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Our cars are little. They don't need 17"+ wheels and tires.

Caterham recommends a 13" wheel for all their cars but is now offering 14" on their street cars due to lack of availability of proper 13" tires.

So other than using what comes with your donors (if you went that way) who in the planning/shake down phase has optimized their wheel tire package, what did you choose and why?

(EDITED: question was edited due to some people focusing on OP's reasoning and not the question.)

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Engineer: noun en·gi·neer \ˌen-jə-ˈnir\ - Someone who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data provided by those of questionable knowledge. (See also: wizard, magician, sorcerer, witch, miracle worker)

On the contrary, 16" have a ton of performance options n the 25.5-26" range. There's an entire generation of tuner car owners to back that up.

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Tucker

removed by OP

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Engineer: noun en·gi·neer \ˌen-jə-ˈnir\ - Someone who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data provided by those of questionable knowledge. (See also: wizard, magician, sorcerer, witch, miracle worker)

I guess to insure no drifting, has anyone optimized their tire and wheel package and if so, what did you choose, and why/how?

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Engineer: noun en·gi·neer \ˌen-jə-ˈnir\ - Someone who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data provided by those of questionable knowledge. (See also: wizard, magician, sorcerer, witch, miracle worker)

I'm not sure you could say mine are optimized, but I decided from the start that I wanted 13" wheels, and at the time there was more availability than there is now. I was hoping the Summitomo HTR 200 was going to stick around in the 215/55/13 size, but that didn't happen. I figured I would run them on the street and have another set of wheels for autocross with Toyo R888 for autocross in 225/45/13. I found that the R888's are decently street able and don't really wear out all that quickly on cars this light, so I decided I will run them in a 205/60/13 (for a bit more clearance) for street tires and I bought some takeoff slicks for autocross (13x9x20 and 13x10x20). I think the selection of r compound tires in 13" is probably going to be around for a while because of all the people still racing older sportscars providing a market for them. Just like Miata sized tires in 15" will be around for quite a while in the stickier options, even if the more street oriented ones disappear. Running r comps for street tires might not work for everyone, but I'm not going to be really racking up the miles on this thing, it's just a fun toy. And it's a lot of fun on a windy road with sticky tires.
Kristian

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V6 in a book frame build. Now registered.
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I can't say that I optimized. I am using my donor's wheels with the same width tire, but a lower series. At that time, the Miata guys were using 205/50r15 tires. I figured they would be around for a while. I am now looking at new tires and there are plenty (not all) of good tires still available in that size.

I figured that if necessary, I could in the future, change wheels and tires. For me it was a no-brainer. If/when it becomes more difficult to find my tire size in the future and I can't find an appropriate 16 or 17" tire, I can always bite the bullet and redesign the suspension. If I can build a Locost, I can re-engineer one. In the mean time, I won't worry about it.

13" wheels would have been more traditional, but I was following the low-cost mantra. My donor vehicle and the hubs, rotors and calipers would not work with 13" tires. I am basically cheap. I already had these and the brakes, so why change them? I do get your point. There are few 14" tires around anymore too. It does seem that we are transitioning to larger diameter rims. I won't predict what sizes will, or will not be around next time I need tires.

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Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

edited by OP

Anybody else got any stories of why they picked what they picked?

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Engineer: noun en·gi·neer \ˌen-jə-ˈnir\ - Someone who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data provided by those of questionable knowledge. (See also: wizard, magician, sorcerer, witch, miracle worker)

That depends greatly on what criteria one uses to evaluate "reasonable" and "optimized".

In typical smaller car widths, 15 has slightly less availability than 16 has significantly less availability than 17. However, that is focusing the selection based on wheel diameter without regard to tire diameter. I consider there to be 3 main tire diameter ranges consisting of ~23, ~24, and ~25. In my opinion, this is where the selection process should actually start. if the concern is tire sizes drying up for a given wheel size, when changing wheel sizes it will still be much easier to keep overall tire dimensions similar rather than changing tire dimensions which has farther reaching effects.

