Paul Bowden Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 I need some wheels/tyres to start my career in sprinting 😬 😬 As ever the more I research the more confused I get. I have a standard Super light and so I believe I want 6x13 front and rear although some seem to suggest 7X13 rears. Tyres seem to be the simple bit Bridgestone RE720 185x60. So what wheels to buy. I have done a search on Blatchat and there does not seem to be a consensus but this seems to be the general idea K N Minitors ...cheapest pretty good Compomotive ML... bit dearer, a competition wheel , where as KN is a road wheel Superlite.. Not sure where they fit in for price quality.single piece or 3 piece Also there has been mention of the need for spacers and possible issues with fitting over the larger brakes fitted to a Super light. Steel inserts some have them some don't , do I need them and if so which has them. So 6X13 all round? Which wheel to buy don't want to use spacers Will they fit over the brakes *confused* Confused of Cambridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 What's on your current wheels and why are they unsuitable for sprinting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmar Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 Paul - last year was my first doing sprints (in a superlight btw) and I did 2 rounds of the l7 championship I ran KN minators as supplied by caterham with yoko 32's, 13*6 all round and this was good enough for 2 second places this year I will be using the same wheels but with acb10's to try and improve on my bridesmaid position IMO i think these are perfectly fine, sure they are not the lightest of wheel but similarly they are not the heaviest ❗ so as Peter says what si wrong with your current set if you are sprinting for the first time I suspect that the extra few thousands off your time byhaving really light wheels will not make all that much difference, I think you should just go out and see if you enjoy it first before splashing the cash rob Edited by - robmar on 25 Feb 2003 09:47:01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 Unless it is to do with class eligibility... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmar Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 didn't know there where rules about which wheels you could use tyres yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ward Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 Did a full season sprinting last year, mostly on 6x13 Minators with Yoko 539's - coped well with a nearly 200bhp K. If you're starting out and running in list 1A events then I think tyres and wheels are one of the least influential variables. I also tried running RE720's later in the season for no other reason than they seemed very popular and not many we're using the Yokos. I could detect no significant difference and now the Yokos seemed to be gaining in popularity ( they were a relatively new tyre ). Wider rears - either 205/60's on 13" or 195 or 205/50's on 15" - may give you better traction off the line etc. but if you're in a "standard" SL then I don't think this needs to be a major initial concern. I've ended up with a garage full of wheels and no real clue yet as to which is the optimum setup.... My advice, for what it's worth, is to get out there and do as many events as you can with a straightforward combination and then see where you want to go 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenEvans Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 On the other hand..........I bought a set of Prisoners last year just to go 15 inch to fit Bridgestone Potenzas SO2 which were (still are?) de rigeur with the serious "roadgoing" national hillclimbers. I now regret it because they're not the lightest of wheels and I'm now thinking about lighter 15" wheels such as OZ Superleggera. So more cost because I didn't get it right first time! Since Paul seems to be thinking about doing sprinting seriously I think he is quite right to start aiming straight away about getting the car specced right rather than having two bites at the very expensive cherry. He'll be that bit more competitive as a result and will find it less frustrating when up against better specced cars. Having said that I wouldn't have a clue what the most cost-effective light 13" wheels to go for! Edited by - kenevans on 25 Feb 2003 11:13:50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmar Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 however there is always a strong market for 13" wheels within this community, especially if they have tyres so if you get it wrong there are always eager buyers (at the right price of course). also as Paul has a superlight already then he probably already has 13" wheels, I guess it depends if he is after a 2nd set (which it appears it has) or not rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Ranson Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 I would stick with standard Caterham supplied 6x13" KNs with Bridgestones. If there's a perceived need to go wider then moving to Compomotive style split rims makes sense. Perhaps even the SLR or R500 jobs... Having 'standard' Caterham wheels means that resale is never a problem, in the context of competition the cost will fade into the noise. If you get serious enough to be considering running a Caterham on 15 or 16 inch wheels and List 1A tyres then I would advise changing the Superlight for an ex-race car, or buying an OMS... Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 Agree with Paul. Don't try 7 inch on 185 width 720's as they will be very stretched. I used them on 6.5's and they didn't look right then, so 7's will be worse. The 720's are best on 6 inch rims at 185. You should not need any wider than 185 with a standard superlight unless you are planning big horsepwer upgrades in the future to above 180 BHP. The only real decision you have to make is if to go for 1a (ie the 720's oe similar ) or 1b tyres (acb10,32r's ect) and that will depend on the class you want to run in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Birtwisle Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 Paul, If you are free on Sunday you are welcome to pop over and try my 6x13" wheels for size. Cheers Alex S713UMY 1.8K Viper Blue and Black Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bowden Posted February 25, 2003 Author Share Posted February 25, 2003 Thanks for all the replies, At present I have R500 mags with CR 500 ....I liked the look of them rather than looking for a performance advantage and spec'd them from new when I built the car last year. I wanted a second set of wheels, so I could use them exclusively for sprinting, what ever tyre I happened to need. Weather a RE720 for list 1A or maybe later on an ACB10 for out and out performance at present this is what I have gained by 'phoning around KN minators £55+ VAT Compomotive ML £75.50 + VAT Superlite Single piece £65 + VAT Superlite three piece split rim £135 +VAT All 6X13 ,it seems we all agree is most suitable for 135 BHP Ken, I was not aware 15" was the thing to have in road going. I was under the impression 13" was the best performance option for a Seven. Mined you the new R300/400 have 15" don't thay...but not the R500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmar Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 Paul - i think the reason why ken uses 15" is that th e tyres in question are not available in 13" form I have 3 sets of kn minators wheels so if you want to try any let me know, shod with either cr500'd acb's or slicks (includin 13 * 7) - Have you tried jonny at booktrack he may be able to do KN's cheaper than that rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 I would strike Superlite wheels off your list - do a searh for previous peoples experiences . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bowden Posted February 25, 2003 Author Share Posted February 25, 2003 Alex, Can't make Sunday, at work all day. I am off this week however, hint , hint. Rob, Thanks, I may well take you up on you offer Dave J....Now you have put the spanner in the works. I had sort of decided on the Superlites. I did a search , the only negatve I found was with the three piece that were changed with no problem. I spoke to Karen at Superlite. Seemed good price, steel insert , correct offset(No spacers) will fit large brakes. What problems have people had. We could be the death nail for a company by posting on here,( A British Company at that) or am I over stating the power of Blatchat. If what they are selling is CR*P that is fair enough, is that the case? Dave I do appreciate your comment could you expand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bowden Posted February 25, 2003 Author Share Posted February 25, 2003 Just found the negative comments/experiences with Superlite. Think I might shop else where. Thanks to Dave J for pointing me in the right direction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Birtwisle Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 I am free on Thursday eve Paul .... You can come over if you like... Let me know and I'll put the kettle on ❗ S713UMY 1.8K Viper Blue and Black Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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