scathing

My turbocharged car spools up from a reasonable point in the rev range. It means I can leave it in a higher gear more of the time, which is good for economy and keeping the noise down. Modern turbocharged runabout cars are more fuel efficient than NA cars of a comparable power/torque rating. If you look at the current Euro FI cars, they'll hit peak torque from like 2000RPM and hold it all the way to a 6000RPM+ redline. They'll pull from low down in the higher gears so its "easier" to drive, and the economy on them is fantastic these days. I'd rather have a modern turbocharged daily for commuting and a NA "weekender". I can get the economy and drivability of turbocharging around town, and get the throttle response and instant feedback when I'm carving corners.

That's your idea of fun.........?

I know some people hate cheap-brand wheels, but the two shortlisted wheels for my SW20 (if I bought new) were: Koya Drifteks Lenso D1Rs. You already know what the Drifteks look like. The D1Rs look like this: They should give you a pretty nice amount of dish (the spoke does curve in near the barrel) and if you're willing to run camber, streched tyres and massaged guards they do come in GT-R offsets. Even without, cars with as shitty offsets as S2000s can get good dish:

My comprehension is only as good as the data given to me. If people have no idea what they're talking about, it's really hard for other people to understand what they actually mean. So why did you initally ask what was a legal tyre (try and actually read what I quoted you saying if you can't even remember it yourself) rather than a suitable tyre like you are now? My response also covered the legality of said tyre. I said the rim was irrelevant. You're the one that keeps harping on about the rim. My comprehension is based on you initially asking for legality. If that's not what you meant, then why don't you try and actually say what you mean first go? Most of us aren't mind readers, and some of us give people the benefit of the doubt and assume they're not idiots that need everything they type double checked. If my assumption about you was wrong, I apologise for giving you too much credit. Undeserved optimism in others is a flaw of mine. And my response didn't mention the legality of the rim either. I mention the rim in passing by saying its size is not particularly relevant to your question. Read them again. If you're going to accuse people of comprehension issues, it'd be in your best interest to make sure you're not in a greenhouse before picking up those rocks. Since you initially asked what a legal tyre is, having just had a read of the VicRoads Vehicle Standards Information Guide to Modifications for Motor Vehicles there's no rule on how much wider you can go. The VSI with respect to tyres states that: 1. the tyre can't touch anything (bar the wheel, obviously) at any point in time and it must be inside the guard when the wheel is straight ahead 2. the tyre can't be more than 15mm greater in diameter than the biggest tyre available for that series of car 3. the tyre can't be more than 15mm smaller in diameter than the smallest tyre available for that series of car Note these restrictions make no reference to the wheels, which is what I originally said. The VSI does make mention that the wheels and tyres need to comply with the "Tyre and Rim Association of Australia's Standards Manual", which does contain "Recommended tyre fitments and allowable variations" but I can't find a copy online to see what the rules on stretching or ballooning tyres are, or if there's a maximum width limit over stock (like there is in NSW's modification rules). Even ignoring stretched wheels, if the tyre is actually suitable for the wheel but it doesn't come in a profile that keeps it within the "15mm variation" rule above, then that tyre still not legal for your car. Lets say you have a R33 GTS-t, which runs a 205/60 R16 on a 16x6.5 wheel. If you went to a 17x7.5" wheel and ran a 225/45 R17 Falken FK452 (so perfectly legal rims for the car, and tyres that are a manufacturer recommended fit for a wheel that size) then this would still be illegal as your new tyre's diameter is 18mm less than the stock tyre. The rim didn't matter to the legality of the tyre. Only the OEM tyre size. Which is what I said. For safety and warranty purposes definitely so. Legally I haven't seen any law against stretching tyres (although I would love to get my hands on the Rim and Tyres Standards Manual). There's nothing specific in Vicroads' VSI's for wheel and tyre changes regarding that anyway. As for suitability of a tyre for a certain rim (as you've changed your question to after my initial response), as I originally said: There's no absolute rule that a width tyre is automatically "suitable" for a b width rim. Some manufacturers publish recommended wheel sizes, but quite a few do not (especially on Australian web sites). In case I can't find any on a specific tyre manufacturer's local or international sites, I tend to use Falken USA's web site as their tables are quite in-depth. Here's the fitment guide for the Falken FK452: http://www.falkentire.com/tires_specs.php?...0&width=750 For an example of how it can vary, here's the fitment guide for Dunlop DZ03Gs. http://www.stuckey.com.au/tyres_details.aspx?TyreName=DZ03G If you look at the 235/45 R17, the DZ03Gs are suitable for a 7.5-9.5" wide rims whereas the FK452s are only suitable for 7.0-8.5" rims. The tyre construction will play a big part in its suitable rim widths. Obviously no tyre manufacturer is going to recommend stretching a 195 width tyre over an 11" rim, no matter who makes it, but in less extreme cases the line is not so clear cut.

Why not buy a RWD car that doesn't look like an infamous AWD car then?

