Can you guys get all four in the NSX? If so show me a pic I have 17s all around.
Loading Track Wheels.
- Thread starter NSX 3.0
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I don't have a picture, but here's how I do it.
1. If there is anything you want to store on the floor of the passenger seat, like a $79.99 racing jack, do that before loading the tires. It should still fit if the seat is slid full forward.
2. Get out four large garbage bags (33 gallon lawn and leaf bags work fine; don't use anything smaller) and put each tire in a bag before you place it in the car, so you don't get anything dirty.
3. Place a rear tire face down in the trunk.
4. Slide the passenger seat all the way forward and the seat back full upright. Place a front tire behind the seat, face backwards. Start sliding the seat backward (but it will snug up against the tire almost immediately).
5. Place a rear tire on the left half of the passenger seat, same orientation as the tires on the car, with the face to the outside (right).
6. You may want to ask someone to hold the tire from the previous step upright while doing this, so it doesn't fall over to the right. Place a front tire alongside the rear tire, on the right half of the passenger seat, with the face to the outside. Be prepared to shut the door immediately after doing this, so that both tires don't start falling over.
1. If there is anything you want to store on the floor of the passenger seat, like a $79.99 racing jack, do that before loading the tires. It should still fit if the seat is slid full forward.
2. Get out four large garbage bags (33 gallon lawn and leaf bags work fine; don't use anything smaller) and put each tire in a bag before you place it in the car, so you don't get anything dirty.
3. Place a rear tire face down in the trunk.
4. Slide the passenger seat all the way forward and the seat back full upright. Place a front tire behind the seat, face backwards. Start sliding the seat backward (but it will snug up against the tire almost immediately).
5. Place a rear tire on the left half of the passenger seat, same orientation as the tires on the car, with the face to the outside (right).
6. You may want to ask someone to hold the tire from the previous step upright while doing this, so it doesn't fall over to the right. Place a front tire alongside the rear tire, on the right half of the passenger seat, with the face to the outside. Be prepared to shut the door immediately after doing this, so that both tires don't start falling over.
Thanks for the step-by-step instructions. I'll have to try this next time so I don't bother my friends to take 2 wheels for me every track event. 
With some mods, I would think a front could fit under the hood? Has anyone ever tried it? That way you would have more room "inside" the car for "stuff"
I guess it depends on what "some mods" are. Think about the stock spare tire. It fits under the hood. But it is totally deflated, and is a special collapsible tire; the "sidewall height" of the tire when collapsed is probably under an inch. The sidewall height of a front tire, based on the tire's nominal measurements, is just over four inches. That means that there is a difference in the outer diameter of the two tires of approximately six inches. I'm not sure how much you would recover by deflating the stock tire, maybe a little. The mods would have to enable the front tire to fit, both side to side and top to bottom. I'm not sure which items you would need to move for the side to side room, but I know it's a pretty tight squeeze with the stock spare. For the top to bottom room, the tray that it sits on is already pretty low, and I'm not sure how much you could gain by lowering it; I guess you could cut a hole in your hood for the room on top (and put a hood scoop around it to make it look like a performance modT Bell said:
). I don't know whether the width of the tire would also present a clearance issue, but it might.Those are all the considerations you would have to figure out to make it work. It doesn't sound all that practical to me, just thinking about it... but I like the hood scoop idea.
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on a side note, I had fit all 3, yes all 3, two 15 inches and one 16 inches tires all sit on top of my passenger seat... however, that was done when I was taking the track tires home for storage without mounting them on wheels. Surprisingly there's no obtruction to all the mirrors nor shifter and e-brake lever...
I have followed Ken's instructions before and they do work. Even with 225s up front and 245s in the rear (although it is REAL tight). I would NOT want ot make any sort of a drive like that though. Absolutely miserable. No visability out of the right side. You have tires jammed in next to your right arm. It sucks. Just buy good DOT approved comp tires and make sure they have good tread and drive them there.
Well... yes and no. You do lose the use of your right side-view mirror entirely. Visibility on the right side is somewhat hampered, but is not totally blind; you can still see over the tops of the tires. However, this could be worse for shorter drivers than for taller ones. (I am average height.)NeSX said:
The purpose of putting the rear tire that's on the passenger seat face out is that it allows room inside the tire. Furthermore, it slides down in the seat (due to the side bolstering) so that it's about 2-3 inches away from the center console. I find that it doesn't touch my right arm at all. I think the reason you have less room, Rob, is due to the tire sizes you are using. My track tires are the stock '91-93 sizes, so your two tires together are 40 mm wider than mine, so I can see why yours might be up against the console.
If this works for you, by all means go for it. It's always a lot easier to change the tires at home than at the track. It's fine when you're driving to a track close to home. But... if you drive to a track that's almost 400 miles away (like Mid-Ohio), or 700 miles away (like the Glen), you're going to be putting a lot of highway miles on those track tires. You'll certainly be replacing them a lot more frequently, and on a long trip, you could run out of tires entirely. One of the things I like about bringing the track tires with me in the car is that, if I use up a track tire, I can still switch to the street tires and use those. If you drive on your track tires only, and you run out of tires, your options may be limited (or you may need to bring extras with you, in which case you're back to bringing tires in the car).NeSX said:
All stuff to think about...
Ken,
I tried your way and a couple other ways and can't get them to fit. The problem is the tires are to fat 235-40-17 and 275-40-17. I can get one in the trunk and only two in the front seat O Well could always bungee one to the trunk lid....NOT !!!
