Wheels and Size for EK Civic

[tsg88]

I am in your boat Alvis, I have plenty of tread, just waiting away for them to wear down. My EK is temporary until I can afford a nice Landcruiser (different worlds I know)... so I don't wanna spend a fortune.

16" you can at least see that its a lower profile wheel (for the looks) But.. if the mood takes I could even go 17" just for the look lol, I ain't racing the thing. As long as the rolling diameter is the same as stock... and there is enough tyre there that it doesn't become a skateboard to drive on... we put 18" on our commodore, what would you say is the equivalent to an 18" on a commodore with ride and handling? We didn't notice any difference in comfort and it handles like a cat on carpet now (the sport suspension helps though).

Probably spend about a grand tops on wheels/tyres, 1/4 the price I paid for the car lol... but seems reasonable? I think... we got quoted $1300 for 18" Speedy wheels with middle of the road tyres for our Commodore.

Just want to give it some sex appeal over hub caps for resale and my own enjoyment of the car.

[vinnY]

nothing wrong with bigger wheels, though generally bigger the wheel the heavier they usually are(though not always the case) and the heavier than are the less acceleration(or lack thereof in a civic) you have

you can get the best of both worlds by getting larger light wheels at the expense of your bank account going down heaps

[Alvis]

Yeh, good point about larger wheels and more weight vinnY.

But I think i'll go 16" when I get mine - if i go for a bit smaller wheel i would probably be looking to get a more reputable wheel like an ROH Shift R, which look pretty nice..? But yeh, you'd be lookin $1,500+ with wheels easy...

[vinnY]

yeah just go for whatever you want, i've gone from some heavy 17's before to 15" stockies on my old em1 and it was night and day difference while driving

currently running 15's and stepping up to mugen mf8's soon in 16's hopefully
thankfully the wheels themselves are about the same weight so it should be happy times

[Alvis]

sounds like a plan mate... I don't have too much experience with wheels tho - can you tell me what the major difference between the stock 15's and the 17's you went to before?

[vinnY]

simply unsprung weight difference
the old momo 17's would have been at least 50% heavier than the stock alloys were

[Alvis]

ahh ok, so did the ride/handling suffer or more the acceleration would have been reduced?

[vinnY]

acceleration was just crap, had stock suspension and a shitty alignment so handling was the same
just very sluggish, far from responsive
and that was a healthy b16, dunno what it'd be like for a d16

[Alvis]

Oh geez... wow... might keep my stockers for a bit longer then lol

But sounds like light weight, smaller wheels are the way to go with Hondas... thanks very much for your replies, it's a great help for me :-)

Cheers vinnY

[egSi]

15/16s IMHO are best.

Remember you can a super wide tyre on a 15" rim. You dont have to buy big rims to run a wide tyre.

Shop around and read

[tsg88]

acceleration was just crap, had stock suspension and a shitty alignment so handling was the same
just very sluggish, far from responsive
and that was a healthy b16, dunno what it'd be like for a d16

Was it noticeable with daily driving though? Or are we talking track conditions here?

Thinking of a 5 spoke or many smaller spoke style wheel for mine. So it isn't anything too 'blingy' and heavy... I also don't wanna rice the thing out. After reading here I am thinking 16" now too, 15" I could pass for if I can get my hands on some actual Honda wheels, 1" and a nice rim doesn't seem worth the upgrade from stock hub caps, not when I am only keeping mine for a year or so. Will keep my eye on the threads here.

I am happy with the stock acceleration my car has, I mean its not fantastic, but it goes better than all the 4cyl hatches in my general family/friend circle, Barina, Pulsar a Getz and an Excel. Actually surprisingly the Getz comes close and is very modern inside, but we're talking a 9 year younger car here worth twice as much. I think it's the Honda part of it shining and I know it's to do with the engine and power to weight ratio.

[CB7_OWNER]

Anyone here know if 15x7 + 20 offset rims will fit on a EM1 with out needing guards rolled? Lowered about 2inches. Tyre size can be chosen.