bigger wheels = less speed?

[PRiMATE]

I have a 2000 nsx and I'm getting some new rims for it. I was considering getting 19" rear and 18" fronts, but a friend of mine said this may slow the car down because of the larger distance the wheel has to spin now. Is this true, and if so how much of a difference are we talking about?
Thanks in advance.

 

[maomaonsx]

It depends on a lot of things, weight, size, spoke design. a bigger rim usually weight more, requires bigger tires, there fore moere weight, and will increase the overall diameter, which will have the same effect as having longer gears. So if you take into account the 5 effects of bigger wheels:

1)heavier(bad for acceleration)
2)heavier rotational weight(even worse for acceleration)
3)bigger tires(very heavy, bad for acceleration again, and it will increase the effect of point 1 and 2)
4)heavier unsprung weight(bad for handling)
5)increase the final drive ratio(make your car rev slower, bad for acceleration)

Now do you still want those 19inch lead weights? I dont mean to scare you off on rim upgrade. There are many benefits such as they clear aftermarket big brakes, they can accept wider tires therefore increase your grip. And there are also some very high quality rims that are extremly light, such as the TE-37 I have on my car, they weight even less than the stock 15/16inch rims in 17/18 size!

It's just a bad choice to get rims as big as 18/19 for the NSX, unless you must have that pimpin look, in that case, you chose the wrong car

George Wang


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Please visit my NSX tuning page! Mods, Japanese NSX related stuff, pics!
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/6073/index.html

 

[PRiMATE]

Thanks for the reply.
I actually contacted comptech and they said that the difference in speed would be negligible, less than 1/16 of a second in 0-60. The wheels are very light and you would never feel the difference. The reason they only use 17/18 is that the wheels they carry need to clear their brake kit, and also in 18/19 they feel the ride would suffer too much.
I'm pondering it all. My friend owns the wheel/tire shop and he loves the "pimpin" look. I'll take it all into consideration, though I have to say that the black 91 with the 18/19's on the front page here looks mighty sweet
Anyway, thanks again for your input.

 

[maomaonsx]

I hope there are no big brothers around here, but Comptech sells wheels, do you really expect they tell you anything bad about them ?

IMO, for performance, 17inch all around would be the best choice.

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Please visit my NSX tuning page! Mods, Japanese NSX related stuff, pics!
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/6073/index.html

 

[G-man]

I have to admit that NSX owners are a strange bunch. I have never seen a group so close to owning the best overall balanced car in the world stive to make it "worse" in so many different ways.

I have had 17, 18, and 19s on a few different cars now and I have to admit that the best over all had got to be the 17s. The "pimpin'" look aside for a moment, anything larger than 18 can be fairly impractical. I have seen a seemingly slight increase in wheel weight make all the difference in the world in the way a car feels and handles.

I have to also agree that what else do you expect a wheel manufacturer to say, but YES it will be fine. Ask them if they will take them back within 30 days no questions asked it they are so sure. If they do it then you have nothing to lose.

As far as the speed difference, the weight aside, the goemetry of a +1 or +2 wheel upgrade should keep the overall time diameter within fractions of the original, so in theory it won't make much difference, but you do have to account for the spun weight of the wheel/tire combo before you will know what the real effect might be.

Good luck.


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Gordon G. Miller, III
Y2K NSX #51
[email protected]