factory 16/17s with oe spec tires

[dustthisnsx]

I may just be drinking the kool-aid here... but how come more people don't run the factory wheel and oe spec tire combination?
is it the price? diminishing tire availability?

seems to me if an oem and a tire company spent so much time and resources why would you use any other generic tire?

 

[NSX2play]

Factory 16/17s with oe spec tires

I think wheels are the easiest way to change the look of a car and so a lot of owners do just that. Unfortunately, they almost always go for a much larger diameter and wind up with a set of low performance wheels that perform much worse than the OEM wheels. As my race shop owner always tells me, buy your wheels just large enough to fit your brakes. Anything larger reduces performance.

I have the 16/17s with the Bridgestone OEs for the street and two sets of 15/16s for the track and love both sizes. They are light, strong and have the correct offset so the suspension geometry doesn't get screwed up like it does on some aftermarket wheels.

 

[Nero Tenebre]

I wouldn't say anything larger reduces performance. Maybe if the only thing that matters to you is straight line acceleration and braking ability, but those skinny little 15/16s can easily be improved upon by using some light wheels that come in today's tire widths and not 1989s tires. Even if you are using the original tires designed specifically for the cars suspension geometry (mainly toe setting), I bet you can get more performance from star specs on 17x8/18x10, and have the car look 20 years younger. Choosing the right offset is important too as was mentioned, so you put the contact patch as close to where it was intended to go. Bottom line is there was a lot of engineering that went into the car so you should do some research before modifying it, but the factory can be bested as has been proved here many times.

 

[RedWings]

It's a fine question that truly depends on your intended use

personally, I find 18/19 a bit large for the NSX... some guys luv em

I run 17/18 with 215/40/17 and 265/35/18 for spirited street and twisties driving and very happy with the performance and wear

Tracking on the other hand is a very different matter that has been addressed in many other threads since each track and conditions can affect what is best for that run on that day.

 

[dustthisnsx]

Re: Factory 16/17s with oe spec tires

I think wheels are the easiest way to change the look of a car and so a lot of owners do just that. Unfortunately, they almost always go for a much larger diameter and wind up with a set of low performance wheels that perform much worse than the OEM wheels. As my race shop owner always tells me, buy your wheels just large enough to fit your brakes. Anything larger reduces performance.

I have the 16/17s with the Bridgestone OEs for the street and two sets of 15/16s for the track and love both sizes. They are light, strong and have the correct offset so the suspension geometry doesn't get screwed up like it does on some aftermarket wheels.

Thanks, looks like you and I are on the same page. I've played the big wheel and brake setups in the past but this car I'll be treating a bit differently... Already picked up second set of 15/16's now just to find one of the 2094 NSXs in California (make that 2095 as of yesterday) who needs to off their 16/17

It's a fine question that truly depends on your intended use

personally, I find 18/19 a bit large for the NSX... some guys luv em

I run 17/18 with 215/40/17 and 265/35/18 for spirited street and twisties driving and very happy with the performance and wear

Tracking on the other hand is a very different matter that has been addressed in many other threads since each track and conditions can affect what is best for that run on that day.

Thanks

I wouldn't say anything larger reduces performance. Maybe if the only thing that matters to you is straight line acceleration and braking ability, but those skinny little 15/16s can easily be improved upon by using some light wheels that come in today's tire widths and not 1989s tires. Even if you are using the original tires designed specifically for the cars suspension geometry (mainly toe setting), I bet you can get more performance from star specs on 17x8/18x10, and have the car look 20 years younger. Choosing the right offset is important too as was mentioned, so you put the contact patch as close to where it was intended to go. Bottom line is there was a lot of engineering that went into the car so you should do some research before modifying it, but the factory can be bested as has been proved here many times.

My thoughts exactly. Thanks, I'm going to keep the stocks on it for now but will do the research once I can exceed their limits.

 

[docjohn]

for whatever reason the 215/45/16 tire size is not utilized by many of the high performance brands other than oe.225/40 is more rare and 225/45 is too tall for lowered cars.

 

[robbiedawg]

i have the stock oe 16/17" wheels and run 205/45-16" bridgestone potenza re-11's,which is one size narrower than oe,in the front (have oe size in the rear).going down this way opens up some more choices in high performance tires,this is a fairly new really fine tire.it has great grip,and is fairly quiet and smooth,and i believe is significantly less expensive than the oe tires,which can also be hard to find.this was my reasoning.

 

[junior40er]

I think the best combo for looks and performance is some lightweight 17/18 rims with sticky tires. I actually feel like my car has much more oooomph with my setup than my OEM 16/17s.

 

[OLDMNSX]

If you have been thinking of replacing your 16/17 in tires and were considering the Continental Extreme Contact DW. You may want to get on the wagon (Tire Rack) and get them ordered. The fronts 205/45ZR16s are being DISCONTINUED by Continental, so when they are gone.....they are gone. The rears, 245/40ZR17 are still going to be available.

The original front size 215/45ZR16 is only available in the Potenza RE010 at $249 ea or the Kumho Ecsta XS at $113 ea that I could find. From what I read the Kumhos are fine as long as the road is DRY, really dry.

