I'm looking for the widest possible wheels on the smallest possible diameters(to keep tire costs down; see no real handling advantages to lower profile tires) for track use.

Something in the 8"(F) and 9.5"

 

I don't know of anything in 16". You are probably looking at custom modular wheels. I don't know why you would need such a wide wheel for . What tire can you put on the car that would need that width to improve handling? Most people race the car with 225/50R16 and 245/45R16.

Jim

 

Jim,

In order to obtain the maximum on track performance, I always endeavour to mount tires on wheels whose width is at the maximum of the recommended wheel-width-range of that given tire.

225 tires mounted on 6.5" wheels(OEM front) do not qualify.

For example, if memory serves me right, the maximum recommended wheel width for a 225-16 Hoosier is 8". 245-16s should deserve 9.5" wide wheels.

Are you telling me I'm wrong in this?




Pierre

 

check this:
http://www.hoosiertire.com/rrtire.htm

the recommended rim width for a P225/50ZR-16 is 7-9"
for P245/45ZR-16 the range is 8.5-9.5"

There are plenty of non-custom options in these ranges

 

You would also want to keep weight down so going as wide isnt always teh best.

Im running 16 x 7 and 16 x 8 wheels which weigh 11 pounds a piece. 225s in the front and 245s in the rear

If you wanted, you could easily run a 255 on the rear as well.

 

I stand corrected!

The wheel widths which allow the best track performance for 225-16 and 245-16 Hoosiers are 9" and 9.5" respectively.

Thank you,

Pierre

P.S. In fact the OEMs aren't even in the ranges.

P.S.S. People wear these size tires on OEM wheels in stock class autocross only because the rules don't allow the use of wheels of different dimensions.