235/40/17's and the track
#26
08-24-2018, 05:03 PM
Dr. Spade: I think this is Terrence, right? If so, hey man! You're actually the guy that turned me onto the idea of trying the Federals to begin with. We talked about it in FB messenger... This is Ian in Central Florida. The Federals have been pretty awesome for the money. I'm a little disappointed I haven't gotten more life out of them. But otherwise, they have performed a lot better than I even expected for sure. Thanks for this extra info too. You might recall, I actually asked you about running them in reverse too. You advised against it. I tried it anyhow, lol. Terrible idea. I just flipped the federal's on the wheels so I can get a couple more days out of them and I went ahead and ordered a set of RE71's to try next. I've pretty much come to the realization, it's 215's for me for the time being. Maybe I'll pull the trigger on fender flares and 8" or 8.5" wheels down the road so I can run 235's.
Hey Eddie,
Your assessment of my photo is correct. That lid is part of a hidden compartment that basically occupies the rear seat pan. When it's closed, the car essentially looks like it just has an aftermarket rear seat delete. They've just utilized those seat pans areas for extra storage. I've aways that it was actually a pretty cool idea. Anyhow, it looks like at the very least, the side panels have to come out to get it all out. It definitely looks more involved than the typical removal of an R56 back seat. I honestly think that both the harness bar or bolting in a four point hoop options would be a bit easier than removing all this compartment stuff and then getting rear seat buckles mounted for quick fits, etc. I have also tried the "cheat" harness you speak of too. I've never had good luck keepng it engaged though. I always seem to somehow move around enough for the inertia lock to disengage. I think I'm going to have to ponder this all more. I may just put the whole idea on the back burner until the season is over :-/
Hey Eddie,
Your assessment of my photo is correct. That lid is part of a hidden compartment that basically occupies the rear seat pan. When it's closed, the car essentially looks like it just has an aftermarket rear seat delete. They've just utilized those seat pans areas for extra storage. I've aways that it was actually a pretty cool idea. Anyhow, it looks like at the very least, the side panels have to come out to get it all out. It definitely looks more involved than the typical removal of an R56 back seat. I honestly think that both the harness bar or bolting in a four point hoop options would be a bit easier than removing all this compartment stuff and then getting rear seat buckles mounted for quick fits, etc. I have also tried the "cheat" harness you speak of too. I've never had good luck keepng it engaged though. I always seem to somehow move around enough for the inertia lock to disengage. I think I'm going to have to ponder this all more. I may just put the whole idea on the back burner until the season is over :-/
Do you have the ability to fab your own roll bar or harness bar or are you considering a buying a pre-fabbed piece?
#27
08-25-2018, 10:55 AM
I was looking at the 48" universal harness bar by Cipher Auto. Their "MINI bar" actually doesn't fit R56, only 53. I've talked to them though and they have vertical bars for the universal that seem like they will work for the GP2. If I did a roll bar, I was just considering either a Sneed or BR Racing pre-fabbed. I like BR's configuration because it completely doesn't disturb the GP's storage compartments we've been talking about. But, it looks like I will have issue with my howerton tank interfering with the back driver-side point. I'll probably do a little looking around locally to see if there's any shops that might could do something. Although I know how to weld decently, I wouldn't want to take on this project personally. I don't think my skills are quite there, lol. But yeah, it doesn't seem like there's a great, easy option :-/
#28
08-26-2018, 05:35 AM
The R56 wasn’t used for racing given the early engine problems and as a result there wasn’t much developed for it to support this sort of activity. Makes it tough to do much with it. Unless you have someone that you know who can fab something locally and you can work with, it is also tough to get something custom fabricated. Let know how it goes.
#29
08-27-2018, 08:55 AM
What offset do your wheels have? And what springs and shocks are you running? I have a set of 225-45-17 R888s and they rub in the rear with 7” wide rims and a 45mm ET. Stock sport springs and Bilstein B8 shocks. Because of that, I would have never considered 235s. But with stiff enough springs maybe the tires wouldn’t get into the wheel well to rub?
Offset is 35. I've only rubbed under duress in rear from driving with 4 passengers, 2 heavy.
The 7" wheel is definitely your limiting factor. My size wheels are available from Tire Rack. An 8 is the bare minimum for a 225/45 R888. Without fender limitation they'd be best on a 9.
I'm on Koni Yellows and Swift Spec R springs. They've never touched. The only time I've rubbed inside fender is with 215 Federal RSR on stock 17X7s.
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