Help, 17 or 18 inch wheels?

[HockeyGoalie]

I just bought a 95 NSX. Looking buy 17 or 18 inch wheels/tires. Help, I'm so confused.

My friend has a 96 NSX and upgraded to Motegi wheels, tires sizes 215/35/18 front, 265/35/18 rear.

I was also looking at Tire Rack for wheel/tire combos. I like the ASA AR1 wheels, 17 inch, tires sizes 215/40/17 front, 245/40/17 rear. I also like the Motegi Racing MR 118, same tires sizes, wheels sizes 17 x 8 all around.

I also found a website: acuraparts4less and they sell reconditioned oem 02-05 NSX wheels (which i also like) for $197 each. sizes are 17 x 7 front, 17 x 9 rear and I would need a 5mm spacer to fit on my 95 NSX.

Help, should I go with 17's or 18's?

How does this effect the handling since I am upsizing the wheels, etc?

thanks

Glenn

 

[kaede]

Do a search and you'll find a LOT on this topic. The usual aftermarket size of choice will be 17 Front /18 Rear. The 18/18 will make the nsx look rediculously out of proportion. Also forget about acuraparts4less or ANY website that claims to say they have the 2002+ style oem wheels, cause they WILL NOT have it. Try shooting them an email if you don't believe it :biggrin: If they really are selling 02+ wheels @ $800set (approx $200/peice) i am pretty sure ALLLLLL of them would've been bought by current/previous NSX owners =D

A good site with couple different NSX aftermarket wheels that will fit for sure is scienceofspeed.com. They are one of the few trusted NSX car tuner/dealer on this site, they have a couple different type of wheels that you can look at. Also, just browse through this forum, pretty sure you'll find lots of different popular aftermarket NSX wheels.

upsizing to the 17/18 should not effect the handling too much. If anything probably better. I forgot but does 95 comes with power steering? if not then the steering might be a bit heavier. Acceleration will be slightly affected (not that you'll notice) by the weigh of the wheels, the lighter, the better (but they have to be STRONG as well).

Good luck!! :smile:

 

[DRIFTER]

Both.

17 on the front
18 on the rear

Make sure you do some research on what offset and width you want.
They will effect what tire options and the look. Proper tire slection and offset is important for making the wheel fit and look good without rubbing.

 

[docjohn]

best compromise, bling/performance is 17/18....but chose the lightest wheel possible that you like,our nsx are very sensative to unsprung weight due to the suspension design/ low torque motor.

 

[butter78]

I just bought a 95 NSX. Looking buy 17 or 18 inch wheels/tires. Help, I'm so confused.

My friend has a 96 NSX and upgraded to Motegi wheels, tires sizes 215/35/18 front, 265/35/18 rear.

I was also looking at Tire Rack for wheel/tire combos. I like the ASA AR1 wheels, 17 inch, tires sizes 215/40/17 front, 245/40/17 rear. I also like the Motegi Racing MR 118, same tires sizes, wheels sizes 17 x 8 all around.

I also found a website: acuraparts4less and they sell reconditioned oem 02-05 NSX wheels (which i also like) for $197 each. sizes are 17 x 7 front, 17 x 9 rear and I would need a 5mm spacer to fit on my 95 NSX.

Help, should I go with 17's or 18's?

How does this effect the handling since I am upsizing the wheels, etc?

thanks

Glenn

Stick to 18 x 9.5/10 for the rear and 17 x 7.5/8 for the front. This is the best combination that does not affect performance significantly provided you Look for light weight wheels and save for the right set. The you can find OEM wheel specs on the NSX wiki page(s). I went with RP03s from Enkei for my 03. Enkei offers some of the most well built light weight wheels on the market and you don't have to break the bank to get them. Google their 2012 catalog or look up my wheel search thread for more info. Here are pics of my setup. I went with offsets of +38 in the rear and +40 in the front.

There are threads on this forum with close up pictures to see how well they line up to their respective fenders. Hope it helps. Also PM Stormrider, Turbo2go or Synth19 for more suggestions. Synth19 has several sets and can probably help you out a lot. Good luck and post pics once you get them

 

[stormrider]

Butter, that rims looks fabulous on your car! Don't even bother color dip them, they look great the way they are now! :wink:

 

[butter78]

Butter, that rims looks fabulous on your car! Don't even bother color dip them, they look great the way they are now! :wink:

Thanks bud!

