Caterham wheel/tire recommendation

[Kitcat]

I recently tried a set of Karl's (Blubarisax's) Rial(?) 13" wheels with 245x13 Avon R500's on the back and 205's on the front and they were great tho expensive. Does any other wheel tire combo fit well?

 

I have two sets of race wheels shod with cantilvered Goodyear slicks. They are great but wear out after 2-3 track events, wh/gets expensive. So I am looking for something that wears better.

 

Some time ago I bought Karl's like-new 15" Caterham wheels. However, the Toyo R888s (235x50-15) I bought dont fit on the back, tho the 195s I bought for the front do. But the 195s dont come close on the front and there are no 15' Toyo tires that do.

 

So, I cld run the Toyo R888 195x15's on the back and go to a 13" wheel tire combo up front. Any recommendations?

 

I have a staggered set up now with huge rear slicks and much smaller slicks up front and I'd like to maintain that type of set up and not go "all square" which wld translate to all small.

 

The Caterham bolt pattern is 4x108 and offest is apparently variable as the Caterham-only Rials have several offest choices.

 

I may just emulate Karl, or buy his, just looking for any alternatives that have worked for others.

 

I cld probably buy a bigger front cycle wing set up from Caterham also, they seem to come in various sizes (No Tom, I am not going to the classic fender set up, even tho that allows you to fit the widest tires ever seen on the front of a Caterham:)).

 

P.S. The Caterham parts store shows its various 13" wheels are basically out of stock and rumor has it that their wheel manufacturer has gone bankrupt.

Edited July 15, 2013 by Kitcat

[yellowss7]

(No Tom, I am not going to the classic fender set up, even tho that allows you to fit the widest tires ever seen on the front of a Caterham:)).

 

Ah come on Mike, Not only do the clams look sexy/retro/cool, they do allow you to run really big rubber up front and My Hoosier R25B last me about 40 to 50 heat cycles. Plus each lap you do with the clams goes towards your Pilot license since you get plenty of air time. :jester::jester:

 

Tom

[Kitcat]

Tom: R u on 13" wheels and, if so, who is the mfg? Not many 13 inchers being made (I can find none, other than Rial noted above (for abt $$750 a pop). I sent an e-mail to Tire Rack, we'll see what they come up with.

[yellowss7]

Yes, Mike, I am running 13x10 inch wheels on all four corners. The wheels where made by Kodiak. http://www.kodiakracingwheels.com/

 

Three piece rims, very light. Been thinking of getting another set.

 

Tom

[Klasik-69]

If its of any help to you, I am running the Hoosier bias ply slicks;

 

Product # 43169 20.0X 7.5-13 C2500 in a R35A compound fronts

Product # 43185 20.0X 9.0-13 C2500 in a R35A compount rears

 

I have gotten so far 2 days at Talladega GPR track, 1.5 days at Road Atlanta and 1 Chasing the Dragon hillclimb (2 days). The tires show very little wear and still grip like a steel trap. I run 18 psi front and back and they may get up to 19.5 to 19.8 psi after a 30 minute TT event, depending on outside temperature. I got them from Appalachian Tire since they support our SCCA events with incredibly good service and very competitive pricing. These tires, however, are not DOT road tires and are illegal for the streets.

 

The rims I'm using are the ones that came from Caterham and are spun aluminum rims with a cast center for a 3 piece wheel. They are extremely light and allow the car to spool up faster, especially out of turns. The only down side is they typically will pick up every rock and piece of gravel on the road and hurl it in any given direction but usually at the driver. As a result, I had these really ugly front cycle wings fitted with mud flaps on the bottom to keep the tires from killing me with flying debris.

[yellowss7]

Up until this year I use to run the 43185 tires which have a circumference of 64.7 inches I believe. I switched to the 43310's which have a 71 inch circumference and gained a few MPH in each gear. This circumference is closer to the original set up of 13 inch rims with the Avon CR500's.

