360 - has anyone tracked their car with 19 & 20 " wheels

Your right, it is only for looks, and if you like it, good for you, but cars like a 360 are touchy when it comes to handling and what you did threw the whole car off balance, so I would not drive the car like that on the street let alone a track.

 

I dunno about the 360, but my 430 has 19'' x 20'' and it tracks just fine from where I'm sitting .. & it looks great

 

I've tracked my car with the same wheel sizes, but the suspension stayed the same. I had a wheel alignement done cause I was told to by the tech at my F dealer and the car runs just fine on and off track. The tires in my opinion make a big difference. I originally had Dunlops but the side walls at the rear were angular- did not fill the wheel. When I swicthed to Pirelli p-zero's the rear side walls were more stiff and straight-actually looks wider than my Dunlops and they're the same size. In the end, make sure the alignment of the car matches your setup and you'll be okay. Happy motoring Beautiful car by the way.

psorella

PS. The air pressure is set as per car spec's inside your door. When tracking, increase PSI by 5lbs.

 

What wheels are they? They look very nice!

 

There are several questions that need answering.

Firstly what is the weights of the new tire/wheel combo's?
The difference in unsprung weight will be the main negative when it comes to handling finesse and performance. The extra weight will add more momentum so braking, steering and directional changes aren't are sharp.

As already pointed out full wheel alignment is essential, especially considering you've lowered the center of gravity of the vehicle. How was this done? Via adjustments to the existing springs or with lowering (stiffer springs?). Ideally if your tracking your vehicle its good to get the car corner weighted with you in it! Perfectly balanced suspension leads to easier to manage handling such as no difference in weight bias into corners between left and right turns for example.

The main thing to really note about your changes are that the levels of grip offered by your tire setup are much higher than stock so what your likely to notice is improved mechanical grip into corners but less finesse and when it does 'let go' you'll have to be quicker to correct.

Enjoy the day!

-T

 

You don't reduce, you increase by 5 lbs. 40 lbs is a bit high to begin with. Ferrari 360 specs are 28lbs in front and 30 ish in back ( I don't remember exactly). 40lbs is what I use when I store the car for the winter.

psorella

 

If you have the ability, I would throw your stock 18s on for the track with some decent tires... your 19/20s will be a hindrance in weight/inertia which will slow and change your turn in, braking and acceleration. Also, your balance in the corners will be different now that you are running a wider rear but a normal size front, which will make your front tires run hotter than your rears, and change grip and threshold. You may get oversteer in beginning as fronts heat up first, then understeer as they overheat and rears aren't as warm, depending on how hard you push it and how hot it is, and your tire compound. Some cars are sensitive to this, some are not. As mentioned, it may have more grip in some cases this way but will handle comparatively poorly, requiring much faster reaction on your part.

I'd recommend going to stock, especially if this is your first event. Even better, stock with some new sticky tires. It may not has quite as much total grip, but will be more manageable grip, easier to handle. Low profile tires are not ideal on the track.. Thats why you dont see F1 cars rollin on 20s They have 15s. Dont worry about how your car looks at the track.. most everyone else will have smaller wheels.

As for tire pressures, if stock is 28/30, you should increase that by 3-5 PSI for each inch larger diameter you go from stock, roughly. so 33/38 may be a good starting point. Tire pressure is huge.. you will have to check them as they heat up, temp variation from original will tell you which tires are heating up more than others. Bring a gauge with you.

 

That isn't why F1 doesn't use 20's. They don't use 20's because of weight, not tire profile.

Agree with this second point. BUT, if you are just out for some fun it won't make that much difference. If you are serious, get a set of wheels & tires for the track.

 

I just figured if he had them laying around, might as well burn that rubber instead.

 

I understand. I have a set of Velano's just like those but haven't put them on because I figured I would run out the rubber on my stock rims first.