 

[kaede]

Butter, that rims looks fabulous on your car! Don't even bother color dip them, they look great the way they are now! :wink:

+1, but dipping it might make it look more clean (the center hub area seems very busy right now) besides that, love the look, the concave'tivity! :wink:

 

[butter78]

+1, but dipping it might make it look more clean (the center hub area seems very busy right now) besides that, love the look, the concave'tivity! :wink:

And thank you sir. I like dark rims but I've been getting mixed views on dipping them... There's a conflict in my head as it stands now.. Lol

 

[kaede]

at worst you can rip of the dip =D i say give it a try

 

[butter78]

at worst you can rip of the dip =D i say give it a try

Haha dip just pulled a flying uppercut in my head on the "don't dip"

 

[nsxtasy]

One more comment. If you're looking for the best handling, grip, and performance, you should take tire availability into account. 17"/17" and 17"/18" fitments have the best choices of tires, including "extreme performance tires" (the stickiest street tires available) and "maximum performance tires" (tires that are almost as sticky, but provide longer treadlife - notably the Continental ExtremeContact DW). The sizes you will want are 215/40-17 front, and 255/40-17 rear for 17", 255/35-18 rear for 18" on '94-05 NSX, and 265/35-18 rear for 18" on '91-93 NSX. Note that the Tire Rack does not carry that Continental tire in 215/40-17, but other tire dealers do.

 

[TURBO2GO]

The 18/18 will make the nsx look rediculously out of proportion.

I have heard this from others too, but I disagree. I don't know the strong insistence that staggered always looks better. At some angles, to my eye, it looks strange. Anyway here is 18/18, it is far from ridiculous looking:

 

[nsxtasy]

The reason that so many of us consider an 18"/18" fitment to look unbalanced - and IMHO it does indeed look unbalanced - is the significant difference in sidewall heights, front vs rear, needed to provide the required difference in outer diameter of the tires. That difference in sidewall height is much greater than it is on the 17"/18" fitments. Here are the sidewall heights compared for the typical tire sizes used for 18"/18" vs 17"/18":

18"/18": 2.96"/3.65" (215/35-18 and 265/35-18)
18"/18": 2.96"/3.79" (215/35-18 and 275/35-18)
17"/18": 3.39"/3.51" (215/40-17 and 255/35-18)
17"/18": 3.39"/3.65" (215/40-17 and 265/35-18)

In metric:

18"/18": 75.25mm/92.75mm (215/35-18 and 265/35-18)
18"/18": 75.25mm/96.25mm (215/35-18 and 275/35-18)
17"/18": 86.00mm/89.25mm (215/40-17 and 255/35-18)
17"/18": 86.00mm/92.75mm (215/40-17 and 265/35-18)

Of course, looks are aside from the substantial practical disadvantage of 18" fronts because none of the really sticky street tires are available in 215/35-18.

 

[TURBO2GO]

The reason that so many of us consider an 18"/18" fitment to look unbalanced - and IMHO it does indeed look unbalanced - is the significant difference in sidewall heights, front vs rear, needed to provide the required difference in outer diameter of the tires. That difference in sidewall height is much greater than it is on the 17"/18" fitments. Here are the sidewall heights compared for the typical tire sizes used for 18"/18" vs 17"/18":

18"/18": 2.96"/3.65" (215/35-18 and 265/35-18)
18"/18": 2.96"/3.79" (215/35-18 and 275/35-18)
17"/18": 3.39"/3.51" (215/40-17 and 255/35-18)
17"/18": 3.39"/3.65" (215/40-17 and 265/35-18)

In metric:

18"/18": 75.25mm/92.75mm (215/35-18 and 265/35-18)
18"/18": 75.25mm/96.25mm (215/35-18 and 275/35-18)
17"/18": 86.00mm/89.25mm (215/40-17 and 255/35-18)
17"/18": 86.00mm/92.75mm (215/40-17 and 265/35-18)

I see. Good point Ken, I didn't think about this. This is the first time anyone has brought up a good explanation. Didn't realize the factory is using asymmetrical diameters and making up for it in tire sidewall with 17/17. It makes sense now, I can clearly see it. But certainly in the photos above this is very hard to see. Perhaps it is more visible with 17/18 than 18/19.

 

[nsxtasy]

I see. Good point Ken, I didn't think about this. This is the first time anyone has brought up a good explanation. Didn't realize the factory is using asymmetrical diameters and making up for it in tire sidewall with 17/17. It makes sense now, I can clearly see it. But certainly in the photos above this is very hard to see. Perhaps it is more visible with 17/18 than 18/19.

