
Originally Posted by
EvasiveEF9
To vouch for stock EF's...
Bryan (aka StraightSix) has run SOME SCCA, and SEVERAL NASA events, and par-takes in a Clemson racing group (correct me if wrong, Bryan). For which he has done well for himself. From what I have actually SEEN him run, I can only vouch the mountains. The last mountain run we went up on was mildly-to-semi aggressive. Hell, there were some parts I would call aggressive. Bryan's hatch kept up with me through all the hell of the short-straightway, tight-hairpin turns. The only time my car REALLY surpassed him was at the higher speeds where we had two lanes, and I pushed my car because I had room for error. But when it came down to it...in the one-lane areas where my engine couldn't really release itself, Bryan's hatch was able to hold me in his crosshairs.
To vouch for wheels...I'm one of the most aggressive driver's of the EF Squad up in the mountains. I love my 15x6's. I can feel the road, well. My tires track the road, well. And whenever the front end STARTS to slide, it's VERY easy to regain control, and get back on course while at the same time still being easy enough that when I DO want the front end to slide out of a turn, it does so VERY easily by digging just a little bit harder.
What's REALLY going to matter to you is learning how to handle your weight transfer whether you have stock or aftermarket suspension...and what tires you're running will also make one of the biggest differences. Bryan runs a 195 series tire, and I run a 205 series tire. We both love them, and have our own biased opinions on them...but that wide of a tire tracks well. As for your tire BRAND...I wanna say Bryan runs proxes 4's...and I run Proxes 4's. They're not the BEST tire for the job...but they do VERY well and make a perfect DD/WW tire. The ONLY complaint I have about them is they're ability to hydroplane...but that's not only the tires to blame. My car weighs in at about 1800lbs...on a good day.
So to break it down for you...learn to drive your car as stock as possible. Once you learn the limitations of the car, add something. Learn that. Add more. Learn that. Build your way up. And that extra inch of wheel...really isn't gonna make THAT much of a difference. If you find a nice 15x6 or 6.5 wheel...go for it.