I have an S13 and I am building it up slowly...

I intended to get some fat front and rear tires, and intended to run non-staggered.

I first wanted to go 255/40/17 on 17x9 rims, however considering I intend to have alot of torque and power, 255s won't do... I'll need a 295 to take into account the torque that'll spin the tires crazy...

The car will be a track car, and my joy ride at the same time (meaning I will drive it on the street at my summer days discretion for the fun of it, just as I do now -- its noisy inside, its not comfortable but hell its fun).

I thougght to myself, hell, I'll go all out. Buy the most expensive lightest/biggest rims and tires combination and slap the biggest widebody kit on it (bn blister 50mm front 70mm rear).

I first thought 275/40/17, then realized I want to run larger brakes so I'll need 18" rims front and rear (to accomodate 14" rotors/caliper combo), then I thought to myself, I'll run maybe 265/35/18, 275/35/18, then maybe 285/35/18 then thought to myself to accomodate for tire height and other differences perhaps 285/30/18 or 295/30/18, then realizing I am limited by tire sizes too, wanting the lower profile due to better response, less/stiffer sidewall.

Then I thought to myself.. yeah I CAN do it... 295/30/18 front... on 18x10.5 -15.... but should I? Why? My obsession with running non-staggered, was due to the inevitable thought of worse turn in with staggered setups. But would I be doing myself less a favour by going so damn large too?

Then again many autox cars run such staggering crazy setups... I don't know?

The largest non staggered setup I've seen in time attack like setups has been 275/40/17 front and rear...

I'm just feeling very stupid now.

I've been reading more about slip angle, and things of that nature... and am a lil lost... and then finally, the weight, it'll be increased at least a bit slightly (even if i consider that i'll be getting more expensive forged rims of the likes).

I could just be buying/selling parts experimenting the whole time, but I rather get the theory right, pros, cons when I do buy something. When I'm driving I know that I want or need something, for example, more grip at one point, more grip at another, more turn in here or there, etc... but if I am building a large project like the one I'm planning, can't quite know for sure, so I'm kind of guessing here.

So... enlighten me...

The car is an on going project, not short term, but long-term, a keeper lets say... I intend to go all out with it, therefore my intentions are for an unlimited class... road racing/time attack and the likes, my personal joy ride as well, something just for me, so when I grow old lol my grandkids can wonder at as well.

Go and jump/attack me all criticism welcome.

I got an excel budget file with the whole project write up, comes to about 30k with engine/turbo drivetrain build up, suspension, brakes, chassis work, wheels/tires, some interior/some aero exterior (not show paint)...

Crazy considering the whole car cost 800$ when initially purchased in a beat down shape... heh... With money like that, I sure as heck want to have my goals met with a budget like that in mind... and not be disapointed with wrong purchases (as I've done in the past on the car).

Inspirations for the car are such cars as MomentumGT's s13 hb, xs engineering's r32 gtr widebody, mine's r34 gtr, a number of rx7, s2000, s14 and s15 touge and time attack oriented tuner company cars (such as amuse s2000, yashio factory s13 touge car), so the goal of the car is maximum unlimited performance, completely built up... I intend to have the car fully stitch welded (fully as in, chassis stripped and on a rotisserie, caged, gusseted to the chassis all nice and tight, the whole works).

If I'm doing the project, I want to do it right... and go all out on it as well... no shortcuts... I love to drive great cars and I want to build mine up to be like no other... simple thought, complicated process... but something i believe is achievable...

If the Japanese can do it, with ever so many variations and tuner companies, often mostly run by individuals, I don't see why I or anyone else can not... if they put their mind to it...

 

since your budget is 30k id say replace all metal body panels with fiberglass. fiberglass is very light like carbon fiber but alot cheaper to replace. good roll cage welded in. reinfoce the stock welds. replace all supsension ALL suspension parts and upgrading what you can.

your gona need 2 sets of rims + tires. if your doing time attack dont even think of using street tires, if your on the street never ever use racing slicks (unless ur so rich ur toilet paper is made from $100 bills)

also a real race alignment is extremely important

as for power thats the easy part i guess you can handle that on your own.

now i would probably recommend 255/35 R18 up front and 275/35 R18 in the rear
remember with slicks and the right alignment you will have alot more grip at hand then you had b4.

now i dont know your racing background but if your a novice i really dont recommend racing this car because:
A. its dangerous and
B. you can have a better car then everyone else but if your a novice your gona suck ***

its how the driver drives the car not how well the car is built untill the driver can bring out the maximum potential of the car.

anyway good luck and some pictures would be nice

 

Just replace whats needed on the car to handle the racing you want to do. Hold off on the mods and race it. Get a feel for the car. Figure out on your own what the car is lacking and then ask advice on what you feel your car is missing to improve it. From there keep building piece by piece until you have exactly what you want.

 

What are your specific goals for the car and your experience level? Auto-x is different then road course, and road course DE is different then competition. A non staggered setup probably is not going to be beneficial to you. Having a very wide front tire is going to decrease the nimbleness and turn in of the car even if it does give ultimately higher lateral grip.

 

Since you have such a large budget and pretty high goals, I think it will be very easy to get lost in the build-up process and possibly waste a lot of money. I think it would help to set some goals just to have something to shoot for. For example, you might go for 400HP, 1.0g on the skidpad (on street tires), 12s quarter mile, etc. These numbers will give you something to shoot for, and you can plan your modifications appropriately to help you reach those goals.

Also, I would recommend building the car a little bit at a time and racing it between various stages of your build. That way, you can see the differences that individual parts make and get a better feel for suspension tuning and car building, in general. More importantly, you'll learn how to drive well along the way.