I'm not downsizing. The suspension will be coming in spring whether I buy wheels now or not. It's not an either/or sort of thing. I was being an idiot when I made it seem that way. It's wheels and tires now + suspension in spring, or tires only now + suspension in spring.

Will report on my findings. Thanks for sharing the threads above.

Need less cars and more house.

I think we're just going ahead with the pole barn idea. Because she's ok with living in a pole barn.

Win!

OK so I must deliver at some point.

But I will not be delivering now.

Went to the tire shop and put it up on a lift. With stock wheel and tire size, there is MAYBE 1/2" between the wheel and strut, and probably 1/4" between the tire and strut. It's too close to go any wider.

SO... I could get them to order a wheel, but if it doesn't fit I'll be paying about $50/wheel restocking and shipping fee. I would just buy the set and install it when I get coilovers, but I have no place to keep the extra wheels in the meantime.

SO... my current plan is to wait a month. If I can pull off a good november here at the dealership, I'll just get suspenders, wheels, and tires all at once after Thanksgiving.

If I don't have a good month... I'll be buying tires only and return to being a shining example of FPFQ fail "guyths I want ____" threads.

What? Are you telling us that no one with a GTO has ever mounted 17" wheels with factory suspension before?

:facepalm:

Let's go back to the first post.

Stock wheels: 17x8.

Wheels I want to put on it: 17x9.

*4 pages of thread*

result:

Stock wheels and tires are too close to stock struts. Can't go wider under the front safely. Some have gotten it to fit, but there's no way to be sure without ordering them and risking $200 so I can't do that now.

I do have one more source on the wheels, and if he can get them cheap enough then I'll buy them, and store them if I have to. But as for now, I'm going to try to put everything on hold for one month and buy suspensions and everything else all at once. the coilovers will give me the necessary clearance to fit the wheels I want front and back.

So, no one has ever posted what offset is needed for a 17x9 to fit on the GTO forums?

Not that I've been able to find, no. Everybody puts 18's or bigger.

It's also something of a moot point, because even if someone DID post the correct offset, I've dug through tons of 17x9 wheels in my price range (there aren't many in 5x120) and none of them have higher than 40mm offset, and a 35mm offset will start giving me fender problems. I'll be best off to run coilovers and the 40mm offset wheels I've been looking at.

I think.

You realize that's a BMW fitment, there should be a ton of wheels.

*sigh* yes, I realize it's a BMW fitment, that's why the original post has a picture of the first wheels on a BMW. There are a ton of wheels. However, not in a 17x9 with a reasonable offset and light weight and low price.

Parameters:
17x9
light weight
38mm offset
low price ($230/wheel or less).
I have to like how it looks. Cuz I'm not spending money to make my car uglier even if it works better.

You find one, I'll send you something in an MT.net package.

Hes right guys, most run an 8 in the front, and the handful of people I know that went wider did so on the balla shit, were you get exactly what you want (thats why guys are getting 10" CCWs to fit in the rear.)

To give you an idea about how close the factory 17s are to the strut... a good amount of GTO's (with OE 17s) tires actually rub the strut FROM THE FACTORY. They call it strut rub, and IIRC ,apparently its common enough the NHTSA launched an investigation a few years ago. It becomes even worse when your running the factory size 245/45/17 but in a tire that runs wide.

Stock shit. Best case scenario
http://www.ls2gto.com/forums/attachm...1&d=1199839824

How most GTOs are now that they are a few years old.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1383191277

And how most GTOs tires wear, not from strut rub, but from the assortment of shit front end components that fail early.
http://www.gtoforum.com/attachments/...b-img_0229.jpg

I really like the GTO but would drive one because I dont like the idea of buying a 13-16K car and then immediately having to redo the entire suspension, good things is once you get some good parts in there the GTO doesnt have too many problems.

