Does anybody know of any truly hubcentric wheels for the Integra? It blows my mind that even expensive wheels like Spoon, CP-035, LE-37, SSR Comps seem to require or at least have the ability to use plastic or metal mounting rings. I know manufactures do this because these wheels are general purpose (use on any car with similar bolt patter/offset). but I would think someone would make a Acura specific wheel. I do not want to deal with having to peel off melted plastic rings after an AutoX when replacing wheels. I also have heard about mismatched thermal expansion with metal rings. Front wheel drive cars without hubcentric wheels are more prone to vibration, some people have no problems opthers do not. Does anyone know of a manufacturer who makes a hubcentric wheel? Anyone with Mugen MF8s, I read some Mugen ad that sugested Mugens's were hubcentric but even Mugen dealers (none who have any in stock) are not sure about whether they need rings.

 

Well, I am not sure but I talked with a couple of Spoon dealers and they mentioned that it could use rings (to make things worse, the dealers did not seem sure either which is ridiculous). If you have Spoons, the questions is: when you mount your wheels, does the wheel slip over the circular lip on the mounting flange perfectly or do you have to center the wheel by eye or by adjusting with mounting bolts? Also, are there any mounting rings installed?

 

you're making a really big deal out of nothing.

D

 

The plastic and metal hubcentric rings that my room mate has will fit the Sp00n wheel... but it is not held on by the wheel. I just pushed it thru the opening.

The wheel does fit over the circular mounting flange.. but is not snug in the fittment.






I center the wheel on the lug nuts when I pull them up by hand.

IMO the ring is not required if the wheel is installed correctly and the lug torque is checked often.


[Modified by Willard, 10:24 AM 1/16/2003]

 

Thanks for the info/pics. The Spoon wheel is not hubcentric but maybe boltcentric.

 

Well perhaps I am "making a big deal out of nothing", but it sort of bothers me that expensive, forged wheels are generic and none are designed around the Integra. All things being equal, a hubcentric wheel is better than an non-hubcentric wheel. Virtually all OEM wheels are hubcentric, my other car is a WRX and even Rota subzeroes are hubcentric for it but for Integras we are s$%&# out of luck? I am probably 15 years older than most people on this board and back when aftermarket wheels were fairly rare (now, I see more Honda/Acura cars with aftermarket wheels on the street than OEM wheels, and EVERYONE has an coffee can in back), if the wheels were not hubcentric they were considered crap (at least for finicky FWD). I know everyone is using these non-hubcentric wheels and most people do not have issues but I simple wanted to find a true hubcentric, forged wheel. Money burning in my pocket and noone makes this?

 

Mine is Nippon Racing Type-C 15x6.5 +40 in gun metal (SSR type C copy)

 

I agree. You are being a bit too **** in your search for rims and taking the meaning of hubcetnric a bit too literally. Tire Rack actually has a decent write up on their site explaining centerbore, offset, forging processes, etc. Its under wheel tech. Spoons, Volks, Regas, etc are NOT bolt centric - they are TRUE hubcentric rims. We've experienced no problems on street or track (with and without) the spacer rings. The rings supplied with the Volks are just that - spacers - and are NOT required to make the rims hubcentric.

BTW, you should enable the IM feature.


[Modified by FAST4DR, 3:55 PM 1/16/2003]


[Modified by FAST4DR, 3:57 PM 1/16/2003]

 

Nippon Racing Type-C 15x6.5 +40 in gun metal (SSR type C copy)

Really hubcentric? Well, that ironic that a copy is a better fit than the original. I will look into them. Thanks.

 

The Spoons are not hubcentric. I neve had any issues with them when they were on my '97. Just be sure to hand torque lugs to proper settings. I'm not aware of any hubcentric wheels for / that are not OEM. Of course, that is why most aftermarket wheels use tapered lugs vs. the acorn OEMs.

Good Luck.

 

MF-8's are hubcentric, they require no ring

 

Thanks for the info on the MF8s. A lot of people run without rings, are the MF8 a tight fit over the circular lip on the mounting flange of the axle and do not require centering by using the lugnuts?

 

Yup, Mugen wheels are the only ones that are made specifically for each Honda make. (for obvious reasons)

 

Well, Mugens may be on my horizon. Thanks for confirming.

