MR2 owner seeks help from Mustang owners

I am looking to use rims that come in:
17X11 (rears) & 17X8 (fronts)
... and, of course, a grassroots pricing would be nice :)

I currently have Mustang cobra wheels on the car now (17X9 and 17x8):
http://www.jekylhyderacing.com/images/hyde_lccc_nepa_9_3_06_Raul_2.jpg
... so, obviously Mustang sizes (from those years) will work.
Anyone know what year of Mustang Cobra those wheels came from?

Anyway, the 9" wide in the rear is not working for me. I would like to go to 11".

I've found Kinesis K10 which I *think* are over $700 each wheel (that's just not going to happen).
http://www.marcoracing.com/images/kinesis/K58StF.jpg

Summit has these for $300/each:
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/are-405576142_w.jpg

Would anyone kick my butt for putting a cragar-wannabe rim on an MR2? :) ... I wonder how heavy they are :(

So .... any other options out there for 17X11s?
What does the Mustang crowd typically use for racing that comes in a 17X11?

Thanks,

You can send any rim to weldcraft and they can stretch it out to that.

Nice MR2 by the way :) Even with the Cobras. Hell, I put a set of Cobras on my GTR and they fit it too.

if you follow this link there is quite a large assortment of 17x10.5" rims, all for less than the ones you posted.

http://www.americanmuscle.com/17inchwheels.html

if you follow these ones, there are mustang mach1 wheels which are made from aluminum so they are definatly light.

http://www.slickcar.com/productdetails.asp?ProductID=3143 http://www.slickcar.com/productdetails.asp?ProductID=3142

Thanks for the links ... they mostly seem to be for 10.5s though.

I want to step up to a 315 which only requires a 10" wide rim,
but if they can't accomplish what I am looking for, I will need
to go to the 335s which will need an 11" wide rim.

Thanks for the help,

yeah they are 10.5 i didnt find any 11's though so i thought id atleast post those anyway.

I appreciate it ... 10.5 may just work out.

Might not be too bad ...

http://www.jekylhyderacing.com/images/xxx_wheels.jpg

Thanks for the links ... they mostly seem to be for 10.5s though.

I want to step up to a 315 which only requires a 10" wide rim,
but if they can't accomplish what I am looking for, I will need
to go to the 335s which will need an 11" wide rim.

Thanks for the help,

335 will suck up alot of HP and torque to let you know... I lost 17hp and 23ft-lbs going from stock 17x8 with 245/45R17 to 18x10.5 with 315/30R18 tires... and that was back to back dyno's within 15 minutes of each run.

What was the weight difference? I can imagine some loss, but that much? Even if the runs are back to back, there will always be variables;)

As Skyline indicated, I could see how the weight would affect the dyno, but not the size. Unless maybe the overall diameter changes and affected the acceleration, not sure.

Regardless, I am only looking for these wheels for the hillclimbs were I already have plenty of power in my pocket and we aren't done tuning yet. I'd gladly give up some torque at this point for more control.

What was the weight difference? I can imagine some loss, but that much? Even if the runs are back to back, there will always be variables;)



That is the thing, we thought it might be back to back run differences, the car came right off the freeway and onto the dyno, so it was warm. So we didnt think it was heat related. I did some research after that day to find out what the wieght differences was, so here is the whole thing as it happened..


1st two runs are with 1999 Cobra wheels which are 17x8 and according to Ford and the scale wight 25 lbs each. They had Dunlop Direzza DZ10 tires.. winter beater tires 245/45R17 which on tire rack weigh 25 lbs each

25w+25T=50lbs per side or 100 lbs.
1st Dyno run... 277rwhp and 311 ft-lbs of torque
2nd Dyno run... 278rehp and 313 ft-lbs of torque

Now these were not my normal tires, I normally run with AFS 18x10.5 wheels, with BFG KDW II with 295/35R18 so I wanted those back on.. I was expecting a 4~5hp loss..

The set we took off the other mustang had 315/30R18 Michelin Pilot sports which on tire rack was 30 lbs.
The rims was AFS 18x10.5 03 Cobra wheels which the shipping weight is 36 lbs.

36w+30T=66 lbs per side or 132 lbs.
3rd Dyno run... 266rwhp and 294rwtq.... whoa and NO WAY that's right, so we did run number 4
4th Dyno run... 265rwhp and 296rwtq.... now we are scratching our heads...

SO we then take those wheels off and put 99 cobra wheels with Hoosier R6 tires 245/45R17...
did a couple of runs.. oh the tires are 22 lbs according to tire rack so

25w+22T=47 lbs and 94 for both sides
5th Dyno Run...279rwhp and 314rwtq.... WTF...
6th Dyno Run...278rehp and 313rwtq....


so we try another set.. this time the last set was AFS wheels 18x10.5 with Continetal Contisport 2 295/35R18
We also looked those up... they are a massive 36 lbs each WHOA!!!

36+36=72 per side and 144 for both sides...
7th Dyno Run...261rwhp and 289rwtq..
8th Dyno Run...262rwhp and 290retq..


What it came down to is rotational mass.. which was one of the reasons I went with a aluminum flywheel and driveshaft and electric water pump. At the most was a 50lbs difference between the lightest setup and heaviest setup. We don't know how much the air in the tires changed the weight, I guess we should have wieghed the tires while inflated...

Damn, good info! Thanks Silver

Damn, good info! Thanks Silver


I agree, thanks for sharing. My AFS wheels weigh a ton, i think next time i hit the dyno, imma throw some 14's on there to freshen up my dyno #'s, lol............J/K :)