I was at the tire shop this morning (Tire Team) and priced out some new tires (my Hankooks are starting to slip). While I was at it I priced a setup with Torque Thrust IIs and Goodrich KDWs.

The rims were $483.00 CDN a piece (17x9.5) and the tires (275/40 17s) were $264.00 CDN apiece. Wait a sec while I click on my Calculator... ok 4 x 483 is $1932.00 and 4 x 264 is $1064.00... sum total is $2988.00.

That is alot of coin for rolling stock. Am I inspired or crazy to pay that kind of coin ? They sure would look nice but it would kill my performance budget for about a year or so. Funny trade off -- do I want the car to look faster (tires and wheels and lowering kit) or go faster (spend the money on engine mods instead) ?

RP.

 

Your car already looks fast, now make it really fast! Three grand should help out a little in the hunt for horsepower. Or take 1200.00(or so) of that 3 grand and buy a Random technology super bite kit, which I believe consists of a new torque arm,new panhard bar,new LCA's ,new adjustable shocks, get some lca relocation brackets as well. THis will help you plant alot more of the HP you already have to the ground(or so they say).Or 3 grand is 60% of a new supercharger. The thing I like about a super charger is that if you decide to sell the car you can always remove it and ge some of your money back.

 

that is ALOT of money for wheels and tires. i would say spend that cash on performance. the torque thrust IIs are the most expensive american racing rims, but they sure do look nice. when i bought new rims for my car i wanted torque thrusts IIs, but they were way to expensive for me......plus once you get into 16"and 17" rims, the tires get real expansive, real fast. so i opted for 15" american racing outlaw II rims (cause i already had good 15" tires). because these rims were like 145 each i still had money to mod my car. i would say wait on the wheels and tires, spend the cash on mods and then after you have used your new found horsepower and torque to completely fry your Hanooks, then pony up for some nice sticky tires (and rims if the financial situation allows).

 

I spend $199 each on my BFG KDWS P245 65/ZR16 on my 16x8 wheels. I opted for the KDWS as they have a higher treadlife than KDW. As for rims I already have 15x7 American Racing and my 16x8 IROC-Z wheels so I haven't been in the hunt for rims. I'd rather spend on performance than rims as changing the outside makes doesn't really help much in the perf department. If you have the 16x8 rims already, keep them. They look great (save for a few certain rims) and perform great.

the bigger you go the more costly. I can get a decent set of tires for my 15x7 rims b/w the $100 to $150 range while my jump to 16x8 leave me with the cheapest at $150 which were Dunlop Z rated tires. Another thing is do you want Z rated tires? That's a max speed of 160 mph as I recall while H/V rated are at 130 mph but cost a hell of a lot less. For me it was simple as I can do 132 mph with my current setup and when "unlocked" the tranny would probably allow me to do 150 mph. Note that these speeds are quite high and I am implying mph.

 

lol
I priced out 18" Torque Thrust IIs with Z tires at $5000+tax
i got the same price for 17"
so i think that i will keep the old ones. and spend the money to make it go faster

Also Slade 1 you will want Z tires the speed rating is not the only dif. the side walls are also stiffer and stronger in a Z tire. less side wall flex. after having Z i will never go back. There is a big difference in the turns

 

I figured 3gs for tires and rims was crazy -- unless you have money to burn and I don't.

I suppose the question was academic I just was a little dissappointed to find out just HOW MUCH so those rims are. I don't mind forking out for the coin for skins cause good rubber always pays for itself but $500 a pop for a rim ?

Zeddar 1990 I hear you on the suspension mods next on my hit list, sub-frames, panhard, LCAs, etc. Anything to tighten up this t-roofed car !!!

rp.

 

I hadn't realized the sidewalls were stiffer. My only experience outside of Z rated were with T rated 215/65/R15 and then I thought it was due to the larger sidewall. I guess that's why my tires are so good at cornering and not so good at absorbing shock. Roads I used to travel with my 15's that'd cause no skip on my crappy cd player now skip like hell with my 16's. I'm running bare minimum air pressure as I'm not used to the stiffness of it yet. (Back with the good year's I had no cd player just the good ol tape deck.) I'm not complaining though as the grip and handling are a lot better. I just haven't been able to find a situation to test my handling yet, it was pretty good before going back to 16's and I'm chicken **** to try turns on city roads greater than what I've done before on 15's as I've pushed the car to really high limits that'd make minivan's and trucks flip over.

Even I had to do a double take on those prices for rims. At $500 dollars each I'd have to kiss all performance mods goodbye for like 2 years. The tires pay for themselves. Suspension mods are always good. It should be where you base how much power you intend to generate. I'm still off from breaking the limits of stock so I'm rather happy with my setup at the moment. With t-tops, sub-frames should be high on your list as the last thing you want is for them to pop off on run from the flex.

 

I really don't like t-roofs. I've already had two f-bodies with t-roofs and swore never again. But when I found this car with 60,000kms on it and new $5000 paint job with zero rust and every other option I wanted-- well I had to buy it cursing the t-roofs as I drove it home. Ironic that I would end up with t-roofs for the third time.

