This is my new rear wheel setup. 23 lbs total. 13 lb wheel and 10 lb tire.

Any guesses as to what the wheel and tire are?

Have been looking for a long while now to try and get lighter but this is the best I could do.

Not even sure it will help yet but will test against stock rears both N/A and with spray next time to the track.

 

What will I win If I get it right?

 

RX-7 spare?

 

Yes, actually an 86 RX7 16x4 Alloy spare.

The tires are Metzler 120/80 VB16's.

Here is a better pic of the profile.

 

Can't wait to see the results of the track testing. Geez, those are small!!!

 

Well it will be interesting to see. I am not too confident there will be much of a change n/a after seeing your results, but hoping it will be a different story on spray.

 

Looks like a motorcycle tire lol. Is that tire an actual track legal tire and not just one of those 50 mile only spare tires?

 

Non speed rated tires are not legal at the track so can't use the space saver spare tires, however you can use the wheels.

The tire is a V rated (150 mph) motorcycle tire. Actually thats what a lot of front drag tires are thats where I got the idea from but couldn't find a cheap rim until I heard about the RX7 spare.

 

Really quite cool and interesting. Pls post the impressions/ improvments and what you had before possibly

 

Jim you wanting to sell your millenia wheel setup now? Im interested if so.

Matt

 

Will let you know Matt. Want to try this out for a bit first to see how it works out. They are a little short, ie 23.5 inches tall, but the slicks are 22 so should be ok.

 

Oh, so I guess my joke turned out to be right, it IS a motorcycle tire hehe.

 

What? really? Why do you want some now? Just so you know, I am putting your Millenia wheels to good use.

Jime, good job on the rear tires. I'm not sure what those import drag cars use at the track, but they have some tiny tires on the rears. They might be motorcycle tires too. Either that, or actual drag racing pizza cutters that I know are NHRA approved.

 

yea i want them for the rears

 

Are these the millenia wheels that I found for us a while Back? You sold them to Aaron....now your looking for another pair. hahahaha

 

I always make things complicated

 

Haha yeap.. oh well. I need some tires for the back. One day, I will just use the stock 16lb wheels or go with some real drag skinnies on lighter wheels. I might steal the ones that are on my brother's trailored Chevelle. He doesn't race it much anymore. I'm not even sure if they will fit my rears. They have like a 0mm offset. Anybody have an idea if they will fit? ... IF my dust caps don't get in the way.

Matt, that's another thing, I dunno if your calipers will clear with the Millenia wheels. I know they won't clear in your fronts. Also, your dust cap might get in the way. They do for 3rd and 4th genners.

 

They will clear if they are stock, but the dust cap does hit but that is easily remedied by a dremel, no further modification was required from the 4th gen to the 2k2, for the rear of course.

 

Jime, would you know if a 0mm offset wheel would fit on the 4th gen rears? It's a 15x4 Weld DragLite wheel I think. I just wanted to get an idea. Thanks.

*edit* Oh yeah, when you dremelled the rear dust cap off, did you remove the entire dust cap? How ugly is the car without the cap on? Is it just a big nut like the fronts?

 

Hey Aaron not sure on that one but I would think you have a pretty good chance that it will.

I didn't dremel the dust cap I dremeled the millenia's, had to do the same with the RX7 wheels as well, except the hole was even smaller on the RX7 wheels.

 

hahaha, that's sweet. Thanks a lot for the info Jim. You've been a huge help as usual. BTW, good going on the 2K2. Can't wait to see what happens next. Maybe next time your thread won't get locked. lol

 

Here is a pic of what they look like mounted on the rear of the car. I put the slicks on the front just to see what it would look like at the track.

I still haven't washed this car yet, maybe this weekend.

The headlight is also missing I am working on an intake, basically the same as what I had on the 95 with the velocity stack in the headlight hole. These lights are even easier to remove than the 4th Gen, just 2 10mm bolts. No wonder they get stolen all the time.

 

Very nice! My 3rd gen headlight took 4 10mm bolts and nuts to remove. It only took about 2 minutes to remove.

BTW, I looked closely at my brother's front drag wheels on his Chevelle. 0mm offset, 5 lug, VERY SMALL tires that came on some kind of VW Beetle. They look to be very close to the same size as a motor cycle tire. I think they are 165/45 or something like that. And the rims are light. If I ever need them, I might try it. But not until I really need them. Right now, I'm bracket racing this season.