Keep in mind, the unbalanced look due to the difference in sidewall heights is primarily a result of using same-diameter wheels, front and rear, such as 18"/18". So that difference is smaller with an 18"/19" fitment such as

18"/19": 2.96"/3.25" (215/35-18 and 275/30-19)
18"/19": 75.25mm/82.50mm (215/35-18 and 275/30-19)

And for those wondering, yes the unbalanced look also happens with 17"/17", typically in the stock '02-05 sizes, although both sidewall heights are taller than 18"/18" so the difference is not quite as obvious:

17"/17": 3.39"/4.02" (215/40-17 and 255/40-17)
17"/17": 86.00mm/102.00mm (215/40-17 and 255/40-17)

 

[HockeyGoalie]

thanks for all the replies, now I'm more confused than ever. :smile:

Performance/handling is more important to me than looks and I care about unsprung weight.

Speedometer error? How much will it be off? Will I be going faster or slower than the speed indicated

I think I will go with: 215/40/17 tires 17x 8 wheel in the front

Rear, deciding between:

245/40/17 tires (17x 8 wheel) or 265/35/18 tire (18 x 9.5 wheel).

Should I go with 17's or 18's in back? and why?

thanks

Glenn

 

[butter78]

thanks for all the replies, now I'm more confused than ever. :smile:

Performance/handling is more important to me than looks and I care about unsprung weight.

Speedometer error? How much will it be off? Will I be going faster or slower than the speed indicated

I think I will go with: 215/40/17 tires 17x 8 wheel in the front

Rear, deciding between:

245/40/17 tires (17x 8 wheel) or 265/35/18 tire (18 x 9.5 wheel).

Should I go with 17's or 18's in back? and why?

thanks

Glenn

Go with 18 as it will give the car a more balanced look and will not have a negative effect on performance as long as you pay attention to the weight.

 

[butter78]

Also see nsxstasy and turbos posts.

 

[TURBO2GO]

Glenn what's your budget? Your OEM wheels are by light. Do you plan to sell them?

Tire rack sells junk. It's cheap but hey don't have a lot of good wheels.

 

[HockeyGoalie]

Glenn what's your budget? Your OEM wheels are by light. Do you plan to sell them?

Tire rack sells junk. It's cheap but hey don't have a lot of good wheels.

I would like to get wheels a set of wheels for $1k. The lighter the better, the less expensive the better.

My choices are: keep the OEM wheels and just buy a new set of tires, or sell the OEM wheels and buy new tires and wheels.

I've only owned the NSX for a week so I don't want to start sinking too much money in it......yet. I promised my Cayman S a loud cat-back exhaust :biggrin:

 

[TURBO2GO]

OK, look here is the deal: a 1k set of wheels (nevermind wheels AND tires) is 100% a downgrade in performance from your OEM wheels. You really need to spend closer to 2K to get something light, strong, well built, in a 17/18 combo with some good high performance tires. I would wait. Get your cayman parts.

 

[butter78]

OK, look here is the deal: a 1k set of wheels (nevermind wheels AND tires) is 100% a downgrade in performance from your OEM wheels. You really need to spend closer to 2K to get something light, strong, well built, in a 17/18 combo with some good high performance tires. I would wait. Get your cayman parts.

+1 I very strongly second that. Don't waste your money on wheels that you'll only regret buying later. Get the exhaust for the Cayman and save up for a proper set of wheels. I say you're spending $1800 - $2200 on wheels and about $1000 - $1200 on a decent set of tires like the S-Drives especially when considering 17/18 combo. Then you want to get a proper set of lug nuts (like the ones with a special key to get them off) and that'll run you about an additional $200-$300. All in to do it right you're looking at $3500 as a rough estimate.

 

[TURBO2GO]

$3500 is high. But I'd say 2k minimum.

Butter, you don't need fancy lugnuts IMO. It doesn't add any real safety. ANY lugnut can be removed within seconds, even locking and heptagon ones. $200-300 is a lot of money for something that isn't that different in function than a $60-100 set.

 

[butter78]

$3500 is high. But I'd say 2k minimum.

Butter, you don't need fancy lugnuts IMO. It doesn't add any real safety. ANY lugnut can be removed within seconds, even locking and heptagon ones. $200-300 is a lot of money for something that isn't that different in function than a $60-100 set.

Never thought of it that way... Always knew it could be removed but figured it was an extra hurdle