If you want anymore info, you can check out a thread from ls1gto.com called "GTO suspension maintenance" it outlines some of the common problems.
For all you lazy no link clickers, maintenance apparently means CHANGE ALL THE THINGS.
GTO Suspension Maintenance - LS1GTO.com Forums

Thanks for the photos Josh. I actually haven't seen that thread yet so I'll give it a read.

Thankfully my car doesn't seem to have any of the rubbing issues, and the only slightly I never tire wear is in the back as a result of slightly saggy springs. Overall it seems like I got a good one as far as that's concerned. Car has never had a problem with transmission or diff either, and the amount of lifter tick it has is considered normal.

Anyway... The story will continue. I WILL buy goodies for this car. Just a question of when and what :)

If you lucked out and got a good one Id start buying up the front bushings and get those sorted before they start to fail.

A buddy bought a decent low mileage (60K '05) last year and we did the 5 mph brake test right when he got it, and no movement in the wheel, and the alignment checked out fine, so he just drove it, within a year of DDing it, he had pretty much all of the front bushings fail.

Everyone uses pedders, I think he used Whiteline, said Pedders was really high for some poly bushings and Whiteline was a lot cheaper.


Also when you park, straighten your wheel and dont lock the wheel, locking it wears out the lock cylinder housing, quickly.
He told me the diff takes a weird fluid, so if you service it verify you have the right stuff, and the Carrier bearing isnt serviceable so if it fails it gets pretty expensive.

Sorry for the thread derail, just trying to help you from his mistakes and at his expense

Thanks for the help! I researched the diff stuff, got the correct fluid and friction modifier (torco RGO and type f) and serviced the diff last week.

Yeah... The steering wheel lock. Dumb. I usually don't straighten the wheels but I also don't lock the steering wheel.

I know maintenance is a bit spendy on these cars but I really love the car and there's really nothing else quite like it for comparable money so I'm happy. I will plan to do bushings and coilovers and wheels and tires hopefully by the end of November. Might try to nab a beater trade-in from work to drive when the weather gets nasty so I can just park the GTO. We shall see.

17x9 ET 42

APEX ARC-8 BimmerWorld Exclusive BMW Aftermarket Performance Wheel | BimmerWorld.com Race Proven Performance Parts

17x9 ET 42

Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 - 17x9, E36/46

17x9 ET 41

http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info...products_id=84

Use a 3mm spacer.

THAT'S WHAT I'M-A TALKIN' ABOUT!

The first ones are good-looking and light, but I don't really want straight black wheels.

The second ones I don't like and are 22 lbs, so no.

BUT THE THIRD ONES. I was totally NO until I saw the anthracite ones, particularly the photo of the anthracite ones on the black M3. Holy kittens in a turbo, that looks GREAT. And under 17 lbs per wheel.

I have been working with America's Tire (discount tire) and they won't consider using spacers. I will check with Les Schwab (the other local place i've been working with) to see if they'd consider that.

The price is higher, yeah, by about $30/wheel and no rebates. BUT they're just right. Awesome. Wow they look GREAT! lol

Just one more concern on those though... They say not recommended for street use... I wonder if they'll be too fragile, although we don't have a lot of potholes around here. A few dips but nothing major. If I put good meat on them I don't think it would be a problem...

PM me your address.

The APEX are available in other colors from other retailers I believe.

Have them mount the tires on the wheels then take them home and put them on the car yourself with the spacers.

I would not be worried in any way, shape, or form about running D-Force wheels on the street. If you can run them on track with 285 Hoosiers on big, heavy cars over curbs, etc........they will be fine for street use.

Lots of track market wheels say "for track use only" or whatever. Shit, half the parts on my miata are "not recommended for street use" :rofl:

I also like the first and last wheels he posted. Particularly

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1383242093

They remind me of the 5zigen fn01c's my brother has on his s14.

Yes yes that's the photo I was talking about with the black M3. That's the photo that sold me on them. These will be my wheels. ...pretty sure anyway :)

I'm going to have to wait a little bit before I can pull the trigger on this stuff. So I won't have a receipt by this weekend. But I will he doing this. Can't wait. Gonna look and feel awesome!

aaaahahahahhahahaha!!!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Plans have changed again. Tee hee.

