Wider body.. wider Wheels?

[Guy]

Hi guys,

Been searching aournd for some time now, but can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for, so am turning to you for advice.

My '05 has gone in for Street Serpenting, and in the meantime, I understand that I have 3/4" extra wheel width to play with on each side of the car...

I definitely want aftermarket wheels on my car and better tires than the run-flats. I definitely don't want to hurt the handling characteristics of the Viper. Street driven car.

1. Is it worth bothering with wider tires on an SRT-10 (already have factory 345 width on the back..)

2. If it is worth it, where can I find these mystical tires that are wider than 345s? The Veryron tire is the only one I found at 365 width and it's a ridiculously odd "365 - 710 ZR 540A" Metric dimension tire.

3. Maximum wheel diameter to go? 20"? Keep stock dimsensions?

Thanks!

[Nader]

Doesnt Jeff use spacers to bring the wheels out flush with the fender? Why bother getting something custom?

[Guy]

Originally Posted by Nader

Doesnt Jeff use spacers to bring the wheels out flush with the fender? Why bother getting something custom?

Jeff does indeed. Frankly, I am not too fond of spacers, and since I am getting custom wheels anyway.. I might as well get something better (if indeed wider is possible/better)..

[j-rho]

The 345's work fine on a 14" wide rim out back.

Up front, I'd go with 315's or 335's on 12's, or maybe wider still, if you don't mind losing a little turning radius.

[Nine Ball]

You don't need wider wheels, just custom offsets to increase the lip depth. It just moves the current width wheels out some.

[ROCKET62]

Guy,

First - in my TOTALLY unbiased opinion, going the Street Serpent route is the sweetest thing you can do with your Viper. I was in a similar position as you as I wasnt sure about the spacers. I felt better in knowing that the comp coupe uses spacers and when used correctly - they pose no added risk, even with high hp cars.

I did do some calling around, and I was unable to find someone that could give me the custom offset needed to get the wheels flush with the Serpent body. Most aftermarket wheels already have 1/4" offset as compared to the stock Viper wheels - hence the reason that Jeff uses the 3/4" spacers as his body kit is 1" wider than stock.

I went a slightly different route than what Jeff uses - a 1" hubcentric spacer made by H&R. Advantage being - I did not have to remove the wheel hubs to put in the longer comp coupe wheel studs, but unfortunately still had to trim the original studs. I am a big fan of my stock 5 spokes and plan to have them chromed in the winter. I did go with Motons to lower and may go just a bit lower than I currently have it set. I have about 3.5" of clearance in the front, and just barely clear getting in my sloped driveway now.

Originally Posted by Nine Ball

You don't need wider wheels, just custom offsets to increase the lip depth. It just moves the current width wheels out some.

[INSOMNIAC]

You will need custom size wheels to accommodate the Veyron tires. The rear tire is a Michelin 365/710 R 540 A and it will require an exact 540 mm diameter rear wheel. That is 21.26 inch rear wheel. Unless you have a very nice friend who is willing to invest the money to manufacture 21.26 inch wheel cast for one pair of wheels, nobody will manufacture wheels in that dimension. And it’s a Michelin PAX tire, meaning it’s a damn runflat anyway.

If you’re going to stay below 800 RWHP, go with 295/30 front and 345/30 rear Michelin PS2’s and see if you could find custom Viper wheels with the right offset for Jeff’s design.

Anything above 295/30 in the front and the Viper wants to follow all the curves and lines on the asphalt. It becomes a little harder to go straight.

[j-rho]

A car's predilections to tramline or follow highway grooves also depend a lot of tires, alignment, and the streets you drive on. My car is dartier with its stock 275 runflats than it is with its 315 Hoosiers.

Wider bodywork allows for a wider track width, which you can get with spacers or reduced-offset wheels. If it were me though, I would get wider wheels for track activities. The wider wheels allow for more tire (in front at least) and/or better support a given tire size for cornering activities. Then run the spacers with the stock (or stock-sized) wheels for the street.

Any good custom wheel maker (CCW, Forgeline, etc.) should have no trouble making wheels to the appropriate dimensions.

[treesnake]

I had some custom Forgeline WC3 wheels "built" at Forgeline. I called them on the phone and told them what i wanted to do. Since the WC3 is a three piece wheel they just adjusted the width of the inner and outer rim or "barrell" as they called it. I did this on the rear my 01 to move the Drag radials/wheels out to the edge of the wheel well. Worked great.

I thought about doing the same with my SS coupe. But after thinking about it, I decided to go with the stock offset and the CC spacers. The reason is that once you buy the custom offset wheels they will only fit that SS car. You wouldsn't be able to sell or trade them for anything else. I also plan to swap wheels with gen 2 and gen 3 cars. The custom SS offset would not allow that.

[Guy]

Thanks for all the replies guys!

Looks like I will stick with spacers and stock offsets/widths. I have been thinking about it and due to lack of tire choices and risk of tramlining (very annoying), I'll stick with the stock widths and maybe just go up an inch on the rim sizes. PS2s seem like the best solution out there and are just so much smoother than the runflats..

So, what do you think of these

http://www.hrewheels.com/images/wheels/890R.jpg

[JonB - PartsRack]

PartsRack has Magnesium BBS Comp Coupe wheels NEW, IN STOCK. They are a wider offest, to fit the wider body of the VCC (and Jeffs Serpent) Closeout priced at $2995/set of 4

As with all VCCs they are 18" wheels

[Guy]

Jon,

Got a photo, and some more details, i.e. weight, widths etc..?

Thanks

Originally Posted by JonB - PartsRack

PartsRack has Magnesium BBS Comp Coupe wheels NEW, IN STOCK. They are a wider offest, to fit the wider body of the VCC (and Jeffs Serpent) Closeout priced at $2995/set of 4

As with all VCCs they are 18" wheels

[Malu59RT]

Originally Posted by Guy

Thanks for all the replies guys!

Looks like I will stick with spacers and stock offsets/widths. I have been thinking about it and due to lack of tire choices and risk of tramlining (very annoying), I'll stick with the stock widths and maybe just go up an inch on the rim sizes. PS2s seem like the best solution out there and are just so much smoother than the runflats..

So, what do you think of these

http://www.hrewheels.com/images/wheels/890R.jpg

Know that this is my ONLY choice for an aftermarket wheel on the Viper. I was sold after seeing K-80-123's UGR TT Beast.

[treesnake]

Originally Posted by JonB - PartsRack

PartsRack has Magnesium BBS Comp Coupe wheels NEW, IN STOCK. They are a wider offest, to fit the wider body of the VCC (and Jeffs Serpent) Closeout priced at $2995/set of 4

As with all VCCs they are 18" wheels

Jon
Would there be any brake clearance issues putting 18s on the back of an SRT? I know they use 18s on the rear of the CC, I wondered if it was a special brake set up or wheel offset.

Thanks

[Guy]

Originally Posted by Malu59RT

Know that this is my ONLY choice for an aftermarket wheel on the Viper. I was sold after seeing K-80-123's UGR TT Beast.

Awesome! Thanks for posting up photos of them on an SRT, had never seen them before, just visualized them. Thanks!