I do believe that thanks to the large contingent of older Miatae, Civies, etc that are driven hard to this day, the 23 size will have pretty good staying power for at least a decent while longer. Here I do think the 15's might actually outlast the 16's, but technically it still provides another option. For 24 there are current production cars using these, so they'll definitely be around a bit longer in both 16's and 17's. The reigning king for availability though, both now, and as far as the forseeable future goes, is 25. Currently there are tires abound in both 16's and 17's, with no end in sight yet for the 17's.

I currently am designing and building around 23F/25R, simply because that's the setup I bought and never got to use for a previous project attempt. I'm pretty sure I could easily enough accommodate 24F/25R if necessary. But as I'm trying to finalize key suspension design details, I am (again) strongly considering the move to 25 all around, as that would be easier to implement now than later...Even if at some cost. I would definitely like to keep the smallest size wheels available for any given diameter, and will avoid 17's for as long as possible. But I'm also making sure that I would still be able to go the 17's route, if the need were to ever arise during the course of my relationship with this car. Because depending however long that might be, the eventual change to 17's is probably just going to be as inevitable as was the migration from 13's to 15's.

Of course we'll see if I still feel this way if/when I ever manage to get this car on the road, but I also have the advantage of not necessarily requiring sub-200TW for my intended driving characteristics as well.

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-Justin

"Orville Wright did not have a pilots license." - Gordon MacKenzie

So, from a quick search - I found 14 different 200 or less tread wear 225/45/15 tires on tire rack alone.

The cheapest being the Kumho Ecsta v720 for $115 and the most expensive being Hoosier A7/R7 for $253.

looks like you'd spend $460-$700 for a solid set of 23" summer tires for a 15" wheel.

Other quick searches..

at 24".. 205/50/16 - the Dunlop direzza ZII star specs are like $60/tire right now.

As far as 225/55/16, or 25.5" tires go.. Yoko S drives - My personal all time favorite street/autocross tire - $100/ pop.

I think if you're not a brand whore - there are plenty of options out there still.

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Tucker

for me the choice has been between 14x5.5 and 15x6 rims which I have. For the 14s you can still get Falken Azenis: tried and true but kinda out classed at this point I think. I just bought a set of Bridgestone RE-71R's in 195/50r15. In that size there are several good 200 wear options. I might differ in your request to ensure no drifting though.

I went with 15's for my build because there's always going to be tons of selection as long as Miata's are being raced. I bought the latest 6UL wheels because they're cheap, strong, and light. They're also they're available in a lot of different widths from 6"-11". Right now about the only thing for an 11" is the 275/35/15 A6 but there are lots of 225/45/15 and 205/50/15 street tire options for the smaller wheels. Also the Maxxis VR-1 is available in a 205/50/15 and 245/40/15.

Edited by OP

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Engineer: noun en·gi·neer \ˌen-jə-ˈnir\ - Someone who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data provided by those of questionable knowledge. (See also: wizard, magician, sorcerer, witch, miracle worker)

Based on your replies, it sounds like you might be looking for a solution that doesn't exist. But luckily you also seem to be exaggerating the nature of the problem a bit, in addition to placing unnecessary restrictions on yourself as well. Maybe try a little harder to just relax and go with the flow? Like has been said more than once already, it's shouldn't be the end of the world if you have to change sizes at some point down the road...Especially if you design to account for that possibility/eventuality from the beginning.

For starters, why be so caught up in the limitations imposed by SCCA "street tire" rule restrictions for a BEC Locost, which will inevitably be a woefully uncompetitive BMod car. Remember that treadwear ratings are just a dimensionless and inconsistently derived number, and you're completely free to go up or down from there.

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-Justin

"Orville Wright did not have a pilots license." - Gordon MacKenzie

Anyone else have stories of what and why they optimized their tire wheel combination?

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Engineer: noun en·gi·neer \ˌen-jə-ˈnir\ - Someone who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data provided by those of questionable knowledge. (See also: wizard, magician, sorcerer, witch, miracle worker)

I wasn't aware that the 225/45/15 tire size is only used by the Miata......

do you realize how many different sizes there are that fit 15" wheels? 14" wheels? 13" wheels? you have not specified diameter or width, so you're throwing out an arbitrary measurement by requesting 200 tread wear and a wheel size..

I also have no idea what you mean by your last post.

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Tucker