 

On the tracks that I run at in NJ, the gearing with the new size seems to allow me to hold a lower gear just long enough to make it between turns where as before I had to hold off or shift and lose the revs going into the turn.

 

I've been using the R25b's here.

 

Tom

[Klasik-69]

For racing wheels, you can try;

 

http://rockcrawler-mrt.com/index.html

 

 

or

 

http://www.bassettwheel.com/

 

I saw on Heikki's car the Bassett wheels in a 13X10 on front and back. They look good but are not flashy. They were painted black and appeared well made. And based on Heikki's speeds in anything he enters, I would say they are likely pretty strong too.

[Klasik-69]

Up until this year I use to run the 43185 tires which have a circumference of 64.7 inches I believe. I switched to the 43310's which have a 71 inch circumference and gained a few MPH in each gear. This circumference is closer to the original set up of 13 inch rims with the Avon CR500's.

 

On the tracks that I run at in NJ, the gearing with the new size seems to allow me to hold a lower gear just long enough to make it between turns where as before I had to hold off or shift and lose the revs going into the turn.

 

I've been using the R25b's here.

 

Tom

 

You are correct in gaining a few MPH with a larger tire. My problem was not being able to use 5th gear due to the rear end ratio (3.62). Now, I can rev up in 4th, jump into 5th and still accelerate. I have a 5 speed T9 adn 5th being a .8:1 doesn't help matters any.

 

The R25b's are pretty soft and better at gripping but on hot southern courses, are too soft to hold grip after 4 or 5 laps on our hot asphalt. Hoosier recommended I run the R25b's at the Chasing the Dragon hillclimb but budget constraints told me that one set is all I get.

[yellowss7]

I have the 3.62 diff as well, but I have the Caterham 6 speed which is 1:1 in 6th so no overdrive.

 

Up here the R25b's grip well during my 20 minute sessions, even in the kind of heat we are having today.

[Klasik-69]

I have the 3.62 diff as well, but I have the Caterham 6 speed which is 1:1 in 6th so no overdrive.

 

Up here the R25b's grip well during my 20 minute sessions, even in the kind of heat we are having today.

 

Wow, and I see you're getting 100+ degree temps lately. I'm surprised the R25 compound is still hard enough to keep from getting greasy. I was worried about the R35 compound being hard enough for the southern track heat and never considered the softer compound. And yes, I wish I had a 6 speed vs. my 5 speed. Actually, I wish I had the sequential gear box but I'm too cheap to fork over the money for it.

 

Another supplier of wheels is Marsh Racing Wheels. They have 13X8 and 13X10 race wheels that weigh 13 and 14 lbs respectively with a published price of $99.95 and $109.95, and make them with any offset you want and with a variety of wheel bolt patterns. Their website is;

 

http://www.mrw-wheels.com

[Kitcat]

Thx for info. I will look into the wheel suppliers noted above. And Hoosier has so many tire options for 13" wheels that they are a likely source of backups for the Goodyears.

[Croc]

Mike - Karl also runs a set of BBS wheels purchased through MOG Racing (Joachim is on here with a video effing up a Porsche ) I am sure they are quite reasonable in price (for some people! :jester:)

[Kitcat]

Yes, for a bit more than some recent se7ens have sold here, I cld be sporting 4 of those wheels, wh/I wld probably bend at my 1st track event:).

[blubarisax]

I've always thought Tom's MB-Racing magnesium wheels were the sexiest ever. I never got them because I read somewhere they had to be crack tested every year. Tom has proven that to be fiction.

[Klasik-69]

Mike - Karl also runs a set of BBS wheels purchased through MOG Racing (Joachim is on here with a video effing up a Porsche ) I am sure they are quite reasonable in price (for some people! :jester:)

 

Mike, you guys have way too big a budget for stuff like that. Us married guys have to account for some of what we spend:nopity:. I figure that for track wheels which are more likely to have some kind of unexpected event happen to them, it's best to go on the cheap side.