So... Just ordered some wheels. :D

The guy from Les Schwab called me back. His price on a 17x8 setup was ridiculous -- $450 more than the same setup, shipped, from TireRack. However I asked him to double check the price on his bronze TSWs because he said it was closeout pricing but never actually mentioned it.

So I asked him to find out.

His price was $100.57/wheel. :yippee: With shipping the total is $466 for 4 wheels. Yes, I know I fell in love with those other BMW wheels. Yes, I know those other wheels are 3.4 pounds lighter, which is a LOT. However, I am reminded about my low budget, and paying $466 for a set of wheels is much friendlier than paying $1150. Plus I'm getting them so damn cheap that if I really don't like them I can probably sell them for what I paid, or close to it.

So when they come in, we'll throw them on and see if they fit. If they don't fit... I'll figure something out.

Mr. Z31maniac... I got your PM. It'll be a bit but I'll deliver something there too.

Thanks again for all the help guyths. :makeout: the wheels will be here in 3 business days so I'll post pics of the test fit.

OK My homos. I mean -- homies. I think.

Went in today for the test fit. It's gonna be close but they said it's cool so I'll roll with it!

...however... I'm going to be doing 245 series tires all around this time again :crx: I know the whole reason for going wider was to have wider tires but they just won't fit and I need tires now. The plus, of course, is that the 245/45's on a 9" wheel will provide sharper handling. And they cost less.

And this is just incentive to wear them out sooner once I get the coilovers on so I can go wider.

Anyway... Here are the pics. I didn't get a pic of how close the wheels is to the strut tower because dumb. And my car is unbelievably filthy because fall in Oregon and crazy busy.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1383700680

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1383700686

So, I need to get tires but they are charging wayyyy too much for tires at this store, so I'm thinking about dropping the guy who has been helping me a $20 tip and taking my wheels to Discount Tire for tires. We shall see.

Sweet. Now you have the same size wheel and tire combo as a strong track Miata.

:party:

Ha! What Miatas are running 17s?

Funny stuff, you. I don't mind though. I really like Miatas, remember?

congrats to actually committing to something lol

I heard horror stories about GTO wheel fitment, but didn't know it was this bad. bummer

Why'd you ever doubt me??? :fawk:

Yeah it's rough. But worth it. I love this car.

A really nice one popped up in PA for $12,900 with perfect mods.

Did you end up buying something?

nope. I decided if I got something else I'd lose interest in the miata and end up selling it just like I did with my previous 3 lol

Ha. Information filed away for future use.

Ordered tires today. Ended up going with a different place for tires. Went with the Ecsta 4X after reading a lot of reviews. TireRack said it feels more like a summer tire in the dry but grips better than comparable tires in the wet and snow too. Will be $374 after rebate before mounting and balance. Booya.

Ended up going with stock size tires. bwah. But wider won't fit in the front. After I do coilovers and wear these tires out I'll put wider ones.

Should have everything all mounted up Tuesday, perhaps Wednesday at the latest.

Now I'm on the search for aluminum lugnuts.





I don't know anything about aluminum lugnuts.

Would these be a bad choice? I know you typically need different lugs depending on stock wheels or aftermarket wheels. How do I know which type of lugs I'm buying, and if they're correct?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/20PC-04-05-0...p2054897.l4276

Never mind. Just found out that 949 carries some that are only $25 more, and I'm sure the 949 pieces are top shelf. Will order those.

Edit: Just got off the phone with Emilio. Knows his stuff, no question!

Can't wait to get this all mounted.