 

Strange how the rules are so different. Thats all I do is bracket race and we have 2 series going here for sport compacts and 2 different tracks and I hit them all, about 12-14 per summer.

Our rules allow slicks etc otherwise I wouldn't be running them, I am much more interested in racing than posting a fast time. Competition is where its at.

 

Yeah, in the street and sport compact class, you have to have DOT tires and a muffler. That is all. I don't need smaller rear tires right now, b/c I'm not trying to set new records. My mind is set on bracket racing right now so I am putting my modding on hold until the temps start cooling down.

I am running my DRs and I don't have any traction problems. Not even a chirp. So far we've had two races this season at the Las Vegas track and I came in 2nd on the first one and I won the 2nd one. I'm off to a nice start in the points race. There are only 10 races during the season here. I can attend other races like the All Motor Sport Compact races, but I won't stand a chance in that one against all those 12 second NA Civics around town. Plus, I plan to attend the NHRA Sport Compact Nationals when they come to Vegas. Last year, I tied for 3rd out of 55 ricers... cough, I mean racers.

 

Jime- Any results yet?

 

Must be reading my mind Mike. Just got back from getting the second tire mounted. It took me a while to find another one to match.

Probably won't be going back to the track until the 30th, thats our first race of the season.

Just got a new MAF this week and now I have to totally redo my A/F adjustments, I went from 13.3-13.5 N/A to 11's on the A/F and haven't tried the spray settings yet, but I assume they did the same but that won't take long I retuned the N/A yesterday so will do the spray soon.

 

Jime, I just got my new wheels. I need to find tires for it. If it wasn't for you, I would haven't ever considered 1994 RX7 spares.



They are 11lbs each, 16x4 wheels. The center bore looks to be big enough, but I will test fit them soon. I them for $80 shipped. And they are BRAND NEW! Never seen the road before. I found them on an RX7 forum.

 

Nice Aaron, mine don't look that nice. Also mine weren't exactly the same, you see the inner ring on yours, well thats what I had to dremel out to fit except one didn't have the inner ring and I had to dremel through the whole thing, fun job.

I did a lot of looking for the tires but got both for free from a bike shop. Take a scale with you to weigh them because many of them are extremely heavy, ie 18 lbs plus. The Metzlers were the lightest I could find at 9 lbs.

 

Wow! That is good info to know. I will find a local bike shop and call around and see what they have. Thanks for all your help.

 

Update: I test fitted my 1994 RX7 16x4 wheels and they fit without any modification. The center bore is something like 68mm. My Nissan hub is 66.1mm. So that's nice.

I stopped by a bike shop today and had a long conversation with one of the workers. He said 16" front bike tires will be HARD to find used. B/c all the local shops here always remove old and busted tires that are ready to pop. None of my local shops will sell used tires, they just throw them away b/c they are in such bad condition 99% of the time.

You said you had to look around for a while, huh? I know it won't be easy for me to find tires that fit these rims b/c most new bikes are 17" wheels. I might have to pay $75 per wheel for new replacements. Are you tires ready to pop? Do they have decent tread left without any plugs in them?

 

Both of the ones I got have decent tread left although that wasn't really a concern to me, they won't get a lot of wear from me, I think a lot of guys swap the fronts long before they are worn out unlike the rears but of course that depends on the owner.

I went to about 6 or 8 different shops before I found one who was interested in what I was trying to do and willing to help me out. Some shops refused to even consider it and drill 3/4" holes in their tires before putting them out for scrap so no one will use them.

A few shops just throw their tires out back in a pile and call in a scrap guy periodically to pick them up, thats where I got mine. I just kept going back and checking through them. I was ready to give up for a while, but spring is the best time because thats when most guys get new tires. Probably different in Fla because you guys ride year round unlike us poor buggers who only get 6 or 7 months of bike weather. Don't get in a hurry I almost bought new ones as well but as you know I'm just a cheap Cdn.

BTW I have been reading up a bit on your Zemulator and I am considering getting a 3rd gen aften this year is over. Time to try something new and that looks like fun.

 

...................and just before I finished reading your first remarks about the tire I was going to ask, "Why don't you try to run donuts in the back?"