Sounds right, if the system thinks that you're understeering. It'll try and brake the inside front to pull you back into the corner. The Traction Control System only works on the driven wheels. The Vehicle Dynamic Control system works on all four brake calipers. ABS can only release brake pedal pressure. If your foot is not on the brake, the ABS could do anything it wants and nothing would happen at the caliper. The TCS cuts power by closing the electronic throttle. The VDC can compress any of the 4 calipers independently, and does not require brake pedal inputs. When you're "cornering hard and the inside front caliper grabs the rotor", are you on the brake? If not, its not a pure ABS issue. Bear in mind that the TCS asnd VDC both rely on the ABS wheel sensors to tell their processors how fast each wheel is spinning. The VDC unit, aside from the ABS sensors, also has a yaw sensor to tell the processor how fast the body itself is turning. If any sensor is sending erroneous data, it'll take erroneous actions. If you drive in a straight line and just jump on the brakes, what happens? Does the ABS perform normally, or does your left side front caliper trigger ABS faster than the other wheels? If the car behaves normally when you're going straight, then I'd be more concerned about a yaw sensor or VDC processor issue. Take your car to a Nissan dealership that's populated with less retarded service technicians. If you're in an especially bad mood call up head office to complain about their gross lack of product knowledge. The 350Z Track has always come with VDC. I've still got my brochure from back in 03, if you want to make a photocopy to shove up their arses.

ORLY? Care to try again? I never said that you were asking whether a 10" rim was legal or not. Your question was about what kind of tyre is legal for your car. My response was that the legality of the tyre you choose is primarily dependent on the stock tyre, not the wheel its going on.

RAYS Engineering advertises an 18x7.5 TE37 on their web site for ￥81900 each, which is around AUD$1000 a rim with the current exchange rate. If you can land them in Australia for AUD$1K under their home-country RRP (I'll assume you're planning on dodging Customs Duty and GST) I'd love to find out where from.

As suggested, bleed the brake fluid first. It could be air in the system. FYI we fitted a set of Hawk HPS' to my girlfriend's MX5 and the performance was horrible. There was no initial bite when cold (and it was still worse than stock on the track when you got heat into them) and maximum braking didn't feel that much better. When we first fitted them we had a few instances where we almost arse-ended another car because the amount of pedal pressure we were used to applying from the stock pads weren't pulling up the car. I will not be getting another set of those pads.

The legality for an aftermarket tyre is based on the size of the OEM one, not the wheel you're fitting it to. Tyre manufacturers have recommendations for what sized wheels you should fit certain width tyres onto, but these vary from tyre to tyre.

That was my opinion exactly. Aside from V8 Supercars burying other motorsport categories in Australia, I can't support the NSW government pissing our money up the wall by putting up a temporary circuit for a few days, then spending more money pulling it all back down again. Replace OP with something. Or improve EC.

You'd also get a lot more unsprung weight.

For $3K why not get used TE37s of any colour, and then powdercoat them in black? Hopefully you can then find some in a proper offset and width, rather than the weaksauce ones that replica wheels inevitably come in to fit FWD econoboxes. I've seen quite a few on the Yahoo! Japan auctions.

Got any pics? How far out are they sticking? If they're flush you'll generally get away with it, unless the cop is having a bad day or knows that there's more to the wheel modification restrictions than diameter. Did you realise that it is also unroadworthy to have the wheels 1" wider than the widest stock wheel without an engineering certificate? Or offsets 13mm lower than the stock wheels? Some of the more clued-in cops check these numbers too. Yeah, but most of them are idiots. I've seen plenty of tyre shops recommend illegal wheels to people.

Get the 350Z ones. The geometry is practically the same between the two cars.

That will depend on your intended aims, and your budget. If you've got a big budget race car and you're allowed to run CF wheels, then the HREs would be best. The strength will be as good as forged aluminium wheels (design dependent) HRE CFs will have the lowest unsprung weight and lowest rotational inertia. The best "value for money" when you're racing is whatever you can afford to go as fast as possible. If you've got a small budget trackday car then something as light and strong Volks would make a good bet. Ligher and stronger than cast wheels, but not as expensive as carbon ones. They're a "compromise" wheel - something to get when you can't afford better but it might be unsafe to run worse. If you've got a low budget street-only car (and there are plenty of people on here that have never done a track day in their cars), then you just want a wheel that meets with your aesthetic requirements. In that instance, I don't see a major problem with cheap wheels (as long as they meet whatever government regulations are out there, and/or they don't have a noticable reputation for failing). I've buckled my TE37s on the street in normal driving (this is a different set of TE37s to the ones I crashed and bent) so their strength, while greater, is still not strong enough to survive Sydney roads. If I have to repair/replace wheels on a regular basis, I'd rather do it to cheaper ones. Especially if I had to stretch to afford the first set. Otherwise a broken wheel would have me off the road for far longer. As for the lightweightness, since its a street-only car the lower unsprung weight will have a marginal effect. I'm not saying its not noticable, but for half the cost it's not enough of a gain (there's that "value for money" proposition you mentioned). You'll see some benefits in handling/acceleration/braking but since we're all responsible drivers here that don't condone street racing, you shouldn't be driving the car that fast in the first place

