Track Day Wheels, Tires and Pads
#27
Why do you feel wheels without centering rings are better?
The Enkei wheels I have and have had all came with metal rings which were never a problem. I know some wheels come with plastic rings which can melt when over heated on the track which would not be good. Or are there other problems with them?
The Enkei wheels I have and have had all came with metal rings which were never a problem. I know some wheels come with plastic rings which can melt when over heated on the track which would not be good. Or are there other problems with them?
I am admittedly biased against centering rings as well as spacers, though have run both in the past. Here is why.
When I was younger and budget constrained, I bought a set of new track 17x8.5 wheels for my then E36M3. It was a great deal that required 15mm spacers to fit. Although wheels were perfectly round and brand new, after 3 failed tire balancing attempts by two reputable tire installers, they still shook between 65-80mph. Near-ruined a track weekend. The second guy volunteered to balance them with the spacers attached, and low and behold, finally balanced out the vibration. I marked the wheels and spacers, until the marks wore off over the course of the track/autoX season. That winter I sold the wheels and bought a set with proper offset. Lesson learned.
Then there was the time I got a set of cheapo winter wheels from TireRack that came with *gulp* plastic centering rings. One of them went in crooked and got permanently distorted during initial installation. Had to wait for a replacement to arrive before I could install them on the car. My fault - I didn't do my homework on those wheels. eBay-ed them as soon as I could.
Ever since, I steer towards the simplest possible wheel setup: no spacers (unless unavoidable), and absolutely no centering rings.
YMMV,
a
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