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V1 Wheel and Tire Help

A

Adam in CLE

Well-Known Member
A
Getting my kit delivered in a month or so and am looking at wheel/tire combos. Would like the speedo to accurate and am not planning on doing a tune at the current time. Am thinking of going 225 40 18 front and 245 40 18 rear. What is the best rim size including offset where I won't have any interference issues? I am looking at OZ racing rims that are 18x8 with +48 offset. Will this combo work or are there other suggestions in options?
 
Ross
So many options... What is important to you? Is this a street car or a race car? Do you like to cruise down main street, or terrorize the back roads? How important is looks? Those OZ 18" wheels are almost the same as my 2006 stock Cobalt wheels: 18"x7" with a 42mm offset. I think the OZ wheels will work fine, no rubbing issues.

From a performance point of view (my preference so take it with a grain of salt if not your focus) the 18" wheels tend to be heavier than the smaller wheels, say 17" or 15". The smaller wheel can have the same stock heighth (25.6" high) if you put on a tire with a larger sidewall, thus keeping your speedometer accurate, and overall weight down. Larger sidewalls can also increase tire contact patch on the road, and handle road hazards like pot holes from wreaking your wheel. Of course low profile tires are all the rage, even thou they tend to be poorer at performance. My 2 cents on appearance: that small wheels look better on the small goblin. It just seems to match the scale better. More of the go-kart racing look than the donk car look. But each unto their own... this is the best part of a goblin, is you can make it yours. If you like 20" wheels on your goblin, go for it!
 
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Rauq
This has not been updated in a while but still has some good info. For what it's worth I'm running a 17x8 with +38 and can barely kiss the control arms with the wheels with the wrong bump on my driveway at full lock on an SS rack (which has less travel than a base rack).
 
Joebob
Keep in mind that any wheel with a backspace of >6.00" will most likely hit the control arms at full lock without spacers. DF does make steering limiters to control this, but now is the time decide the path to travel.

Joe
 
A
Thanks for the responses! This will be 99% street carving up back roads. I will try autocross/track racing in due to time and will determine if it is for me. To that end, I am going toward the street/back roads setup. @Ross Should I be that concerned with wheel weight? I am coming from the hotrod/motorcycle cruising world and that was not an area of concern. I always thought the shorter side wall makes for a stiffer sidewall so tire roll didn't become an issue. I am trying to be in the 40mm tire height so I can keep the same wheel diameter as the Cobalt to not throw the speedo off too much. @Rauq I have seen that post and got some ideas but agree, it hasn't been updated in a bit. Didn't know if anything changed. @Joebob I am getting the steering limiter from DF.
 
CaptFrank2001
I'm running Nitro NT 555 G2 tires. 245-45-17 in front & 275-40-17 in the rear. I used a 32mm adapter (spacer) with my 17x9 wheels. I don't have any clearance issues. I did have to make special adapters to make the fenders work & widen the rear fenders.
 
Ross
Wheel weight is performance... one advantage of a goblin body vs the Cobalt body is the fact that the weight gets cut, allowing the engine & brakes to easily throw the car around. Rotating mass (wheels, tires, brake rotors, etc) are generally considered to be 4 times more beneficial for weight reduction, meaning 1 pound saved off the tires is about the same performance as 4 pounds saved off the rest of the car.

Shorter sidewall is lower tire roll, but tire roll hasn't been much of an issue for me. Mostly trying to get soft enough rubber to connect the goblin to the road. Even with the stock motor, I recommend <=100 tread wear tires. Love the Toyo R888R, the Nitto NT05R, and would consider the Nankang AR-1. Will pass on 200TW tires, as the back end of the goblin swings around too quickly when pushed, and I want to catch the drifts, and keep the goblin on the road. If you never push your car and never get into a drift, then maybe 200TW would work for you... just not me, and my mad Max goblin.
 
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Sluggonaut
I keep searching tire discussions, but still a ways off from making a decision. I already have my wheels but until I can mount them and take measurements I'm not sure what tires to be looking at. This is one of several threads I will be following.
 
Rttoys
Ross said:
Even with the stock motor, I recommend <=100 tread wear tires. Love the Toyo R888R, the Nitto NT05R, and would consider the Nankang AR-1. Will pass on 200TW tires, as the back end of the goblin swings around too quickly when pushed, and I want to catch the drifts, and keep the goblin on the road. If you never push your car and never get into a drift, then maybe 200TW would work for you... just not me, and my mad Max goblin.
Click to expand...

I use to say nothing over 200tw with anything stronger than a 2.2l, BUT I have changed and don’t recommend anything over a 200tw on any goblin. The 3 you listed should be at the top of everyone’s list. You won’t get many miles out of them, but safety and control is top notch, even when just “playing around”.
 
Rttoys
And after running hard at autocross this weekend in mid 30s temps, the R888R’s perform very well in all seasons. The only last test is full wet and snow, but there’s no goblining in the snow. o_O
 
S
Even with the stock motor, I recommend <=100 tread wear tires. Love the Toyo R888R, the Nitto NT05R, and would consider the Nankang AR-1.
I would include the Nitto NT01 as well in this list
 
Ross
Good to hear the NT01 are good too. There are probably lots of 100TW tires that are good, I am only familiar with some of them. Since these tires are soft a good wheel alignment can save a lot of expensive rubber, a ~$140 professional wheel alignment tends to be money well spent. Recommend
Camber: -0.5 degrees, front & rear
Caster: 9 degrees +- 0.5
Toe in: 3/16" per wheel width or 0.15 degrees, front and rear.
 
CaptFrank2001
Adam in CLE said:
@CaptFrank2001 Thanks for the info, that helps. What is your offset on the rims? I was hoping to not use spacers. Did you have to extend the lugs due to the spacer?
@Ross Thanks to you as well. Learn something new everyday!
Click to expand...
The offset is 32mm (1.26"). This is from the work order to have them made. "Custom - One Piece Adapter, HC to Car WC to Wheel, 2006 CHEVROLET COBALT SS 5 LUG, Studs:12x1.5, VehBP:5x110, WheelBP:5 by 114.3 (4.5 inches), CBVeh:65.1, CBWheel:73.1, thickness=32mm"

I had no issues with the the Stud length. As you can see in the 2nd picture the stock Lug Studs are recessed & look short. But they had approximately 80% thread contact. I do not believe this to be an issue since I followed the torque guidelines. If I was racing the car I would have replace them with longer studs.
 

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A
Quick question before I pull the trigger. Would the following size rims fit without needing spacers? 18x9.5 +30 offset. Found them locally and they are cheaper than ordering new. Tires are 265 40r 18 on all 4. Am a bit concerned in the width as I have heard wheel hop can be an issue with wider front tires due to the weight being in the back of the car and not much up front. Thanks for your thoughts.
 
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