need help for nsxpo

i'm interrested to hear anyones experience with the combo of zanardi springs and koni shocks on a targa.my recent attempt to stuff a 235/40/17 +42 in front with HR springs failed.I'm thinking the extra height of the zanardi's will alleviate the clearence issue.

John --

It's a real gamble running with the 235's. I run 235/40zr17 tires in the front as well. For me, dealing with the wide tires in the little itty bitty fender is a hassle that I think is well worth the added handling that results with that size, vs. the next most common width 215.

Here's what I did to solve the problem:
1. TEIN Coil-over suspension. This lets you easily adjust the height so that you can find the exact height where there is no rubbing. My car currently runs at about 1.2" drop. Your car is probably down to about 1.5-1.6" now.

2. Even at full lock, you may experience a tiny bit of rubbing, like I did. The edge of the tire is touching these two inner ridges in the fender. Why Honda put these little ridges there, I'll never understand. As far as I can see, they don't have a purpose being there.

This is going to sound crazier than it actually is, however, I used a small mallet to shape the ridges down to be flush with the fenders. Problem solved.

IMO, the Zanardi suspension is low-value considering you can get a coil-over suspension for not much more. (Disclaimer, I sell the TEIN suspension).

Cheers,
-- Chris

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Chris, I am also running Koni's with H&R springs. If I use the method on flattening the ridges on the fender liner like you did do you think that there would be clearance without rubbing by staying with my current suspension setup and using 235/40/17 tires.

Brad, no chance in hell

I'm using the same setup like yours, and n the same predicament.

Brad - I agree with Andrie. When I first had my TEINs installed, they set ride height at 1.5-1.8" It was way low. The rubbing wasn't isolated to those ridges. It rubbed everywhere.

BTW, I didn't mention that I removed the rear plastic AC condensor slatted piece. I don't know what this is called, however, it also seemed to help.

-- Chris

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Likewise...agree with Andrie and Chris on this one. I ran 235/40-17 in the front with 45mm offset...ripped and cracked my fender...not the fender liner, but the actual expensive aluminum body panel. I'd stick with 215/40-17 front and 265/40-17 in the rear (or appropriate sized rear in 18" if you want to use 18" wheels), and be done with it.

Andie

I'd have to disagree with the 215's in the front man. I've found that they result in terrible performance (braking and cornering) especially when you upsize the rear. 215/245 is the front/rear split on the 94+ tires. IMO, this is a perfect balance. If you only upgrade the tires to 265 in the rear and no upsize in the front, you'll achieve terrible understeer. In fact, this size, although OK on the street, is scary on the track. IMO, 235's are well worth the added steps if you track your car with wider rears more than a couple times a year. JIMO, ICBW.

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chris, what do you recommend in front on a 17" wheel if you have 255/18 rear?

Ideally, 225 like the S02's used to come in. I haven't had any first hand experience with any wider or narrower in the front with 255's in the rear. I have only used the 225 in the past on my tecnos with the 255's in the rear.

255 is pretty small in the rear for 18" wheels. I'd probably err on the side of slight understeer and go with the 215's.

-- Chris

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damn, I meant 265/35-18. typo. does that change your take?

Not really, though I'd be more inclined to go 215 probably with the decreased rolling resistance in the rear (is that what it's called? Andrie?).

-- Chris

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I tried 205/255 combination (front/rear respectively), and 215/255 combination, with no noticable difference. The car understeer, however, u can fine tune it with suspension adjustment and driving style so it's not too bad. I test drove NSXs with track tires with 245/255 and 235/275 combination before and could not really notice a big difference as well. Probably due to different suspension setup on both cars.

Me personally, would like to get widest tires possible u can fit in the front. But I would not worry to fit 215 or even 205 in the front. Just remember to fine tune your suspension accordingly and drving style.

To get back onto the original question of using Zanardi springs.

It all depends on the offset of the wheels. a friend of mine uses 45 offset and it clears fine with the zanardi springs. U still need to do some mode as cutting some parts of the fender liner, and on full lock situation.

I am actually thinking of using the same springs until I can cough up enough money to get the Tein. Or if Chris will sponsor me