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Where to get Panasports?

CoastGuardZ

By CoastGuardZ
in Wheels & Brakes

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Jeff G 78 GrandMaster Z

Jeff G 78

Posted
Posted

Congrats on the purchase! I was thrilled when mine showed up at the door.

While the ES100s are great tires, I have heard and read that the ES100 tire isn't nearly as sticky as the Falken or Hankook, so depending on what you plan to do with your car, you might want to look at one of the others. I went with the Hankooks based on Car & Driver's test results. They tried 10 different performance tires and the Hankook came out very well considering its super low price. So far I haven't driven my car hard enough to asses them. It's running, but still needs some sorting before it sees any track duty.

As far as the rub goes, I have heard the same reports as you. Some people get rub and others don't. I suspect that tire choice has a lot to do with it. Some brands run larger than others for a given size. My rub is more audible than anything. I can see witness marks on the tire sidewalls just below the shoulder, but no grooves or slices. They just look shiny where they rub. I also get rub in the front when I turn tight to one side, but that's just because my valance isn't lined up quite right on that side. An air dam will replace it soon.

While we're on the subject of rubbing, I get really frustrated when I hear people say that they do or don't have rub based on their springs or stuts. The tires must be able to go through their full travel without rubbing! The spring rates don't matter. The fact that the car is lowered might mean that they rub sooner, but they will rub either way. :rolleyes:

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Chino 240Z ExperienZed

Chino 240Z

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Posted
I get really frustrated when I hear people say that they do or don't have rub based on their springs or stuts. The tires must be able to go through their full travel without rubbing! The spring rates don't matter. The fact that the car is lowered might mean that they rub sooner, but they will rub either way. :rolleyes:

Don't get your pants in a wad there Jeff, that's not what I said ....LOL The fact of the rub is due to larger tires!!!

I'll explain a little better. I had a the rear driver side tire rub that was "more audible than anything. I can see witness marks on the tire sidewalls just below the shoulder, but no grooves or slices" just like you mentioned and this only happened after the 15" were installed not the 14" tire. This rub only happened as I would apex in turn 9 at Willowsprings track and no other track, which has a slight dip that will push the left rear suspension through a lot of travel, and also, with 275 springs it had much side lean when pulling over 1.1g's in a hard turn from 115 to 120mph. We had suspension mods already on order to increase spring rate on all corners of the car, which were to change the 275 rear to 300, and 300 front to 325 (by the way Tokico and other shocks won't take these kind of spring rates, you will have to find bigger shocks and have them re-valved for them to live with the rebound rates above 250 or 275). With the new springs and a touch of height adjustment (no longer exhaust dragging low) the car still goes through enough travel and got rid of the unwanted lean for better handling on the track. Sorry don't know anything about larger tires on soft street setup with lots of suspension travel, nor do I even care, my interest lie in running this Z in WOT and hanging on by the seat of my pants.

But I do know I didn't need to fook up the paint all the way around the rear fenders by rolling them and having the paint possibly crack and start coming off. It was nice to see the tire rub go away with the new suspension mods and adjustments, simple, clean, and the fenders untouched. Probably not what most Z owners will experience, except if they have shortened strut tubes with coil overs, you can add back a little height by raising the lower spring perch to allow more travel before rubbing.

Jeff, by the way, when you get around to replacing your front air dam that isn't lined up on one side you may find front tire rub on BOTH sides! Some new air dams will need to be trimmed on the front inside edge depending on the width & height of tire you have. Suspension travel, spring rate and ride height will have nothing to do with the tire rub. It will only be rubbing on the outside front leading edge of the tire. This is when you get your dremel tool and half round files out, they work wonders. :rolleyes:

Nate, glad to hear Les could help you out with the rims. He helped us with ours too. Try the tires out before you might get lucky with no rub. I like Yokohama tires on my daily driver Firebird. I've had 3 sets and will use them again!

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Jeff G 78 GrandMaster Z

Jeff G 78

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Posted

Sorry Chino, my comment wasn't aimed at you, it was just a general comment :laugh: I read stuff every day from guys saying they have rub because their car has been lowered. My point was just that the tires should not rub throughout the wheel's travel from full rebound to full jounce and through full turning in the front.

I plan on removing my springs after I roll my fenders in order to easily take the suspension through its travel. I want to take care of the clearance issues one time and move on.

Thanks for the heads up on the airdam. That's what I figured.

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Chino 240Z ExperienZed

Chino 240Z

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I guess it's a give and take situation trying to get a fat tire and big rim and hope everything clears without too much modification. All 3 rims mentioned are close look alikes... Panasport, Konig & Rewinds. I was actually looking to jump up in size to an 8" rim and bigger tire yet, but now glad I couldn't find one would have been even bigger issues. I'm happy with the 15 x 7 size. Good luck anyone using 16" and lowering too. :D

As for front air dam rub, the air dams that don't have a large area that wraps around towards the front edge of the tire should be fine. I think Cozy Z Cole mentioned that the MSA-Type3 would rub. That's the air dam I like the most too. Yep, rubbed for me too. At first the 14" Toyo RA1s only touched a little, then the 14" Kumho V710 touched more, and last the 15" Kumho V710 touched even more. Each time I shaved a little off the air dam edge and in 20 minutes both sides cleared just fine. Some people also use a 3/8" to 1/2" wheel spacer between the hub and wheel. This helps clear inside tire rub to frame issues and also after market brake caliper kits that may hit on the inside of the rim.

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geezer VeZeran

geezer

Posted
Posted

Those are great looking wheels Jeff! I like them better than the all silver version. If someone would prefer the silver, or wanted to repaint/powdercoat, this used set I spotted on Ebay might be worth a look. I am tempted but have something else in mind.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=200097486237&rd=1,1

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