Wheels

	4/27/03 3:18 PM

Cars that have received glowing praise for their driving comfort and nimble handling have narrow wheels: The ferrari 360 , Acura nsx, Porsche boxter and the Lotus Elise all have relatively narrow wheel and tire combinations as compared to cars considered clumsy (IE: Dodge viper, diablo) Even the Mclaren F1, a car with 627 hp, has a relatively narrow 8.5 inch wide wheel on the front and 11.5 inch wheel at the back. The Ultima has less power and less weight than the Mclaren F1 so 8 inch and 11 inch wheels were chosen . Narrow wheels and tires track straighter, make less noise and ride better than wide ones. If I was building a track day car the wheels and tires chosen would have been wider.

The offset required at the front combined with the 11 X 17 rears make custom 3 piece wheels the only option initionally considered. After many phone calls a set of three piece race wheels were ordered from BBS, after two months they arrived. The fronts weighed 21 lbs and the rears 22 lbs. The promised weights were 13 & 18 lbs respectivly. I sent them back. 160 hours was then spent designing and making these wheels. The fronts weight 15.1 lbs, the rear, 21.5 lbs.