I liked my set of Potenza RE010s but I got 13K out of the rears and 16K out of the fronts.

A new set of RE010 is $1032 plus shipping.

The Continentals are not going to be as sticky as the Potenzas and are not the exact size for the front, but should give good dry and wet weather handling qualities and better wear.

My set of Continental Extreme Contact DWs (205/45ZR16, 245/40ZR17) were $603.80 shipped to Boise, ID.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Brad

 

[NSX2398]

^ +1 for Continentals but I run DWS not DW which came in handy going to NSXPO in 2010 and getting caught in 3 winter storms

 

[Sumeronthechain]

I prefer having more rubber on the road. Plus, from some angles the stock wheels have a weird offset and don't look right, IMO.

 

[NSX2play]

I prefer having more rubber on the road. Plus, from some angles the stock wheels have a weird offset and don't look right, IMO.

Not to quibble but.......messing with that 'weird offset' can adversely affect handling and......you won't have more rubber on the road, just a different (wider) shape of rubber. :biggrin:

 

[itrsteve]

i have the stock oe 16/17" wheels and run 205/45-16" bridgestone potenza re-11's,which is one size narrower than oe,in the front (have oe size in the rear).going down this way opens up some more choices in high performance tires,this is a fairly new really fine tire.it has great grip,and is fairly quiet and smooth,and i believe is significantly less expensive than the oe tires,which can also be hard to find.this was my reasoning.

Excellent tip! Changing at front size opened up plenty of options on tirerack, like the re-11's (which I track my other car on a lot) and star spec z1's.

 

[s2ktaxi]

Excellent tip! Changing at front size opened up plenty of options on tirerack, like the re-11's (which I track my other car on a lot) and star spec z1's.

I'd be concerned that going narrower on the front will make the understeer at the track even worse...

 

[robbiedawg]

I'd be concerned that going narrower on the front will make the understeer at the track even worse...

i didn't have any more understeer on the street with the 205 size re-11's in the front.they felt more neutral if anything.they do run a bit wide ,so are just about as wide as a 215 in some tires.haven't tracked em ,though.

 

[s2ktaxi]

i didn't have any more understeer on the street with the 205 size re-11's in the front.they felt more neutral if anything.they do run a bit wide ,so are just about as wide as a 215 in some tires.haven't tracked em ,though.

What were you running in the rear?

 

[robbiedawg]

What were you running in the rear?

i have the oem size in the rear,245/40-17

 

[dustthisnsx]

after much debate I pulled the trigger on the Continental Extreme Contact DWs (205/45ZR16, 245/40ZR17). Just couldn't bring myself to spend $1050 on the RE010 or the RE11 for the streets... they should be on the new wheels by this weekend :biggrin:

 

[s2ktaxi]

Can you measure the tread width when you get the tires? Thanks.

 

[s2ktaxi]

According to Tire Rack, it is 10/32"

That's tread depth, not tread width

 

[lightguy]

The stock 15/16's do look a little old.
The stock 16/17's give a newer look and performance for not much $.
Tires have come a long way in 20 years so to go back to stockers makes no sense to me.
I went 17/18 Tecnomagnesios and thats as big as I'll ever want to go on an NSX.

The 19" plus wheels just look circus wagon on an NSX and the ride goes to hell.

 

[EdinKali]

i didn't have any more understeer on the street with the 205 size re-11's in the front.they felt more neutral if anything.they do run a bit wide ,so are just about as wide as a 215 in some tires.haven't tracked em ,though.

^This. The front RE-760 Sports I just ordered in 205/45/16 have a .1 wider tread width than the RE-010's in 215/45/16 that are currently on there. 7.4" vs 7.3" according to TireRack's specs.

 

[docjohn]

after much debate I pulled the trigger on the Continental Extreme Contact DWs (205/45ZR16, 245/40ZR17). Just couldn't bring myself to spend $1050 on the RE010 or the RE11 for the streets... they should be on the new wheels by this weekend :biggrin:

Ken Sax is applauding right now! (insider blurb) :wink:

 

[dustthisnsx]

Alright, well a bit of a misscommunication led to the DWS not the DWs:redface: not exactly what something I need here in CA but then again they were freebies, so who can really complain. P Initial impression were get these off of here! haha, guess it's been a while since I've had a fresh set of greasy tires! Anyways, I took a 130 mile loop that night and by the end of it I have to say they're not half bad. Put another 400 miles on them last week it preparation for the Ortega/De Luz cruise and must say I've warmed up to them. Still have yet to really bend any corners with them but then again that's not why I got them.

Before next to dads A

 

[nsxtasy]

The Continental ExtremeContact DWS is an all-season tire. Like all all-seasons, it trades off grip in moderate to warm temperatures for the ability to handle light snow and frigid cold temperatures. I don't recommend doing so on an NSX, because the poorer grip means you're sacrificing the performance that the car is capable of. Use a set of good summer tires on your NSX.

If you need to also drive it in snow and frigid cold, get a separate set of winter tires (or all-seasons) to use in winter. And to make it easy to swap back and forth, get an extra set of wheels (like these inexpensive stock wheels :wink: ) for those winter tires.