 

I see. That is what this guy does, he puts all his crap tires in a pile and pays $1 for each tire for the scrap guy to haul them off. I need to talk to him some more. He is a nice guy and is willing to help, but he was REALLLLLY reinforcing the idea in my head that all his tires are ready to pop. But, I will contact some other shops. I found a Pirelli on ebay for $25, each. It will cost me $75 shipped for two new tires, but they most likely weigh 13-14lbs for 120/90-V16. I want to go thte cheap way out also, so I wont' buy new ones yet until I talk to all the bike shops in town.

What kind of 3rd gen are you considering? If you want to go fast for cheap, then a VE 5spd will be best. If you want to stick with an automatic, then definitely get the VE Auto and not VG auto. My VE isn't the most consistant car in the world. When stock, 1/4 mile times can vary 8 tenths of a second depending on if you are heat soaked. But it's very consistant now withint 3 hundredths of a second on average. I have done a lot of bracket racing in my Maxima, so my logbook is getting filled up. ALso, VTCs usually tick, but they just require a $50 VTC rebuild that you can handle if you know how to remove the intake sprocket from the top of the motor. Knock sensor is an issue also. If you keep your coolant and intake temps down, heat soak isn't an issue at all!! But once the coolant reaches over 210 degrees, a stock VE can get REALLY sluggish. I have found a way around that. I operate my VE at 160-190 all the time and my gas mileage is better than operating it at 210 degrees. I had to do a lot to get my car to operate that low of a temp.

The Zemulator is a great system and if you ever need any general help with VE stuff, let me know. Thanks.

 

Most of the bike shop guys will try and sell you either new or used, they sure don't want to give stuff away even if they don't want it for some reason. You be the judge of whether it will stand up on your car, even if they are well worn you won't be turning any corners etc and they sure won't get any wear from running up and down the 1/4, as long as the sidewalls aren't cracked and they have a bit of tread I wouldn't worry.

On the 3rd gen I think I would go for the VE Auto, not a stick guy at all. I think it would stand up very well with spray too although I haven't seen too m any guys do it and really try and race. I would probably run N/A most of the time though as I am going to do this year with the 3.5. Mid 13's is pretty good for a V6 auto and puts me pretty much at the top of my class. Although I prefer running from behind in the brackets I have done a few the other way and I do ok.

By the end of this year you will have the zemulator perfected and hopefully I can copy your setup since you have pioneered it from the getgo. Would be nice to have that much control over everything. I will be asking for help so quit your day job so you can help me out.

 

I am willing to help out anyway I possibly can. I do know a lot about VE Autos in the 1/4 mile! Visit my website and check out what I have going if you are curious. My mods list is getting kinda big. I know the VE Auto can hold spray just fine if you keep your tranny temps down and get a shift kit. I highly recommend www.maximumtuning.net. But you can try unplugging the drop resistor, but the people that have tried that, needed a tranny rebuild within the next month. I don't know if it's a cooncidence and the tranny was actually dying anyway, or if the DR caused their problems. But there has been more than one story about a VG auto and VE Auto tranny dying after unplugging the DR for a while. You be the judge on that one since you know a lot more about this than I do.

I called one bike shop a little while ago and she said she will keep an eye out for a used 120/80V16. She was really nice and took down my name and number. I will just cruise by the shop and meet them in person and see what they have that might fit a 16x4 rim.

 

Thanks for all the info!!

 

Here's a little update, since I like this thread so much:

I finally got my rear skinny setup the way I like it.



Those are 11lb 94 RX7 wheels with 9 lb Metzeler 100/90R16 ME33 Laser tires. Well, I have 100/90 on one wheel and 110/90 on the other. So that was the best I could do. These are hard tires to find for cheap. They are both brand new and I got them both for $80. So, one of my wheel/tire combo weighs 20 lbs and the other weighs 22lbs.

Little tip, just like Jime said, don't think all motorcycle tires are light. Here are the tires I use to have on these wheels. They are 18lb Dunlop MT90 Elite II Touring tires. I hope to sell them on ebay just to get them out of the trunk of my car.



I will just throw this picture in whie I'm at it since we are talking about weight reduction. More pics of how I installed the seat and more pics of the skinnies, can be found on my website in the News and Update section. BTW, thanks Jim for the brackets!!! I hope your vacation went well.

 

I don't see any carpet in your floorboard? Is this car still your daily driver?

 

Yes it is. I actually like no carpet! I shaved a LOT of weight by removing sound deadening and carpet. I left the floor mats in the car and that's all I need to feel comfortable.