Hi all,
I am considering a couple of different options for my car. One of them being the CS Moonbeam kit. While I definitely hit like on a lot of superlow widebodied cars, that isn't ultimately the direction I am headed. I would love to run a widebody, but I will still be doing autoX and HPDE in it. If I severely compromise my ability to do those things I won't consider. Hence the reason I am posting.
I have spent the last few days reading about the effects of increased offset and these are the current understandings I have:
Cons:
-increased wheel bearing load/wear. getting a set of cryotreated bearings would potentially reduce this concern
-increased scrub radius. some of the negative effects of this should be negated by the fact that our tie rods are connected behind the hub from my understanding.
-Reduced effective spring rate. New springs are easy.
-widened track might make autoX more "interesting"
Pros:
Ability to run wider tires. I find that a very appealing proposition in the FR of the car in particular, as these cars tend to love wide rubber up front. (please lets not turn this in to a bicycle tires are as good as wide tires argument...
)
My current suspension setup is
Stance SS+ Coilovers True Type with custom 13/9 spring rates
Hotchkis Front Bar
SPL everything
The wheel/tire setup I would run along with this kit:
10.5 (-5ET) FR | 12.5 (-5ET) RR.
295 FR | 345 RR
This setup would effectively move the our rim of the wheels out:
Outside edge 2.8" FR | 3.3" RR
Inside edge 1.3" FR |*.78" RR
Not sure if this is the right numbers to be concerned about or not. I understand how offset effect the wheels relationship to the fender and strut, but not how it effects the centerline of the wheel exactly, at least not for this type of conversation about pivot points and what not.
My question is (putting the wheel bearing issue aside and given the setup I am trying to run) what effects on handling would you guys estimate I would see on the 370? Obviously anyone with real world experience would be best, but I will take the theoretical stuff at this point, as I expect there aren't too many widebody 370z being tracked at this point. Should I be concerned? I am obviously not a pro, so it mostly about having fun, but I don't want to seriously compromise the driving experience, and hopefully might get a little more handling out of the wider front tires.
Thanks!