stock 18s for track use?

[dP3NGU1N]

Hey everyone. There's a lot of threads out there regarding 3rd party after market rims but I was wondering if the base 18s, while heavier than forged rims, are safe to track on or, possibly, even prefered in my case.

I see people selling their base 18s quite often for fair prices and if I'm going to be tearing them up anyway I'd rather pay a lower cost and not mind when they're all rashed up from mounting - dismounting tires. I'll be using these for drifting events (I'm assuming here that the wide sport 19s are harder to break loose and tires will be cheaper on the 18s - correct me if I'm wrong, I've only been drifting on the 19s) and keeping the sport rays for daily use. Possibly keeping grippier tires on the sport rims and using them on big tracks. I don't anticipate participating in drifting competitions, it's just a leisure thing for me. I know ProAM is going on right now .

What I'd like to know is:
1. Is anyone else doing this (doesn't have to be drift - any kind of track duty would give me peace of mind; autox, time attack, etc.)
2. I'm assuming a square setup would be preferable since I would be able to rotate and get more even wear on tires? I'm considering buying two sets and using the rears. no idea if anyone would be interested in buying the fronts but who knows. Some threads have mentioned it, anyone doing it?
3. I'm seeing these sets going for like $500, any chance there are other rims for that price (potentially used and beat up) that would be safe to track on? I'm assuming reps, per usual, are not recommended for the track?

Thoughts, comments, etc. are appreciated as long as they're constructive. I don't mind if you say it's a shitty idea but give me a reason as well so I don't make the same mistake twice.

By the way, I'd like to think I've done my diligence. I've read some of these threads and am still unable to come to a conclusion on whether or not I'm making a good choice here :
What size tires for 18" Base Wheels? (tracking)
lightweight 18 inch rims for track use
Weight of the OEM 18x8/18x9 wheels?

Thanks for reading the long winded explaination. Just wanted to be thorough.

I"m going to do a seperate search on this but I might as well tack it on just to confirm: stock 18s still clear sports brakes right?

[Mike]

stock 18s clear the sport brakes, and you could do that. I'm not sure what the fitment of rears would be like on the front, but its easy to check using an offset calculator.

Personally, One of my set of wheels is 4 rear 18x8.5 350Z track model Rays that I bought for 500 then spent another 900 on getting them widened to 9.5"

[takjak2]

Perfectly good for drifting