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17 inch tires
I threw this question out on the Unique forum, and even asked the good folks at Unique, but got little useable info so I'll try here. I've decided to go with 17" wheels on my build and I'm getting close to the drop-dead date for providing said wheels and tires to the builder. I can get my prefered wheel in a 11" width if needed, but I'm not sure how much tire I can cram under the rear wheel wells. There seems to be a big dead spot in tire sizes between 275 and 315mm. I need all the tire I can get to hook up a 418W but I don't want rubbing or protruding. The standard wheel is 17x9.5 and I would prefer to use that as the 11" barrels will delay things. Having said all that, please chime in with any advice you can give me. Thanks in advance.
Bill Stradtner P.S. I tried to do a search here but the the search engine didn't like the word "17". Go figure. |
I am using an aftermarket set of mustang wheels 17x9 with Nitto NT-555 tires. While I have not driven this setup with my car, I know guys with this combination and they love them. There is no shortage of mustang wheels and the Nitto tires get good reviews and are fairly priced.
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The guys at the rim company your dealing with ought to be able to give you the right backset for the front and rear rims. I'm sure someone with a Unique has ordered 17" before. I am using PS Engineering pin drives on mine with a 9" front rim and 11" rear. Michelin Pilot Sport 275/40/17 front and 335/40/17 rear. The front rims are a 3" backset and 5" backset rears. With those tires you can always roll lawns for extra money! Good luck!
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I'm getting my wheels from Vintage Wheel Works. They are a 17" version of the old straight-cut American mags (not the curved spokes) at 5.5 rear and 4.5 front backspace, which is what Unique suggested. Vintage doesn't know anything about Cobras. They build mostly for classic muscle cars so they can't really suggest a tire for one. I looked at the Michilin Pilots but the 335 is more than I want in the rear and they are awfully pricey. If someone with a Unique 427 with 17" wheels is out there, please chime in.
Bill |
Good Year Eagle F1
285/40ZR17 Tire size 9.5"- 11.0" Rim width 26.1" Tire Diameter I didn't go with these but did ponder it due to this tire size. I ended up going with a cheaper tire that wasn't quite as big. http://tires2.digiknow.com/goodyear/...ea=Performance |
I run 9 and 11's 275/40 and 315/35's photo's in my gallery. I suggest www.tirerack.com they have 17's from $50-$350. One great thing about those sizes is that new vettes run the same size and thus cost and availability are excellent.
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Front:
Dunlop 245/45ZR17 SP Sport 8000 AC Team III 8.5 x 17 Rear: Dunlop 335/35ZR17 SP Sport 8000 AC Team III 11 x 17 |
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I have 285/40 Yoko A520 tires on my 17x11 rims. The tires JUST fit on the rim... The sidewall of the 285 is directly in line with the lip of the wheel. One of the wheels fell over when it was off the car. There wasn't enough sidewall bulge to prevent the rim from hitting the ground. The next pair of rear tires that I buy will be 315/35.
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In ordering 17's from Boyd Cottington, I found out the hard way that there is another dimension besides back spacing that might need to be specified. It is the maximum diameter of the "pad" area. The meat of the center hub portion that has the 5 holes in it that fits flat against the axle. I guess that most folks with the need for 17's have larger diameter rear brakes so it is not an issue. The small brakes on the SPF (designed to fit into 15 inch wheels) have interference with the pad and the caliper. Since I did not specify, it was my problem. They would remachine at my expense, plus transportation to and from west coast. I ended up having a local machine shop reduce the diameter by about 3/8 and 1/2 deep to clear the caliper. Fronts were ok.
Richard |
On one of my past Superformance Cobras I ran Trigo 17s with 335/35/ZR17 on the rear and they worked great. The performance was outstanding although I still prefer the 15 inch tires for the traditional look...........which I now have on my current Cobra.
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Richard;
The Unique has inboard rear brakes, so that won't be a problem. Everybody else, thanks for all the comebacks. I had decided to go 17" to get around the lack of speed rated 15" tires but this is becoming much more complicated than my original plan, which was T?A's on Torque-Thrust D's. Decision time again. Bill Stradtner |
I ran the T/A's on my Excalibur. As I ran Autocross with that car it didn't take long to figure out the T/A's were basically worthless on the track.
I switched to Yokohama Autocross DOT approved tires and it was night and day difference!!!!! The Yoko's had WAY more traction than the T/A's. An unexpected result: I felt much more confident driving the car around town, highway, etc. With the additional traction I was more confident about controlling the car. The T/A's would break loose and spin in a heart beat compared to the Yoko's (16", by the way). Ernie |
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