Some of you will think this crazy... I have since been to a body shop to get a quote on putting a HARDTOP back on the car. It would be about $1500 to do the job. So do I keep the car and retro to a hardtop or sell the car and find a low mileage unit with a hardtop ? The car has 72k on it now and runs excellent. Hard to let it go.

I plan on throwing some MAC sfcs on but really don't believe it will help much. I don't think anything can cure the 3rd gen creaky t-roof syndrome.

RP.

 

Personally... I went with a whole lot of power stuff then I put the TT2's and massive 315's on the back and 275's up front. Look at my page:
members.cardomain.com/iroczz4

the first three pages are pics and info b4 I got the rims and tires. The last page (page 4) is up to date pictures of my car with the TT2's and tires. Really its up to you which direction you want to go.. Here is what I found about the stuff I did:
1) Power mods. Fun expensive and knowone can tell until you hit the gas. Also girls don't like your car as much until they are in it and you hit the gas blowing away a Ferrari.

2) TT2 rims. I love em, handles way better, and best of all it turns your car into one of those cars that make girls nipples hard the second they see it

It's a very hard decision and I still can't decide if I did it the right way or not but anyways doesn't matter now that I have the best of both worlds.

 

You can get a pretty damn good engine rebuild for 5000 ... no? lol, probably even a crate motor!

 

Hey guys....where is the best place to buy TT2s from? i just did a search and couldnt find anything. I want to get the 18" rims. Thanks

-Mike

 

Damn that's a lot of money! Just my 2 cents...I have the KDW's and they are good tires, but a little overpriced. Not that it would really affect the overall cost that much, but you could probably save a couple hundred buck by going with a different tire. Try doing some research on Kumho's (Daz has them) or Dunlops.

 

Palric,

I say just keep the stock rims you have.....they are in great shape from what I remember and throw that cash into performance. That's just my 2cents

 

Hi Palric!

I know my opinion isn't going to help you out much and here's why.....

At our first track event I ran a best 15.551 once out of 12 runs and averaged 15.6ET. As for speed I averaged maybe 86mph and hit 90mph once. My average 60ft times were 2.35.

At our recent track meet, the only different mods I did were, 1) Throttle body coolant bypass, 2) removed the MAF screens(dyno says it's worth two hp!!) 3) removed passenger side and rear seats(give or take 50pds) 4) Installed my 17" rims with P275/40 on the rear(Michelin pilot sport Z rated).

This was my results in ten runs:

I ran a best 15.2ET
Averaged 15.3...
Hit 90mph 3 times
Averaged 89mph
Best 60 foot time 2.1...
Average 2.2...

What can I say....3 grand I would rather spend on engine mods but as you can see, look what my rims and tires did for my stock 305 auto with 3.08 gears. I can't wait to see my times after the 3.73's with posi are installed.

More power is great BUT what is it worth if you can't launch??!! Like SPOHN says "put your power where the ground is" No matter how much power you build bottom line is your going to need some serious rubber for grip.

Can I make a cheap suggestion?? Buy yourself cheap 15" rims and put on some used slicks like johnnyiroc and Brad. You keep your car looking stock and sweet...and at the track put on your slicks and your racing. Talk to them. Brad is hooking me up and he might be able to help you too!

Just a thought.

P.S. I but my tire/rim set up for $2000. If you go pricing it at the retail stores they wanted at the time $560ea for the rubber and $582ea for the rims. I got lucky! Now you know why I don't drive with it everyday.

 

Hey 88redxtsy you got great words I hear all of it. I am building my suspension LCAs, panhard, SFCs, torque arm it just takes time it is $$$$ expensive.

My old tires don't help my 2.4sec 60 footers at all so I am replacing them too check this out pretty interesting tread compund eh definitely not a wet tire.

adious,
RP.

 

I hear ya about the $$$$. The suspension mods will help greatly with your 60ft but tires are still the game. The tire you got posted has some pretty interesting and mean treads. I like your formula rims...but with all the mods you plan on doing to your engine and suspension I think slicks are the way to go. Looks wise you 've got it covered with some slick rims from factory. For performance at the track go slicks. As for new everyday tires, pick up a decent performance rubber that won't cost too much. Your a mature driver(i hope) so you don't need to blow $$ on Z rated tires. Go V rated. Save the high speeds for the track and save the cash for mods

 

Those are sexy!

 

if you want those tires for a better deal go to www.wheelsdirect.com...
they get them at wholesale costs..

thats where im getting my mondera xtaceys next spring with kuhmos..

cant wait..

here they are...

oh yeah MY RIMS ARE STILL FOR SALE!!

 

My KDW's were 250 a piece intalled and balanced

 

Those are crazy dubs iroc! how much do they run for on that website?
greg

 

$2016 canadian for the 18s without tires...thats from another site..but from wheels direct prolly $2100 with tires...ill know soon..i have to go down there and talk to them..

iroc2nv

 

Not bad at all... Tell me if you want to sell those next fall

 

which ones?

these...

 

or these?

 

Oh man the second ones... Thats whack off material right there!

 

no way man those are the ones i buying next year and thats the ones im kepping for along time!!..they are 3 coated chrome plated..hence the pricey price..(that sounded dumb)

iroc2nv

 

Man thats not a bad price at all for those rims IMO. I wish I had dough kickin around...