15" rear wheels on the front

[Michael]

I have a buddy that just got his DeLorean and is doing a 15" stock rear wheel on the front. He wants to run 225 45 15 on the front and 235/50ZR15 on the rear. He is working now to make this happen and with lowered suspension it will no doubt look awesome.

Apparently he has a few obstacles to overcome but he is pretty confident about it. I have only seen one other D with a 15" factory wheel mounted up front but it wasn't anywhere near a 225 45 series tire on it.

[opethmike]

If you're looking for advice, get a hold of Clint Wolff; I believe he has done this exact thing.

[Michael]

Thanks I will pass that along to him. He does seem to know what he is doing. These are the tires. Couple that with about a 2-3" drop and that is one mean looking DeLorean!

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[vwdmc16]

I've been running 15" front wheels for almost a year now. They work pretty good but there were draw backs.

I've not tried 225/45/15 tires but from the way my 205/50/15s fit, I doubt the 225s will fit well if, especially if the car is lowered. Maybe a 215/45/15 will but my 205s are about maximum diameter allowed by even rolled front fenders.

Now full disclosure I have some different front track measurements than stock that I was able to adjust to suit this modification for an optimal configuration in my view.

I'm using rear wheel hubs from a 2001 Ford Focus that slip-on to DeLorean spindles instead of stock dmc hubs, which means I'm not using stock brakes either. I'm using mx5 NB Sport brake rotors and calipers which are larger by 20mm ,vented well, really easy and cheap to buy parts for, and lots of performance pads out to choose from.

But they wont fit in a 14" wheel. 15"s dmcs work.

With those calipers the adapter bracket to connect them to dmc spindles (via Josh Shattenkirk) I can move the front track width in by about 25mm per side in any desired increment with cut down bearing hub spacers (shortened stock dmc units). This allowed the wheels to suck in and avoid the fender lip (which again have been moderately rolled with an Eastwood fender roller tool), but not too much to rub inside fender well under hard cornering.

This has downsides: narrower front track (at spindle rotation point but not over all) made the front end feel a little less planted in hard maneuvers. But confidence is restored with front LCA braces.
The second downside is the wheels rubbing on the front anti-roll bar at full lock (atleast with my Mazda MX5 steering rack that has more travel than stock.


So upsides?
Way better tire selection,
Much better braking performance
Much better cornering performance
Better look (IMHO)
Speedometer also stays accurate to within 1mph vs GPS with 205/50 tires, atleast on my car.


Il upload some new beauty shots though.

[vwdmc16]

https://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c396/vwdmc16/20181209_155006_zpsowf2azmo.jpg

https://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c396/vwdmc16/20181103_172107_zpsiehoe5om.jpg

https://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c396/vwdmc16/20181103_172148_zpsnmvrgxvx.jpg

https://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c396/vwdmc16/20190227_182835_zps3ne1bnaw.jpg

[Mark D]

https://media.giphy.com/media/Jlt69Ka6SwtH2/giphy.gif

[JAZ_DMC]

https://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c396/vwdmc16/20190227_182835_zps3ne1bnaw.jpg

This is such a cool photo!

[Timeless]

Looks fantastic! :cheers:

[Josh]

Let me know if I can help Michael.

Clint did a really good job at explaining the issues.

[Michael]

Let me know if I can help Michael.

Clint did a really good job at explaining the issues.

His last post pretty much had it done. He had a suspension guy come and actually design camber plates as well as relocate the hubs further back. When I get time I will post a pic of the nearly finished product. Looks amazing.

Edit found it. His next task is to fix the offset on the rear.

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[Josh]

His last post pretty much had it done. He had a suspension guy come and actually design camber plates as well as relocate the hubs further back. When I get time I will post a pic of the nearly finished product. Looks amazing.

Edit found it. His next task is to fix the offset on the rear.

60485

Looks great! Sounds similar to what we did with Clints car, but the whole reason to move to the 15s was to fit in bigger Miata brakes.

As for the rear, I am running 10mm spacers with longer studs. This kind of idea should work well for him. A bonus with the spacers I made - no falling off rear hubs.

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