Have tried to ascertain best combination of wheels/tires, still feel need for education. 98LX 4cyl 5spd, running stock steel. Want to get sportier ride/nicer look. While I like the 17 and up sizes, the weight of the wheels goes up dramatically, and I know the speedo problem and loss of gas mileage. What about handling/safety? Is it best to stick with a 15 since that's what the car was "engineered" with?

And bearing in mind my earlier post, I've got Neuspeed Sports/Tokico Blues as well...

Tia, you folx rock!

 

well, whats your overall plan for the car? Is it just going to remain a daily driver? Is it going to see any weekend autox or anything? Do you see a lot of rain, maybe even a little snow where you live?

Basically, are you looking for a all season tire or a summer only tire?

As for rim size... here in Michigan where the roads are bad I wasn't going to go any bigger than 16"on my Accord to keep the ride somewhat comfortable. My friend just blew out a 17" buddy club rim of his on a pot hole. Now he's running stock 15" rims and like the ride much better and he's on a stock suspension. So if you like the look of the bigger rims, just make sure you match the tire size so the speedo isn't off. Also know that you will be sacrificing some ride comfort and possible gas mileage.

 

I like my 17's... Your speedo won't be off unless you change your overall tire diameter. I run 215-45-17 on my '99 (same overall diameter as the factory 15's). I've noticed about a 1-2 mpg loss due to rotational mass, centrifical force, yada yada yada, but I don't consider it too big of a deal. With a wider tire, you'll have improved handling characteristics, and I can't imagine any safety issues.

 

Plan: drive it till the engine quits! Daily driver, dream of x-cross but probably won't happen. Mostly want to improve handling, and not decrease safety. We have a fair amount of rain, despite the what the song says. Does rain in southern Cali!

 

you are right, it's been raining more and more if you compare cali couple year ago.

15 16 17, it's pretty much up to you but do think about the width of the wheel before you make the purchase, you want somethng at least 7inch(upgrade from the 6.5 stock wide wheel).

another thing to consider is the tire avalible for the size of the rim, for 15 there's less size availble compare to 16, 17.

go to tireracks.com and check out what size of tire closest to oem spec, the speedo problem can be solve if you pick the right size of tire.
you can the same readin/same overall size with a 15 inch rims with some meaty tire as well as a 20inch with some rubberband tire.(beside it would ride like crap and bent lip)

another issue you might want to think about is weight.

almost all rims by rota are pretty much in the lightweight area(if you dont mind the name)

buddyclub P1

konig helium

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iam7head &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">go to tireracks.com</TD></TR></TABLE>

TireRack

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TouringAccord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">TireRack </TD></TR></TABLE>

you got me