I’m driving a 1998 Acura 1.6 EL Sport (for all intents and purposes a Civic 4-door) and just got a sweet deal on new DAI Nebula mags and Federal SS595 tires. I have a few questions, but first some specs:
OEM Wheels/Tires
Wheels: 15X6JJ
Bolt pattern: 4x100
Offset: +45mm
Tires: 195/55/R15
Tire width: 7.68 in.
Sidewall height: 4.22 in.
Tire diameter: 23.44 in.
New Mags/Tires
Wheels: 16X7
Bolt pattern: 4x100/4x113.4
Offset: ?
Tires: 205/40/R16
Tire width: 8.07 in.
Sidewall height: 3.23 in.
Tire diameter: 22.46 in.
Centering rings
They sold me centering rings to insert into the wheels before mounting. Are these specific to my car’s hubs, and if not, why are they not built right into the wheels?
Offset
I’m not sure of the offset for my new mags (guess +40mm), but might I need to adjust offset with spacers before mounting?
Tuner lugs
Know I’ll need these, but was wondering if (12x1.5) closed spline drive lugs with wheel locks exist anywhere. Haven’t seen them, but I guess the question here is what are the most secure lugs available?
Diameter
Other than the ~4% error on my speedometer will this cause any other problems or require adjustments?
Width
Will the wider tires cause any problems or require adjustments?
Misc.
Searching for specs on the OEM wheels also gave these numbers: 19mm, and 56.1. What do these numbers signify?
Disclaimer: I am not a ricer. If I can keep the winter tires on the stock mags and switch wheels/tires myself every winter/summer cycle, it’ll actually be cheaper than having tires installed and balanced twice a year. Easy on the ricer jokes please.
You might have problems with the increased width. Someone replaced my 92 accord wheels with 92 prelude rims. while the rim itself clears the knuckles the tire weights sometimes rub – eventually they were ripped right off. This only happened on turns. I figured this out when I jacked up my car and spun the tires by hand with the wheel turned all the way left or right. They rubbed slightly.
I’m pretty sure the best upgrade would have been what’s called a plus one, which would take you up to Tires: 205/45/R16.
Ride height would have been changed as little as possible (versus the originals), the sidewall would be stiffer since a smaller percentage of the tire is on the sidewall versus the original, and the tires would be wider, but clearances would be fine.
All you would need to do is match the offset, which is done by laying something flat across the wheel and measuring how far away from the rim’s edge the hub is.
If I had my druthers, 205/45/R16 would have definitely been a preferable choice, even though they are apparently rarer. Using a plus sizing calculator here:
I’d have a diameter of 23.26 in. (closer to original) and a sidewall height of 3.63 in. (better, Quebec is famous for crappy roads).
For the offset, if I measure from hub to center of rim, I get 40mm, as accurately as I can measure with a plastic ruler. The 5mm difference in offset and the extra width of tires has me wondering about the problem Harmonix describes.
Centering rings are to attach a “one sized fits all” wheel to a specific hub. They could machine each set of wheels to the specific car, but it makes for a lot less inventory if they just use rings.
If these wheels are 40 mm offset, unfortunately no amount of spacers will help you. Spacers decrease the offset. Wider wheels can rub on the outer fenders, particularly if they don’t have enough offset. When I put a set of wider tires on my Dodge Dart, I had to roll the inner fender lip with a crowbar (wrapping it in a towel so as not to damage the paint).