What if people like having JDM-looking parts on the car, and money in the wallet? If you're talking about preferences rather than technical merit, apparently everyone's opinion is as valid as anyone else's. The Tuner's Group imports HRE Wheels, so you could get delivered prices from him if you really wanted to. The prices I've seen online for HREs CF40s in 19" are USD$10,500 a set so that would give you an approximate idea anyway. The Volk Racing range are pretty much all forged aluminium. TE37s did come in a magnesium option (and an exclusive blue colour), but you'd know it if you had to pay for it. I remember seeing a video of an FIA racer spinning off in the wet, and the wheels catching fire during the resultant accident. It was an old vid though, so chances are the wheels weren't a magnesium alloy. I originally read that as you just wanting cachet, and Europe's brands have more of it than Japan's.

But you can't do 20km/hr above the speed limit while sipping on your cafe latte machiatto with a twist and listening to whatever the latest song from the current Australian/American Idol winner while on a bicycle. Although those mobile roadblocks are kicking in with the trend-following sheep these days as well. Every Prius I've seen this month has overtaken me while I've given the speed limit a reasonable error margin. Which means they're driving them outside the speed range of the electric motor. Which means they're actually just driving a petrol powered car with a shitload of ballast. f**king idiots.

Its a matter of being enough quality for your needs. Drifteks have "enough" quality for someone street driving their Skylines. Lets put it this way. If you're going to aim for quality and performance, and damn the cost, RAYS Engineering wouldn't even get a look-in. You'd be rocking out Dymags (magnesium spokes, carbon fibre barrels), or maybe HRE Carbon Series (forged aluminium centres, carbon barrels) if you're worried about magnesium fires. Why skimp on quality and performance by settling for all-aluminium TE37s, CE28Ns or RE30s? Dymag Carbon Car Wheels have the cachet of containing both magnesium, so you can actually call your wheels "mags" without looking like a tosser with NFI, along with everyone's favourite racecar material, carbon fibre. Plus, with carbon barrels, most of the mass will be centred at the hub. With lower unsprung mass and lower rotational inertia, efficiency will be far better than those shoddy Volks. And they're made in Europe, not Asia. There's cachet for you.

They might be inferior, but as long as they're "fit for purpose" then they're as good as they need to be. As an analogy....... My personal belief is that any R32-R34 chassis Skyline coupe that isn't powered by an RB26DETT are inferior copies of the GT-R (which is why I'd never buy one). While I'll sometimes call them ricers over owning a car that looks like a fast car but isn't (generally when they're talking their cars up so much that they'd give VTEC fans a run for their money in the bullshit stakes), I can accept that the car meets their needs. I'm sure almost all non-R owners would love a GT-R parked in their garage, but street cars they own get them around town reliably and comfortably at a price they can afford. There's a decent amount of power and handling, and aesthetics that suit them. Most will never use a GT-R to a point where its benefits over the lesser models become apparent in their existing usage patterns, and so all that extra extra engineering is unnecessary (and a waste). I see cheaper wheels in the same way. I was looking at getting Drifteks for my MR2, but that's because it'll spend its life cruising around town. I don't plan on tracking the car more than once or twice when the tyres hit "end of life", just to see how MR cars handle, and if I take it up to the hills it'll mostly be with the roof off enjoying the country air. Most of the time it'll just be ferrying me around town. Mates of mine have them on their cars and they do touge/circuit/drift on them without issue. For how I'm going to drive the car, they would be good enough and almost half the price new as what people are asking for used LM GT4s.

Widths and offsets?

Exactly. If you actually gave a shit about the environment and you've got your head screwed on, you'd buy a used petrol-powered car that's reasonably small. But if you only want to pretend about giving a shit about the environment by focusing on one symptom (i.e. volume of fuel consumed) and ignore the total impact, then why not go the whole hog and run an engine that uses fewer L/100km?

Lucky he isn't then.

It uses a lower volume of fuel, but the shit that comes out the exhaust is worse for the environment. I also don't see why people don't make diesel hybrids. Europe has heaps of tiny diesels, so there's no extra cost in "developing" that engine compared to what's powering the Prius, Insight, etc. Both screw the environment while reducing the vehicle's dinosaur juice consumption, and so it'll fool the short-sighted idiots even more.

"$3K" was his original upgrade budget from his OP. I read that, in context, as being "I got a noticable braking performance increase for below what I initially budgeted". I don't know how much the rotors he bought were but when I did fluid, with new Ferodo pads and Brembo Sport rotors in every corner, it cost me around $2K on my Z33. That was without needing to get spacers made up and the powdercoating done, etc, but the Z does attract a price premium.