Hi everybody, I'm Matt and I'm completely jumping in head first into the Honda scene. I'm a former DSM owner and long story short, my friend blew my engine, I needed a car before school started, and I bought a 1996 Accord Ex. I've spent hours reading through all of these posts in the Accord forums and am just soaking it all in. The guide to basic accords really helped the most but I had a few questions specifically to ask. Just to be clear this will be a daily driven car, so if I'm way off base please let me know.

First thing I will be modifying is the suspension and wheels. I have ordered the KYB AGX and Eibach Sportline combo. The drop is approx 1.8" and stated the lowest you can go without rubbing. I was told you don't need a camber kit for anything under 2" with Honda's, is this accurate? I would like to order and recieve everything at once rather getting most of the parts, and having to wait a week later for something as little as a camber kit.
The question I had was pertaining towards what size rims to get. Honestly I have searched car domain, google, and the picture thread here numerous times and can't come to any conclusion. A lot of people have 18's that look amazing but others have 17's that I can't tell the difference with. In a previous post someone stated to go with 17's with the pro-kit, so I'm wondering what to go with for the Sportlines. What would be ideal with my suspension set up? I have picked out my tires already for Spring/Summer and am just waiting to see what size rims to get so I can size them correctly. Anybody have any opinions on the Neo Gen tires, those are the ones I think I will be buying. Well that's all the info I'm trying to find out for now. It's great to be a part of this community and I hope to learn and maybe even one day help lol. Thanks in advance for any information you can give me, it will always be much appreciated.

Matt

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MDAdams1186 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was told you don't need a camber kit for anything under 2" with Honda's, is this accurate? I would like to order and receive everything at once rather getting most of the parts, and having to wait a week later for something as little as a camber kit.
The question I had was pertaining towards what size rims to get. Anybody have any opinions on the Neo Gen tires, those are the ones I think I will be buying. Matt</TD></TR></TABLE>

I am of the opinion that you will need a camber kit to preclude wearing your new rubbers like erasers. Because of the design (unequal 'a' arms), the camber will change with any change in suspension height. The question is, How Much? - and that will determine what camber kit value you need.

Rim size? Quick rule of thumb; smaller the sidewall, the greater the chance for damage (Split side walls, bent/cracked rims) I'd vote for 17's as a good compromise.

And as to the Neo Gen tires, I have no opinion. I use Toyo exclusively

P

 

I've seen a 2005 Accord with 20's on it so anything is possible. But what is realisitic is more the question. I had 17's on my civic with a 2 inch drop and I cooked the inside of my front tires in about 10K miles. And i was the proud owner of 4 bent rims when it was all said and done. So if i ever do it again i will have a camber kit and taller tires. The same will apply to your Accord (tire wear with the suspension drop). But I have nothing but praise for the Khumo tires I had, with those tires and the suspension I had I could stick a 25mph exit ramp at nearly 65 (try that with OEM tires and see what happens).
It's refreshing to see someone do some learning rather than diving in head first. Good luck to ya!

 

Hey thanks a lot for all the advice and opinions. Kumho and Toyo tires are awesome, I just chose the Neo Gen's since the tires are designed with negative camber in mind. But to be safe I will buy an Ingalls camber kit and possibly choose some stickier tires.

I was wondering if you could clear up the size of the sidewall for the tires. Obviously an 18" rim would have a smaller sidewall to make up for the bigger rim, so if I go with 17's what size tire should I get. 225/45/17? That sounds pretty safe, but I don't want A LOT of tire since it will take away from the rims. I love the look of this car and want it done as clean as possible. She's my new baby

Sorry I seem so new to this, with my dsm I never touched the suspension and mainly modded the engine, so I figured I'd take a different approach with the Honda and am catching on slowly. Thanks again for all your help.

 

Use this link as a guide. You want to get something that is at least close to the same diameter as stock, maybe a little taller.


http://discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTireMath.dos

 

I actually work it backwards, first starting with what tire tread width and diameter I want as to get not only the visual effect, but the contact patch and sidewall % that I'm looking for.
It worked out like this on my 5th Gens:
195/65r15 (stock) (7.9"w / 24.2" diam)
205/60r15 (stock +) (8.2"w / 24.7" diam)
205/55r16 (8.4"w / 25.0" diam)
215/45r17 (8.4"w / 24.8" diam)

You get the idea.

P

 

damn P,you're a father? congratz......

btw,i passed you a message from DH

 

Oooh okay yeah I get the idea. Sorry I just went with the 225 because my old car had those, old habits die hard lol. And thanks a lot for that link that was very helpfull. It's so different to see a car that performs optimally based around stock engineering and design, it says a lot about the quality and craftsmanship. I can honestly say dsm's are NOT built like honda's lol.