fine for my purposes.

And agreed on the stock eagle F1s, they are actually pretty good. I am just noticing some wear of the outside edges, still need to get a track alignment done for some camber.

Two quick questions:
Any recommendations for a fix a flat tire goop since ill be getting non run flats?

Do you know if you can fit 285’s on the rears? Place I am looking at has a deal on that size, actually cheaper than the 275s.

[DetCam]

Definitely get as much camber as they can finagle out of the stock adjustments in the front.

And yes, 285's will fit on the rears.
I'm running 255/40r20's and 285/35R20's on my oem wheels (these are the Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R's).

[TheBat-Dad]

Update:

I was at the track on Monday, and with humidity it was close to 40C, so the car was running hot. My front-driver side tire seems to have taken the worst of it, pretty much bare sidewall, and the wear-bars have next to no life in them too. The other 3 tires actually seem OK, they could probably get another session in just fine, but this one is a no-go.


Got an order of FFI500 245/40r20 & 285/35r20's arriving in the mail tomorrow, $1,010 CDN including tax and delivery, which is damn fine deal compared to anything else I could fine. So excited to see how they feel! The Eagle F1's while a good tire, were getting pretty slippery on the track.

[DetCam]

Sounds great! Just a warning, the tires feel less than spectacular when they are brand new. They take a while to wear off/through the mold release compound. So when you pull your first hole shot and they just go up in smoke, don't get all disappointed and think you made a mistake.

I don't think mine really started to grip (on track) until my second full track day on them. I did an autocross the day after they were installed... that day didn't go so well. They got tons better with age.

[Roostie]

The non-run-flat Firestones sound like a good solution for the time being.

I have a V6 1LE and I have two sets of 18" wheels. One is a set of inexpensive TR Motorsports C4 18x8.5 wheels, which are a cheap Volk TE37 imitation, with 245/50 Pirelli P Zero All-Season Plus tires for street use. The other set is for track, some Apex FL-5s in 18x10 ET25 with 275/40 Nexen N Fera SUR4 tires (front and rear), with 5mm spacers on the front axle and extended thread lug nuts. The Apex wheels are more than 40# lighter than the OEM 20's. The FL-5s are a little pricey, but there are cheaper Apex wheels that are almost as light. I like a "square" set-up so that I can rotate and replace all 4 tires at the same time.

For dual-purpose use, I'd tend to recommend 19" wheels. It is easier to get them to clear the struts and the tires will be closer to OEM diameter. I recommend that you check out Apex, MMR and Forgestar wheels.


If you're willing to drive a fairly performance-focused tire on the street, the Hankook R-S4 would be very good on track/autocross, and acceptably durable.

[Kairles]

40lbs, is that with tires? when I weighed my Apex ARC-8s with 275/35/18 federal RSRR they came in 34lbs lighter, 10lbs light per rear wheel and 7lbs light per front wheel.

[Roostie]

The Apex FL-5 is lighter than the ARC-8. It's just 20.5# in 18x10. It also costs more...

[Kairles]

From my research the ARC-8s are lighter(19.95lbs), thats why i bought them. Otherwise i would of gone with the SM10 or EC-7s both are a better looking wheel.