New 15x8 wheel coming!

[JGood]

unless you are required by the rules to run 7" wide wheels, 15x8's would be better.

I've run 225/45/15 hoosiers on both 7" and 8" wheels and they fit much better on the 8's

The section width for 225 hoosiers is 9.8", where it's 9.1"-9.3" for most other r-comps.

[kishg]

225's are legal?

no. 205s are. but 225s would fit fine as well. like jgood pointed out, hoho's are generally wider tires.

[markseven]

I'd take a set for this years track. is it worth putting 15 x 8 in the rear with 15 x 7 in the front or could you go 15 x 7 all around?
dlm

With a non-staggered setup you can rotate.

[Massive Lee]

Back in the DTM days when they had e30 M3s, the last year saw M3s with front 18" and rear 19" wheels. The intent was to make the rear tires "stiffer" to help rotate the car.

So, knowing that a 225 tire on 7" will be softer on the shoulder (more compliance and grip) than on an 8" rim (stiffer sidewall, less compliance), the front 7" and rear 8" on the same tires would theorically bring the car away from understeer. But no staggered tires please.

[themitchster359]

interesting. that kinda makes sense, why not go with a staggered tires with staggered wheels?

[Massive Lee]

interesting. that kinda makes sense, why not go with a staggered tires with staggered wheels?

more rear grip (wider tires/more contact patch) = more understeer

[rwh11385]

15 x 8 is not spec e30 legal..

Meh.

Oh that, no care about spec e30 ;)

Not everyone in the E30 world is doing SpecE30, at least not at the time being. I have been wanting a good, cheap 15x8 and running 205 RA1 take-offs eventually, and am glad to see these come out.

But it is still good that they designed them with Spec in mind.

With a non-staggered setup you can rotate.

more rear grip (wider tires/more contact patch) = more understeer

yup. 7's all around may be easier to pass on for sale to a Spec, but 8's should still be popular and a great option all around too - but i would definitely not stagger wheels nor tires

[dreeves]

Back in the DTM days when they had e30 M3s, the last year saw M3s with front 18" and rear 19" wheels. The intent was to make the rear tires "stiffer" to help rotate the car.

So, knowing that a 225 tire on 7" will be softer on the shoulder (more compliance and grip) than on an 8" rim (stiffer sidewall, less compliance), the front 7" and rear 8" on the same tires would theorically bring the car away from understeer. But no staggered tires please.

Lee, I think to some extent we're talking about changes that will be pretty hard to perceive. But keep in mind that a 225 tire on an 8" wheel will also have a slightly bigger contact patch than the same tire on 7", which I suspect might counteract any difference in compliance between the two. I think the only real way to tell is to actually try it.

FWIW, I would always get a non-staggered setup for any E30 with close-to-stock horsepower.

[kishg]

Not everyone in the E30 world is doing SpecE30, at least not at the time being. I have been wanting a good, cheap 15x8 and running 205 RA1 take-offs eventually, and am glad to see these come out.

But it is still good that they designed them with Spec in mind.

agree. I didn't say everyone was, I am building my car for it, so I would not buy wheels that are not legal. regardless I would not run staggered.

[themitchster359]

i agree, non-staggered for track use, especially on the power that our little motors make. i like the staggered for "make the e30 look sexy" wheels - deep dish.

[Drummer]

new 15 x8 wheels are here now!!

Hi everyone. I am new to this site but I have been monitoring the 15 x 8 wheel situation with Tire Rack since Jack told us about it last Feb. I put in an order last oct 9th and received all 5 wheels today via ups. I tried them on my 88 e30m3 front and rear, they fit good and they look great. They are carbon grey and came with new lug bolts. I live in upstate New York so my car will not see any track time untill late april or may ,so some of you warmer climate guys or gals will have to test these wheels to see if they are as good as they look!

[Brian D]

Nice, welcome aboard! Could you please post the offset dimension that's stamped on the wheel? Oh, and of course, pictures would be greatly appreciated!

[Drummer]

my wheels are 15 x 8 ,5-120, (et20), and they really do look like they do on the Tire Rack web site, only the color is a bit lighter. I think nicer. I don't have tires mounted yet, it will be a while.

[Brian D]

Thanks. I was hoping the offset was still 20. Good to hear you're happy with them, thanks for posting!

[chrise30]

nice looking wheels