I tried your way and a couple other ways and can't get them to fit. The problem is the tires are to fat 235-40-17 and 275-40-17. I can get one in the trunk and only two in the front seat O Well could always bungee one to the trunk lid....NOT !!!
I assume you could get the two on top of the front seat, but the 235/40-17 is too wide to fit behind the seat, even full forward with the seat back full forward?NSX 3.0 said:
Of course, doing this, there isn't a whole lot of room in the rest of the car for a whole lot of stuff, but I can fit what I need to bring - including a big Rubbermaid bin of track stuff in the trunk, and a squishable overnight bag and my helmet which I put on top of the tire behind the passenger seat. The only other problem I find is when I get back home, and I must have the use of my right side mirror to back into my garage. So I remove the front seat tires before backing in.
Incidentally, for those thinking of doing this - just try it at home when you have a chance, and (assuming yours fit) drive around a little, and see what you think.
Jeff A said:
Could you please show us a bigger picture? Does it cause any burden on the transmission at all?
Thank you.
Sure, here's some pics. The load on the transmission is not an issue at all, the trailer with the tires on it weights only about 300 lbs (as much as a good sized passenger). More of an issue is the small hole in the bumper cover for the tongue, and the added 8 pounds that the hitch weighs (which cannot be easily removed at the track). It's pretty much a permanent addition to the NSX.
But it's really worth it in my opinion. It's good for very long distance travels, you get to bring a jack and a shade canopy and everything else you need. I really like track tires, the grip is outrageous. Once you go track, you never go back
But it's really worth it in my opinion. It's good for very long distance travels, you get to bring a jack and a shade canopy and everything else you need. I really like track tires, the grip is outrageous. Once you go track, you never go back
Attachments
More of an issue is the small hole in the bumper cover for the tongue, and the added 8 pounds that the hitch weighs (which cannot be easily removed at the track).
Thank you, Sir. What exactly is "the tongue"?
Thank you, Sir. What exactly is "the tongue"?
Yeah, I understand. A trailer hitch makes one think of Bubba in an F150 pickup instead of a gorgeous exotic. But on the other hand, I was surprised by all the thumbs-up and longing looks I get when headed off to the track with slicks in tow. It's unique, no doubt about that.
TigerNSX said:
It's the black metal piece that the trailer ball is attached to, in the lower left picture.
Jeff
I'm looking forward to checking it out in person at NSXPO 2004!
Yep, I'll be there.
I also went to the effort of documenting how to do it. I have detailed instructions with parts lists, prices, procedures, and pictures. I'll be giving that away to whoever wants it, but not till NSXPO.
It'll be interesting to see if anyone else wants to do it.
Jeff
I also went to the effort of documenting how to do it. I have detailed instructions with parts lists, prices, procedures, and pictures. I'll be giving that away to whoever wants it, but not till NSXPO.
It'll be interesting to see if anyone else wants to do it.
Jeff
docjohn said:All you need now is a set of "buggy balls"
Ha! Yeah, I saw those on the link from Dali. What a hoot. They'd be really funny for about 5 minutes, and then it would get old real fast...
Jeff -- sign me up !!Jeff A said:
I've been looking to do this for awhile now. Am definitely VERY interested.
Wow, people read these threads! I'm getting private messages...
To those who asked, I'm keeping a list and will send you a link to the document in about a month. I hope you try it, it'll be fun to see more of these.
I'll start up a thread in the DIY/Technical forum for it then, and will be there to answer questions. Basically it costs about $300.00 for the whole project, including the trailer. The trailer is only about 48" square. I did the entire project in 1 weekend. No welding is involved, but you do have to remove the entire rear bumper assembly of the NSX to do it.
Cheers,
Jeff
To those who asked, I'm keeping a list and will send you a link to the document in about a month. I hope you try it, it'll be fun to see more of these.
I'll start up a thread in the DIY/Technical forum for it then, and will be there to answer questions. Basically it costs about $300.00 for the whole project, including the trailer. The trailer is only about 48" square. I did the entire project in 1 weekend. No welding is involved, but you do have to remove the entire rear bumper assembly of the NSX to do it.
Cheers,
Jeff
Thanks Jeff -- I look forward to seeing this DIY thread. Yours is probably the 3rd I've seen/heard of, and its GREAT that you're taking the time to document this and share the info.Jeff A said:
I've seen some cool detach-able hitch fitments on even smaller cars (e.g., Honda S2000, Toyota MR2-Spyder), and hope we can do something similar with the NSX.
This will DEFINITELY be a high-priority off-season project for me (errr... the good folks at Acura of Brookfield
).
I searched long and hard for a hitch with a receiver, so it could easily be removed. But the NSX has no standard frame, I could not figure out a way to mount a hitch other than by bolting it to the bumper. And I could find none of those types of hitches with receivers (i.e. where you can remove the tongue and ball easily). Hitches with receivers are really big (so they don't fit) and also really heavy. We don't want 20 to 30 pounds back there.
It would be great if together we can come with something better though. We'll see.
As a matter of fact, I just did some business with John Vasos there at Brookfield Acura. My ABS system failed, and he sold me a working used one that he removed for a customer. He said it was tested by Mark Basch after it was removed. I'm getting it installed soon, so I'll see. Gotta get it done in time for NSXPO (along with getting my new R suspension installed ).
Jeff
It would be great if together we can come with something better though. We'll see.
As a matter of fact, I just did some business with John Vasos there at Brookfield Acura. My ABS system failed, and he sold me a working used one that he removed for a customer. He said it was tested by Mark Basch after it was removed. I'm getting it installed soon, so I'll see. Gotta get it done in time for NSXPO (along with getting my new R suspension installed
).Jeff
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