RS Watanabe's 15x10 vs 17x10??

[SR240Z]

I am obsessed with these wheels... have always been and always will be. The plan is to get some for the road going Z in 15x8 but the race car is the priority right now… The wifes said finish it or sell it.....

I have a set of x4 16x10 Simmons and x3 16x10 Schmidts so not enough to make x2 sets and trying to buy a single Schmidt is proven problematic. I am still looking into getting a Schmidt centre casted and modified to fit Arrow Wheel barrels but could be $$ . Tyre options to suit 16x10 are also limited so am considering going 15" or 17" wheels.

With the large rotors on the race car (13.06” diameter + 6 pot calliper) I am concerned about brake clearance and I would expect 15x10 RS Wat’s are unlikely to clear …. ?

Does anyone have any experience with 15’ Wats and what they are like with brake clearances?

[maaaaark]

I have been installing 305mm rotors and 4 pots on my z and have had issues with caliper clearance with my 16"x 8.5 arrow wheels, i was thinking about watanabes but didn't want to risk buying them and having issues since i didn't know if my breaks would fit.
So for the time being i have some 17x8.5 rota rbx, tyres 40x235. These still dont have enough spring clearance with the standard springs so coilovers are a good option.

[mikey]

Sorry, I can't say much about 15" RS's, but I run 16" RS's with 310mm rotors and R32 GTR 4 pots just fine.



I can also confirm that finding tires in 16s are indeed very limited

[mikey]

Actually, I tell a complete lie! I'm running spacers in the front so the spokes clear the calipers.

It's obviously been a long while since I've worked on my car!

[maaaaark]

yeah that's the issue i had with the 16" arrows,spokes not clearing front of caliper, i would of had to have about 8mm spacers all around but didnt want to have any

[mikec(nz)]

Pretty disappointed with my wantanbes, found the aluminium really soft and the wheel nuts were wearing away the Ali. Ended up having them modified to fit steel inserts. They look cool though. As they seem to be copies of minilites maybe that might be an option. However you can choose all sorts of offset etc which you purchase your watanbes.

[mikey]

Pretty disappointed with my wantanbes, found the aluminium really soft and the wheel nuts were wearing away the Ali. Ended up having them modified to fit steel inserts. They look cool though. As they seem to be copies of minilites maybe that might be an option. However you can choose all sorts of offset etc which you purchase your watanbes.

Yeah I guess Watanabes are old tech alloy? But minilights on a Datsun is wrong. Japanese car should have Japanese wheels.

[mikec(nz)]

Maybe the magnesium ones would be better?

[mikey]

Oh yeah, the genuine Watanabe wheel nuts are two-piece with big coned washers which mate against the wheel, presumably to stop the nut gouging the wheels.