Who here runs 225's on their CRX, and what does it take?

I am changing from stock Si wheels to 7" (38mm) panasports, and I need to order a new set of tires. It has been suggested to me that many people run the 205/55/14 Kumho victoracers on all four corners, but that many people will also run a 225 up front with "some fender modification." For the sake of arugment (and budget), I'm talking about the Kumho Ecsta V700 225/50/14, and not Hoosiers (BTW, is there a size difference between the Ecstas and the 225/50/14 Hoosiers?). Does anyone run this size up front (or on all four)? What modifications did it take to make them fit? Thanks for any info.

I posted this about 3 months ago

"I have a set of the Borbet Type T 14x7's. With Hoosiers, you have a few options. You can run them as is with 205/55R14's. Or, you can go up to a 1/4" wheel spacer on the Front. To go with the 1/4" wheel spacer on the rear, you need the eccentric bushing in the upper locating arm that dials in a little more camber, right around 2 degrees negative. Basically, my experience has been that you can go down to a 27 mm offset with the 205's and they will still fit within the bodywork. I am assuming that you are rolling the fenders front and rear. The Borbet's are a 35 mm offset, so you can go up to a 8mm spacer.
Now, if you want to go with 225's on the front and rear on the Borbet Type T's, you can do it with a 1/8" spacer and again the eccentric bushing on the rear with about 2 degrees negative camber. You will get a little rubbing on the rear trailing arm under hard cornering, but nothing to get worried about. My experience has been that you need about a 32mm offset and some camber in there rear to make the 225/50R14's work on the Borbets on the CRX."


This past weekend I mounted a new 225 Ecsta with a fried on his 14X7 rims and then a 205 Hoosier on a 14X7 rim. I also had a 225 Hoosier on a 14X7 rim for comparison. The 225 Kumho Ecsta has a smaller section width than the 225 Hoosier, but is VERY squared off and has practically the same tread width. Comparing the 225 Kumho Ecsta to the 205 Hoosier, it is about 1/8 to 1/4 taller, if that much, but because of the sharp squared off edge, have a larger tread width by almost 1/2 inch. All the 205 and 225 appear to have the same radius, so gearing isn't a factor.

We haven't mounted them on the car yet, but I am guessing that may be able to make the 225 Kumho Ecsta work with out a wheel spacer and still not rub on the insides on the front and rear. But, I am guessing that you can used up to a 1/4" spacer and with enough camber in the rear, you can make them work on all four corners. I'll keep you posted. I like the "shape" of the new Kumho Ecsta's. I also hear the new compound will be available in July (current 225 Ecstas are using the old Victoracer compound) and that is will be stickier. Now if they could just make them as light as the Hoosiers!

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Brent Breon
Cendiv ITA #26
www.360racing.com

I bought 4 new 225/55 Hoosiers this year with a set of 7" Panasports.
I had to roll the front fenders to prevent rubbing. The rear fenders incorporate the steel wheel well which made it very hard to roll the rears. In the end it did not matter since 225/55 on the rear leave 1/16th inch between the trailing arm and the wheel. I nearly wasted a set of tires on three laps at IRP.

Stick with the 205/55 on the rear. I have 1-1/4 camber in my rears without adjustment and I improved lap times tremendously from stock rims and 195/60 Goodyears and Goodrich.

Good Luck
Duncan

There's a pretty good thread on this at http://www.honda-tech.com in the roadrace/autocross section.

Or did you start it?

Jon

Sorry.... unless there's two of you...

Jon

PS - How did you get "signed up" on that forum?

Hah, hah. Yea, that thread is mine too. If I have a question that's specific to the Honda CRX, I typically cross post between the two boards since many people over here don't post over there, and vice versa. Tyson has had to put up with plenty of this http://Forums.ImprovedTouring.com/it/wink.gif

As for signing up over there, I'm not sure what you're asking. Could you not register on that board?

Thanks for the info guys. A lot of people have suggested that making room for a 225 setup hasn't resulted in much better lap times compared to an all 205 setup. I wonder if this has something to do with weight, or if many people aren't running the camber that B Breon is talking about.

B Breon,

You can't run the borbets/225s without a spacer AND rolling the fender AND camber? I wonder how that will translate to a 38mm offset. And thanks for the comparison between the new Ecstas and the Hoosiers.

DUNCAN,

So you're running 225 in the front and 205 in the rear? Did you ever run an all 205 setup? I'm wondering if it's worth the extra rubber up front since it's heaver and you can't rotate tires. This is similar to what I was doing on the ITR for autocross, but tires lasted much longer.

With a 38mm offset panasport and a 225 Hoosier you need a 1/4" spacer, rolled rear fenders (this isn't that hard to do, but you will need some touch up paint), and about 2-2.25 degrees of negative camber.

Now, with all that said, I ran the 225's on all four corners last year. Was beat by cars that ran 205's on all 4 corners many of times. Based on the clearance issues, and the price difference (between 225 and 205, and the extra rolling resistance, etc. I am going to try the 205's on all four corners this year. But, with a 38mm back space rim, you need 3/8 to 1/2" wheel spacers to "maximize" your track. Or, you can buy the 27mm offset panasports if you have an 88 or 89 CRX and they will be perfect.

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Brent Breon
Cendiv ITA #26
www.360racing.com

225 up front and 205 on rear. That is correct.

Only because I thought that 225 would work all the way around...so I bought 4. Expensive mistake....but I'll use them later.

I had two Goodrich 205's, so I bought two more Hoosier 205's. That gives me a spare set for the year.

I only ran all 205's to heat cycle the tires, so I cannot give you a true testification (is that a word?) to the virtues of running an all 205 setup.

I was very happy with the times gained using my present setup and I will probably stick with it.

Good Luck
Duncan

I'm running 27mm Pana's on my 1990, with 205/55-14 Kumho Victoracers.

There was some very minor clearance issues, a few minutes with the angle grinder took care of it.

I don't think 225's would fit, the 205's are right on the edge, a little bit of rub at the rear.

Jon

Don't waste your money, run the 205's the 225's won't make you any faster.

That said, I wonder if the new 195 ecsta from Kumho might be good?

They seem to run a little "wider", ie, the 195 might have just as big contact patch as the 205, plus they're a little shorter and a little cheaper....IF they will work unshaved, which I doubt.

Jon

Quote:

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Originally posted by Tom Blaney:
Don't waste your money, run the 205's the 225's won't make you any faster.

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I've heard this from more than just you. I think it's the right way to go for now while I'm getting the car sorted. I'm going to save all of this information for later, however, because I may end up trying the 225s in the future (of course, this post could still be on the front page in 6 months).

Thanks for all the info!