Getting close to completion time - Questions

[Gizmosrcool]

Hi Everyone. I am a few weeks out from completion time and very excited. I do have a work project that will occuly 10 days and its in New Orleans and a nice place to work for a bit. NOLA will distract me. That leaves me with a few final decisions before I leave.

Seat type. Vinyl vs. Leather? I have leather in now and its a $749 up charge. It will be attending locals and occasional track car. Probably close to home in south FL. I can see running around FL. Not not much outside. How comfotable are the vinyl seats for such use?

Wheels. I currently have 18" wheels on order and like Nitto 555G2's. FF recommends 315/30/18 and 255/35/18. Nitto does not offer 315/30/18's and has 315/40/18 instead. The 315/40/18 is 27.91" in diameter. Not sure what size tires to get for the front. 255/45/18's are 27.05" and slightly smaller than the rear. Does this sound right? Should the overall diameter of front and rear be similar? I would think the front would be smaller or slightly smaller. Ideas? Any tire alternatives with different tire sizes.

Thx. Tom

[edwardb]

I've had both vinyl and leather Roadster seats. There's not a big difference in appearance or in comfort in my experience. The leather is nice, I guess, but pretty expensive IMO. The are "leather facing" so you're not disappointed. Around the seat sides and back are still vinyl. For tires, aspect ratio 40 size rear tires aren't a good fit. For 18" wheels, I'd stick with 30's. I had Nitto 555's on my 7750 build and agree they're a decent tire. But those were 17" wheels and also found they didn't have good 18" options. Switched to BFGoodrich g-Force Rival S on subsequent 18" builds. There are a number of other brands that offer 315/30/18.

[Jeff Kleiner]

I'm with Paul regarding the leather seats. I've had a number of cars come through my shop with them and can't justify the cost upgrade and in fact I think the vinyl. which appears to be high quality, actually look better. The leather doesn't seem to fit as well and looks kind of loose.

Regarding tires; no, you're not going to fit a nearly 28" tall rear tire without a jacked up ride height. Current options for a 315/30 and 255/35 18" combination are Yokohama A052 and Falken RT660. BFG is not offering a 255/35 in either the Rival S or S 1.5 at this time. They do offer a 245/40 which is .2" larger in diameter than the 315/30 rear. Falken 615 also has a 245/40 available (only .1" in diameter larger than the rear) Going the other way is Michelin PS2 in a 245/35 which is 24.8" diameter vs. 25.5 for the rear 315/30. All that said I recommend that you hold off on tires until you actually need them...lots of guys get excited and buy them early and by the time the car is actually roadworthy they've been sitting for 2, 3 or more years accumulating age and getting hard. I've had cars brought to me with tires that needed to be replaced with less than 100 miles on them because they were 8-10 years old!!!

Jeff

[Papa]

I like the Michellin PS2 tires that Jeff noted. They look great, have good grip in both wet and dry conditions, and come with a 30k mile tread wear warranty.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=115111&d=1569708505

[Gizmosrcool]

Thx for the feedback Edward, Jeff, and Papa. Yeah 27"+ is too big and I do not want the front tire bigger than the rear. I do not plan on buying tires now. I want to be sure I order the corrrect size wheel. 17vs18. I think the 18" is a good choice for me. I plan on having a set of cheapola wheels/tires to store the car on and when building. I am thinking of the Guniwheel 45S. Its kind of expesive, but I think I can get use out of them and then sell and get money back. Or it could be handy for my next project.

I did research a few of the tires mention and I put this together. I am now leaning toward the PS2's Papa suggested when the time comes. Or something similar.

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Thx again for the replies. Tom