Tires, Wheels, & Brakes Discussion about wheels, tires, and brakes for the new MINI.

Wheel Spacers + Track Abuse

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  #1  
Old 10-26-2006, 07:34 AM
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Wheel Spacers + Track Abuse

Hi all-
I am thinking about adding some wheel spacers to my Motegi Traklites for a little bit wider track width (better handling). I am concerned about how everything will hold up to some hard driving on the track, about once a month. I'm not sure yet as to which width I will get, 5mm to 15mm.

From what I have read, a lot of people add spacers for cosmetics and I haven't heard about any long term effects from tracking a car with spacers.

Any positives or negatives are appreciated. Thanks! Jim
 
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Old 10-26-2006, 09:50 AM
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if you use quality spacers and bolts to match, you will be fine.

i run 15mm spacers on my G35C running new studs. works great,
no issues.
 
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Old 10-26-2006, 11:13 AM
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Spend the money on tires

Everything gets better with better tires.
 
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Old 10-26-2006, 03:32 PM
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I'm running Kuhmo Exsta's and so far they are great! I ordered some camber plates from Ireland Engineering so those should help too. I just wanted to make sure that spacers wouldn't be unsafe or have detrimental effects on the track.

Jim
 
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Old 10-26-2006, 04:37 PM
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Gains

You will have gains with the wider stance, I am not sure how much. But negatives exist as well, like extra stress on the bearings.

A few months back, Grassroots Motorsports had a great article on all the tweaks you can do with mostly stock pieces.
 
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Old 10-26-2006, 06:23 PM
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I've heard from people I trust that the spacers will improve handling when you add them to the front. Get some good ones and you shouldn't have an issue. That's my assessment as someone who looked for similar information.

mb
 
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Old 10-26-2006, 07:05 PM
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I ran 20 mm with S Lites for over 3 years

NEVER a problem

Track days, auto x, daily driver

PS: partial hijack >>> they are on the marketplace ...
 
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Old 10-26-2006, 08:51 PM
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I run spacers as well....lots of auto-cross and daily driven abuse. No problems
 
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Old 10-29-2006, 06:52 PM
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Do a search for spacers in the suspension forum ... there is some good information out there.

Running spacers on the front not rear can help initial turn-in. The spacers/wider track can help correct some of the geometry problems that happen when you lower a car significantly. Also keep in mind that increasing the track with spacers or lower offset wheels also decreases the effective spring rate.

I use 5mm upfront for track days, but I'm toying with the idea of using 10s.
 
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