For future readers of this thread, I was just talking to my friend who has the goat and he said the VMR wheels are really popular in the GTO community, the 2 most run are the 710 and VB3.

http://www.velocitymotoring.com/link...maxDim=918x918
http://www.velocitymotoring.com/link...maxDim=918x918

Yeah, I really like the look of the VB3 on a black car. Like, REALLY REALLY like it. Both wheels are great looking IMO. But no smaller than 18" (18x8.5 to be exact) and that's a 23 pound wheel which isn't great. But the price is good, looks like around $850/set or less?? I'm confused, I'm used to finding wheels listed separately and you buy a set of 4 but I can't seem to find these priced individually.

Yes indeed. That's a price for the whole set. Yeah a good deal I would say, if weight is not a huge concern, though it's losing about 6lbs per wheel vs. the stock 18's (same as I'm losing off the stock 17's) and the price is great for an 18. If I wanted to go 18's and pursue style over function they'd be a great option! No wonder they're popular.

lulz at being concerned over a few pounds on the wheels, on a 3500lb V8 muscle car.

Yah, normally the only time you see a Fbody/GTO owner worrying about wheel weight is when it comes the the skinnies they plan to run on the front.

Also I just stumbled across this, it in no way applies to what your looking outside of it being a GTO and having wheels, but thought it looked decent.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1383877462

well, you gotta start somewhere right?

less weight is always better than more weight

Why? Still makes a difference. Dropping the weight of each wheel/tire setup by over 20% will make a noticeable difference. It's still a performance car, and it's unsprung weight.

Oh, and I WISH it only weighed 3500 lbs :facepalm:

3770 to start
-100 for spare, rear brace and stuff = 3670
-15 for resonator to x-pipe = 3655
-10 for spoiler delete = 3645
-26 pounds for lighter wheels & lug nuts = 3619

Will be removing the underhood insulation but that's only like 5 ish pounds. Hopefully my hood will stay up after that.

So I'm making progress. I have a soft goal of 3500. We will see. Headers saves about 45-50 pounds. Can find some other junk to take out, remove front skid plate, and coilovers will save a bit more weight and get me close.

very cool man. keep at it. I was going to do exactly the same when I was goat shopping

Jesus! I thought the '13 GT I had was heavy. IIRC the shipping weight on the title was 3550.

Had I kept it, it would have been REALLY easy to pull a big chunk of weight out. The stock 19x9s were 31lbs, huge 14" single piece rotors, 35-40lb driveshaft, massive flywheel.

The only one of those that seems REALLY easy is the wheels. Changing the flywheel is pretty involved no?

But yeah, the mustangs are significantly lighter than the GTO, which is why they will outrun a GTO stock for stock.

Only took them 6 years to catch up :)

lol @ 3700+ lb 2 door "sports" car.

Yeah, all it took was a proper engine!

Driveshaft is easy, clutch change isn't "hard" but time consuming, but still a 1 day job. rotors are easy to change.

Add in a full exhaust, intake and tune, and you've gone from 420hp @ the crank to 430-435whp and you've got a beast.

I don't think a GTO has ever been marketed as anything other than a muscle car.

You'll notice I didn't call it a sports car , but a "performance" car. I chose my words carefully. I am not under the illusion that this thing is anything but a pig (see Sig) but it is definitely a performance car, albeit a comfortable one that makes concessions.

Can't complain. $11k for a comfy, good-looking (IMO), 400 HP V8 car with a huge aftermarket? Yes please.

Thanks for the help!!
 

Received my 949 aluminum lug nuts yesterday so finally had the wheels mounted today.

Ended up with the 17x9 TSW Panorama in bronze (40mm offset) with 245/45/17 Kumho Ecsta 4X tires all around.

Gonna be honest... it's gonna take me a bit to get used to it. I don't love it as much as I hoped, but I do like it very much. I would have liked those expensive 5-spoke BMW wheels better but hey, these were less than half the cost.

On to the pics.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1384644210

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1384644210

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1384644193

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1384644193

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1384644193

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1384644193

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1384644193

Looks good, just needs a bit less ride height.

Agreed. Coilovers in spring will bring a little lower ride height. I'm thinking about 1/2" front and back.