I finally arrived at a point where I thought things would get easier... after all, how difficult could it possibly be to choose wheels and tires once every dimension had already been figured out?
I knew the rear-biased weight distribution would benefit from staggered width tires, displacing the centre of traction aft towards to the centre of gravity. So by assuming I'd achieve close to the stock 43% front to 57% rear weight distribution, and by chosing 215 mm wide front tires to hold the manual steering effort close to stock as well, the ideal rear tire width would have been 285 mm. I settled on 265 mm tires after considering the cost savings of doing so, and that actual Ferrari F355's have 265 mm width rear tires:
I've always been very satisfied with Goodyear tires so I researched the available sidewall profiles and rolling circumferences that met my criteria in their assortment of performance tires. Luckily their Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 tires came in both sizes I wanted: front 215/45/17 and rear 265/35/18:
The larger rolling circumference of the rear tires would affect the stock speedometer calibration, but there are ways around this, and besides, I doubt I'll use the stock speedometer.
Choosing wheels seemed like it would be a lot of fun, except that when I designed the front and rear suspensions, I made an assumption that websites displayed products that were actually available. A quick glance showed more than a few styles were available in my desired 17" x 7" ET 48 mm offset for the fronts and 18" x 9" ET 45 mm offset for the rear. They also needed 5 x 100 mm bolt circles. In reality, it took nearly two years of searching before I finally found a set of wheels I liked and that weren't discontinued: Motegi MR116's:
While I had come across them early in my search, every photo on the internet showed them with a red stripe and "M", which wasn't to my liking and would have added an extra cost to have them repainted. It was only much later that I learned they were available with a polished aluminium stripe.
The last step before placing the order was to determine whether the inside profile of the spokes would leave enough clearance for the lateral depth of the brake callipers (in blue)as shown in this cutaway:
I was on the edge of my seat for nearly two weeks after sending my tech data to a Motegi rep who, in the end could not assure me either size wheel would clear, and was quick to point out their no return policy. I was at wits end when luckily the retailer (sensing a lost sale opportunity) offered to take them back if they didn't fit. I can happily report that the wheels cleared the callipers with some room to spare. So I loaded up the tires and wheels and headed out to the tire shop for some mounting:
And some balancing...
Then eagerly made my way home to mount the rear wheels onto the new suspension:
This thing is going to have one big fat rear end:
To finish the drivetrain, I needed one more piece of the puzzle: custom axles.