aftermarket wheel suggestions..

warejohn

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Looking for aftermarket wheels for the Cobra 03, and some of the options are 8-12 pounds heavier. That’s 8-12 pounds of un-sprung weight, is this something to be judged when looking at different wheel/tire options or It doesn’t matter if not going to have a track day or two? When choosing tire size combinations, shouldn’t the front/rear tire ratio be equal so that the handling isn’t unfavorably affected? Too wide in the back and not wide enough in the front would make the car understeer too much? Just looking for some advice..
 

CobraBob

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If you're not going to be racing, a few pounds of un-sprung weight isn't really going to be a factor. Size wise, I assume you're not thinking skinnies up front, so having a factory width (or near factory) up front with wider rears should be fine. That's actually a common setup with these cars. If you're still concerned, then go with the same size all around. That would allow you to rotate the tires for optimal wear. By the way, my Genesis G-70 has wider tires at the rear. There are other factory cars with wider rear wheels/tires as well.
 

apex svt

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Always liked the street lites. Polished are 17’s. Black and polished are the 15’s big n littles.

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StephenL

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John,

JMS is a great brand that has a decent weight to them, we have a few options as well if you are looking for something that is actually lightweight. Hit us up over at Lethalperformance.com if you would like to go over some setups.
 

BoostedSVT03

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Im a big fan of CCW wheels and especially love the fitment options. I initially wanted Weld RTS-S71 but the high pad backspacing for the front leaves little to be desired. 6.1 or 6.6" on a 18x9.5. They "say" anything wider than a 18X10 will not fit a 03-04 Cobra.

That being said if you are willing to spend more, Forgeline wheels are beautiful and high quality pieces. They will work with you on fitment like CCW.

Forgestar wheels are also more reasonably priced wheels with great quality but I don't think they offer custom fitment.

I would not recommend a low volume casting for high performance driving. Low volume are not as dense of material which are what you typically find on AFS, and Repro wheels (chinese) They are prone to breaking and I have seen finish issues where the aluminum oxidizes under the coating, causing it to peel.

Ultimately, I would pick what you like aesthetically and go from there. You are right about a Square setup being overall better balanced for handling but I have found that the power from these cars, good shocks and large swaybars give you the ability to combat oversteer with hardware and throttle input.
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tt335ci03cobra

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Unsprung weight is pretty noticeable in my experience on my 03 cobra.

I had heavier 18x10” wheels at about 33lbs each, and stepped down to 22/24lbs tsw sochi’s. Car felt like I pulled 250lbs off the nose. Much better steering response, and high speed handling.

All in all that’s only ~40lbs of unsprung weight but it definitely made for a better driving experience.

My cobra is a high powered turbo car with a mostly full suspension build and a trutrac and I drive it hard on canyons and backroads/etc.

If you just do some wot pulls and keep it mellow, you probably won’t notice much difference except steering effort. My steering effort now is dramatically less than before especially at parking lot speed.

I don’t recommend the sochi’s though because although they look good in pictures, the design doesn’t end up well on these cars compared to other traditional 5 spoke designs.
 

PR714

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Im a big fan of CCW wheels and especially love the fitment options. I initially wanted Weld RTS-S71 but the high pad backspacing for the front leaves little to be desired. 6.1 or 6.6" on a 18x9.5. They "say" anything wider than a 18X10 will not fit a 03-04 Cobra.

Yeah, Weld’s fitment guide says that 10” is the widest that will fit on our cars. I’m not sure how and why they came up with that size limit but it’s not true. I have a set of 18x9 up front and 18x11 on the rear and they fit beautifully. I switched from 17” cobra reps and the welds are lighter despite being larger and wider. I also noticed a decrease in steering effort when I switched to lighter wheels.
 

olympic

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Check out >> All Wheels << Most models have 9.5" and 10.5" widths available. Some say they don't clear the front dust caps so you have to run a small spacer or mod the dust cap.
 

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