GagnarTheUnruly

iTrader: (3)

A long time ago, a flat I got on a road trip led me into buying only two tires. Constantly switching out a pair of tires as the older pair wears is driving me nuts, so I've decided I'm going to get a new set of four tires finally on my 96 GS-R coupe. I'm also tired of taking my wheels to the tire shop to have winter tires put on, so I'm going to put my winters on the snowflakes and get new rims for dedicated summer tires.

My question is: for a DD, what is the best wheel size for general, street performance? I don't autox, drag race, or street race, or drive 100 mph, I just want a car that's fun and responsive and good for an occasional spirited onramp or mountain road adventure. I'm aware this question probably comes up a lot and I have tried searching here and elsewhere, but it's hard to find any reliable information on the subject.

I'm also aware of the tradeoff between tire size, unsprung mass, moment of inertia and sidewal flex, and I'd just like a good all around performer, but I don't know how 15 vs 16 inch wheels fare on the balance. These are the wheels I'm looking at, because they are cheap and light, seem to be of decent initial quality and are good looking IMO:

Konig Feather (race silver)
15x6.5 +38 11.9 lbs or 16x7 +40 15.2 lbs


Rota Slip Stream (steel grey/gunmetal/silver)
15x6.5 +40 11.9 lbs or 16x7 +40 13.9 lbs


TRMotorsport C1 (light grey)
15x7 +42 12.8 lbs or 16x6.5 +44 14.4 lbs


I'm thinking stock tire size on the 15's and 205/45/16 on the 16's.

FYI Integra GS-R snowflakes are 15x6 +45 15.5 lbs

All things being equal my preference is for 16" because I think they look better, but I don't know how the 2-5 lb. difference per wheel (plus tire) makes a difference on acceleration or handling.

My car is currently un-lowered, although some day I'll upgrade my suspension and do a 0.75-1" drop, max. Tire choice isn't a big issue for me since I think I'll get Yokohama S.drives, which happen to be available in both sizes.

nsxtasy

Performance differences are going to be basically insignificant when comparing the same tire in 195/55-15 and 205/45-16. The outer diameter is the same (within 1 percent) and you shouldn't have any rubbing with either size. About the only really significant difference between the two is the price of tires; the S.drive is $72 in 195/55-15 and $90 in 205/45-16. So it's really just a matter of whether the look of the one inch bigger diameter wheels is worth the higher price of the tires to you. Your choice.

GagnarTheUnruly

iTrader: (3)

Since the tires are about 1 lb. heavier as 16" tires and the wheels are also a couple pounds heavier, will a 3 or 4 lb. decrease in weight make a noticeable improvement?

nsxtasy

It won't be noticeable.

Opinions vary about the effect on performance of sprung weight (e.g. the car body) vs unsprung weight (e.g. the wheels/tires), but most people say that one pound of unsprung weight is the equivalent of 1.5-2.0 pounds of sprung weight. So that means a 3-4 pound difference per wheel/tire, times four (four wheels/tires), times 1.5-2.0, is equivalent to a difference of 18-32 pounds in the body of the car. That's going to mean a difference of less than 0.1 second in quarter mile times.

If you want to get an idea of the difference, you can put a 20-30 pound bag of something (sand, topsoil, dog food) on the floor of your backseat, and see how the car handles and accelerates, and take it out, and then see if the car handles and accelerates any differently. Heck, if you really want to do it right, have a friend do it, and do a blind test (so you don't know when the bag is there and when it's not). I bet you won't be able to tell when it's there and when it isn't, if you do a blind test. Feel free to try it!

vladd

i'd go for 16" just cuz of the looks. 15" wheels look a little small on integras.

racebum

if you get the feathers the 16s are much more cosmetically pleasing. if you did slips, they work either size and thus i would buy 15s for the reduced weight and better tire selection.

So FReSh

if youre not planning to drop it alot then i say 16s look better. 15s looks dope if your dumped

ILS_09

I would recommend a 15 inch rim (light ones) with tires. Somewhere around 11-13lbs with tires on. Trust me, I've test this theory and it made a significant improvement in terms of speed and car response. I ran my car (97 Ls Integra) from 0-120mph (don't ask why, this was to test my hypothesis) on a private road at 2am in the morning considering it was 60-70 degrees outside, with tenzo r shu 4 rims on which weighs about 30lbs with tires on. So with four rims on, it weigh about 120lb of resistant which weigh about the same as a light passenger. My 0-60 time was about 8.5 almost 9 second. The next night during the same time, about the same weather condition, I ran on the same road again except this time it was with 14 inch rims which weight about 13lb with tires on. My 0-60 time was 7.0-7.5 second respectively in which it took me 43 second to hit 120 instead of 53 second in comparison to having the tenzo rims on. I recorded this on my camera and trimmed the unneeded parts (for precision purposes and consistency) for side to side comparison.