 

all you have to do is use hubcentric rings, - and it works out perfect. ITR has 64.15mm and most wheels are universal - the same reason they use same windshield/chassis and other body parts on different production cars - to make more $$$$. i would be more conserned with wheel quality, size and offset..

 

Why the big concern over hub-centricity lately?

Unless you've got some random hack with an airgun installing your wheels I fail to see the advantage. Yes, it would be nice, but hardly mandatory.

 

Mugen MF-10s are hubcentric and are available in 15, 16 and 17" sizes with differing widths (i.e. 15x6.5, 15 x 7, 16 x7 etc) and two different finishes.

They come in stock (50mm) offset as well as +43

 

"Why the big concern over hub-centricity lately?
Unless you've got some random hack with an airgun installing your wheels I fail to see the advantage. Yes, it would be nice, but hardly mandatory."

Well, I guess the point is that all things being equal, a hubcentric wheel IS better than a non-hubcentric wheel. There is no advantage to using a non-hubcentric wheel. If I go with the MF8, I am looking at about $2100 (similar with some other forged wheels), it just nice to know that even an airgun toting ape could install the Mugens correctly (although he will probably not use starpattern and torque the nugs to 150lb/ft ).
Seriously though, I do not mind decent quality strut tower braces, exhaust but I expect few if any compromises when it comes to wheels/tires.

 

please explain how hubcentric wheel is better than a non-hubcentric wheel with right size hubcentric rings..

 

There isn't - but his point is that the rings are made of plastic and they melt - which is a PITA.

 

Maybe it's just me, but I can't see how a wheel with properly torqued conical lugs (obviously the wheel must have conical seats, as most aftermarket wheels do) would ever end up off-center or vibrating. The conical lugs should perfectly center the wheel once they are installed correctly.

As a matter of fact, I would venture to say that one of the reasons that conical seats are so often used on aftermarket wheels is because of their ability to better center the rim and keep it centered in the absence of any hubcentric-ness (that can't be a real word :crook. Clearly there are more and greater advantages to conical lugs, but I have little doubt that this is indeed one of them.

 

I do agree with you there. Given the choice, I would choose to have hubcentric wheels over non. But it's doubtful that I would pay more (as in the difference between SSR Comps and Mugen MF8/10) to get them.

My comment wasn't directed solely at you though. Two years ago I never heard hub-centric mentioned at all. Now, it seems to come up fairly regularly and I'm curious why. Maybe the inclusion of those cheap plastic rings has gotten people thinking?

 

The hub is supposed to support the wheel - not the lugs

Centering
The other element that affects directly whether a wheel can be bolted onto a car is hubcentricity. Long ago, in the deep mists of time, wheels were located by the taper of the lug nuts or bolts. This could lead to all sorts of problems, but they can be summarized by saying centering was liable to be less than perfect, and the sheer stress on wheel bolts or studs could be enormous. I am not aware of any passenger car wheels now made that are not hubcentric. Hubcentric wheels have a hole at their center that fits closely over a round feature on the hub, serving to center the wheel on the axis of the spindle, as well as bear the vertical weight of the vehicle. The wheel bolts or studs then serve simply to hold the wheel onto the hub, and are loaded only in tension, where they are strong. If the studs were required to absorb vertical forces, they would be loaded in single shear, the weakest arrangement for any fastener. Factory wheels are all machined to fit their specific application exactly, and some of the better aftermarket wheels are, too. However, many aftermarket wheels rely on centering rings. This means that, instead of machining wheels specifically for each O.E. centering hole diameter, the wheel manufacturer machines all wheels to one size, and then uses inserts to give a centering surface of the diameter required for each application. This is obviously easier to do, and makes inventorying a complete wheel line much simpler and less costly. If you buy wheels that use centering rings, be sure the rings fit snugly in the wheels. If they are loose enough to fall out, how accurately can they be locating your wheel? Some tire shops automatically remove centering rings to balance a wheel, just to make sure there is no slop to make their balancing inaccurate.

The fact that a wheel physically bolts onto a car doesn't necessarily mean it "fits." The centering surface could be too large, in which case there essentially is no centering. Just as importantly, the offset could be wrong.




[Modified by Big Phat R, 11:23 AM 1/16/2003]

 

in that case... there are metal/aluminum rings..

although i never had a problem with my plastic rings.. - had my brakes smoke a few times..

 

...thinking that a piece of plastic will melt and or be crushed "IF" the wheel moves but the chances of it moving are close to none.