 

On the tire side of the equation, I can't help but think that you guys would be better off with a harder compound than the R25, especially for summer runs. I don't think many of you run in the winter time. Mike, you're the only one I ever saw rent a car on a fast track while it's snowing. That takes some elephant sized balls, or a lot of booze. Maybe both.

[yellowss7]

Our track days begin in late March, early April and end Mid November. I have arrived at the track and the temps are in the low 30s F, at that time. On those days, I can do the whole session and my tire temps don't get even get warm to the touch. Maybe I'm over tired. :jester:

 

Heat doesn't build up too badly, last time out with temps in the 90s my tire temps were about 118 -120 F. Slightly higher on the left rear as there are a lot of right hand turns. around 130 ish on the left rear.

 

Would the R35B's heat up slower? or is it just a harder compound that wears longer?

 

tom

[Klasik-69]

Our track days begin in late March, early April and end Mid November. I have arrived at the track and the temps are in the low 30s F, at that time. On those days, I can do the whole session and my tire temps don't get even get warm to the touch. Maybe I'm over tired. :jester:

 

Heat doesn't build up too badly, last time out with temps in the 90s my tire temps were about 118 -120 F. Slightly higher on the left rear as there are a lot of right hand turns. around 130 ish on the left rear.

 

Would the R35B's heat up slower? or is it just a harder compound that wears longer?

 

tom

 

It's hard to tell. If I had run a set of the R25's, I'd have a reference point to make a comparison but I don't and if I uttered any opinion, I'd be talking out of my hat. My recomendation is to call Hoosier and ask to speak to one of their engineers. They will ask you what kind of car you're running and then place you in contact with one who deals with that type/class of car. then that engineer will ask you what you're doing with the car, the type of events, the type of tracks, etc. It is incredible how much those guys know and how helpful they are, and it's all free.

 

Temperature wise, our asphalt tracks heat up to about 155 to 160 in the summertime in open sun, and the tires on my car will warm up to about 125-135 degrees at the warmest, and 15 to 20 less on a cooler day. In comparison, my Z06 would warm up the R6 radials to over 165 and at times reached 190 degrees. Pressures on those tires were much higher than the 7 with 32 to 38 psi, whereas I now run 18 psi all around and let them work up to 19.5 degrees before knocking them down. Again, I had a lot of good suggestions from Hoosier, like the starting off point of 18 psi which proved to be 100% correct. They also recommended I knock off -2 degree camber I had and bring it back to -0.2 to -0.8, again very correct. I knocked over 4 seconds off my lap time at Talladega GPR.

[Croc]

On the tire side of the equation, I can't help but think that you guys would be better off with a harder compound than the R25, especially for summer runs. I don't think many of you run in the winter time.

 

 

Personally I never run slicks on my seven and have no plans to - street tires only. I am working through plans to shift to 13 inch rims but will be using the Avon street tires. I prefer their feel and progressive release at limit. I have run slicks on other race cars in the past and think it is the right solution there. But a seven does not really need them to drive quickly if you have a good feel for the car. Those needing to run slicks are just determined to find a way to keep up with me without investing time in improving their driving skill. :seeya:

 

 

Mike, you're the only one I ever saw rent a car on a fast track while it's snowing. That takes some elephant sized balls, or a lot of booze. Maybe both.

 

Yes that was the day when 4 out of 6 rental Caterhams wrote themselves off. I have not had that much wrist action since I was a 15 year old. Quite memorable. :ack:

 

Sadly my days of having a drink (or even using mouthwash) are ending thanks to an alcohol allergy. And I just checked the balls and those walnuts are definitely not elephant sized. So it must be the size and shape of my brain? :conehead:

[Kitcat]

Lol!

[jlumba81]

What are the options for a 13" street tire for 7s? Anyone willing to set up a group buy for wheels/tires?