Standard to all Titan 7 wheels is beefed up inner rim flanges. This is key for durability and stiffness since a lot of the deflection of a wheel happens at the inner barrel of the wheel. This speaks volumes to the credibility of Titan 7’s engineering and design team. Through their experience, they traded off a minor weight penalty for an increase in durability and stiffness. This is very important for performance and reliability of a wheel on the street, and especially on track. Many well-known wheel brands chase the lightest design possible, even at the cost of outright performance and durability. Simply because it’s easy to market that lighter is better.
I’m sure some companies just don’t have the knowledge and experience in motorsports to know where these tradeoffs are and where and how to reinforce wheels for overall performance. But some companies do know better and unfortunately sell super-light flimsy designs because the buyer doesn’t know any better. I respect companies like Titan 7 who focus on performance over what’s easier to market. As an educated buyer, it’s important to realize that lighter is not always better.
For more information on why this is important and to understand that poorly-designed wheels and those that are too light deflect and actually lose camber when cornering (yes, all wheels do flex…a lot) check out the article: Does Wheel Stiffness Affect Performance?
Bead seat knurling is important for traction, and preventing the tire from slipping on the wheel. This is very common, especially when on track with cold tires that are down on pressure and can throw off the wheel balance of the tire, causing a vibration. In pro racing, the valve stem location is marked with paint on the tire to monitor this slippage. Next time you’re at the track with a brand-new set of tires, mark the valve stem location and see if your tires are slipping.
This 17×9.5+51 Honda S2000 and FD Mazda RX-7 spec T-D6 wheel is a popular fitment size for both cars without having any rubbing issues. This wheel tipped our scales at 19lbs. Unfortunately, this corner weight scale doesn’t go down to the tenth of a pound. Titan 7 markets this wheel at 18.3lbs so that’s within the error tolerance.
Continental Tire’s first 200 treadwear performance tire is this brand-new Extremecontact FORCE.
This is an ultra-high performance summer tire designed for both enthusiasts and professionals. Continental (Hoosier) actually markets it as a “competition tire built for professionals, that is ideal for endurance racing, while qualifying as a 200 UTQG street tire” and having “appropriate on-road performance”. This really shows to their track-focused intent behind this tire.
6 comments
Great article. I can’t wait for the track test. I am also looking at some Titan 7 made wheels for my 08 Miata. Evasive Motorsports has a custom line made for them by Titan. 17×10 +47 EVS Tuning 52R, which should need just a 3-5mm spacer to fit the NC properly. They are meant for S2000’s, but luckily that offset is very close to what the NC’s need, too.
Where are the Titan’s made?
Minor correction: the reinforced wheel is on the left, unreinforced on the right.
Valve stems are placed where they are most aesthetic on modern aluminum wheels, not on the heavy spot of the wheel. It’s nice to be consistent about aligning the dot on the tire with the valve stem but it really means nothing.
That’s all well and good but the author didn’t even mention the dot.
I think he was just saying that on pro race cars, they make a mark on the tire at the valve stem to keep an eye on slip.
Correct, it’s easy to make a small line with a paint pen to mark the valve stem position to monitor tire slippage on the wheel.