gringotegra

The only info i have is i went from Fat fives to 16in Rota C8's and the car lost 1-1.5mph in trap speed and about 0.2-0.3 in the 1/4 mile...it did seem to handle a bit better but the tires on the rotas were better... needless to say i got rid of them asap and got some 15in Subzeros... this was on a stock gsr making around 165whp with some bolt ons...

95-db6-719

haha, you chose feathers as an option cause of my teg huh.. lol.

i love them, and they are the lightest thing i can find that look good.

crxses

Lighter wheels mean better gas mileage. Slightly. Why do you think the civic vx and hx models both had the lightest OEM wheels?

GagnarTheUnruly

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, I hadn't heard of them till your post LOL. I was like, you mean there are other cheap 12 lb wheels other than Rotas?!?!? Actually I'm leaning strongly towards getting 15" feathers right now. Trying to decide for sure between 15 and 16 and between silver and gold for my Milano red DC2.

Double Agent

For a DD you probably won't notice much of a difference as long as the overall diameter of the wheels are the same. If you want to get picky though, lighter 15" wheels should accelerate a little faster, but the smaller sidewall on the 16" tires will give you better handling. If you really feel like dropping some money you can buy some really light weight 16's and have the best of both worlds. On a DD I really think it comes down to looks. I have 16's on my Integra and think they look way better than 15's.

95-db6-719

I honestly like the black and gold ones, not a fan of silver ever, unless its a gun metal. I wish i would of got the gold ones, but when i got them they were order'd as a mistake. So i got them super cheap with tires, i couldnt argue with them.

Idk man, i think gold is legit, but its ur car.

twentyhurtz

on my integra i have had a set of 15" black slipstreams, 15" circuit 8's, and now i have 16" gold slipstreams, i think that the 16" wheel looks alot better in the fender well's with my drop as opposed to the 15" which still left some gap. IMO

GagnarTheUnruly

iTrader: (3)

Here's a photo-comparison of silver vs gold. These aren't my pictures -- they belong to someone on the forum. Whoever you are, pm me if you want me to take these down.




I'm leaning towards gold now but my wife says they're too flashy and I'll eventually regret getting them. FWIW her preference is silver Feathers for this car.

nsxtasy

I think gold is too gawdy and fugly, unless they're going on a car that's gold. But you should get what YOU like.

95-db6-719

Honestly dude i think the gold looks legit, against the red. Silver looks stock, whats the point of getting aftermarket wheels if the dont look after marker. lol, as long as there isnt a black with a polished lip. I hate those.

but i would get the gold in 16"... and if you dont like them, its not like there are that expensive. lol.. right..

twentyhurtz

ok, well if you will wait till this evening, i have 16" gold slips on my milano red integra, i will post pics of it then, pics are on my home computer, will post this evening if i can remember to do so.

twentyhurtz

i thought the same thing, until i put them on the car, and i was thinking, not too bad... but i did take bronze circuits off, so i had a close color to them on already.. i think gold is "flashy" and ug... but its not like a metallic gold, but yes to each his own, but i think its a decent look..

GagnarTheUnruly

iTrader: (3)

That would be awesome if you did that. I'm in no hurry because I don't need the tires until spring (gonna have winters on until then), so I'll just hang out and see if any deals pop up.

twentyhurtz

Here with 15" circuit 8's



here with 16" gold slips..

twentyhurtz

ok FYI, the car has Tokico springs and Tokico blue struts.. about a 2 inch drop..

ZiGeNX77

Why go with another set of 15" wheels? I agree that the 15s look small. Change it up a bit and go with the 16" Slips or Feathers. Personally I think 17s look great if lowered and if you buy lightweight wheels, but I can see that is a stretch if you've been considering 15s or 16s.

The gold looks really good, but if you want a more conservative look go with the silver. It's all personal preference.

twentyhurtz

yea this guy i know a few years ago had a milano red integra with itr front end, it had 16" silver slips, looked good too.. but i have gotten all my wheels as either payment for stuff or in trades, if i just outright bought a set of slips, they would be that pewter/gunmetal color they have, its like a deep metal grey, looks nice..