Tire Wear

[Dave Hardy]

If I understand the rear tire wear issue correctly, the early cars had 1/4" of toe out and ate tires quickly. The later cars go to 1/8" of toe out and eat tires a bit less.

Is it possible to adjust the rear to zero toe? I understand that it will make the car a bit less tossable, but for a daily driver that might be OK. Does anyone do this? Is it even possible with the factory adjustments? What about with a custom toe link?

 

[nsxtasy]

If I understand the rear tire wear issue correctly, the early cars had 1/4" of toe out and ate tires quickly. The later cars go to 1/8" of toe out and eat tires a bit less.

Not exactly. When they changed the alignment recommendation, they made it retroactive to all years.

Incidentally, the recommended total rear toe changed from 6 mm to 4 mm. (1/4" is 6.35 mm, and 1/8" is 3.175 mm, so those numbers are slightly off.) And it was toe IN, not toe out.

Is it possible to adjust the rear to zero toe?

Yes.

I understand that it will make the car a bit less tossable, but for a daily driver that might be OK.

That is the downside.

Does anyone do this?

A few owners do.

Is it even possible with the factory adjustments?

Yes.

 

[hlweyl]

http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/TireWheel/tiretech.htm Fronts have toe-out and rears have toe-in. I went with a less aggresive alignment setting (I think it was about 2 mm toe-in on the rears) and changed to Bridgestone RE750's. My rears have 21,000 miles on them and still going strong.

My NSX has lost that crisp feel compared to the OEM Yokos that were on it when I bought the car. That being said, I bet it still handles better than almost every other car on the road.

good luck

 

[Dave Hardy]

Fronts have toe-out and rears have toe-in.

Interesting. Then zeroing the rear would actually make the car MORE tossable. Don't want too much tail happiness in a daily of course.

 

[newby]

I am at the point where I definately need to replace my rear tires.... I just about lost it on the way home the other day in the rain. I pulled the rear tires off and the inside tread was more worn then the outside (not a big difference, but noticable) Am I right in assuming that is due to the tow in?

 

[MarkB]

...Am I right in assuming that is due to the tow in?

Actually, the wear being on the inside is due to the CAMBER. The fact that it is wearing more rapidly than most vehicle tires is due to the TOE. With neutral CAMBER, the wear would be evenly distributed accross the tread.

 

[1BADNSX]

Interesting. Then zeroing the rear would actually make the car MORE tossable. Don't want too much tail happiness in a daily of course.

Yes, this is true. In the rear, lowering the toe-in (or any toe-out) makes the car less stable. Toe-in makes the rear end feel stable and helps allow more power to be put to the ground during corner exit. I wouldn’t drive with zero-toe, but if you do, be careful during hard braking (the stability may be a factor) and especially driving in the rain and applying power (the rear will want to come around more easily). Many auto-x’s use rear toe-out to get the rear-end to rotate on an otherwise understeering vehicle.

Bob

 

[CaliNSX]

About Tires...has anybody heard of Capital Negotiaters? I saw a pair of these tires for the Rear set at Goodyear for only $100 each.

 

[nsxtasy]

About Tires...has anybody heard of Capital Negotiaters? I saw a pair of these tires for the Rear set at Goodyear for only $100 each.

Don't put crappy tires like those on the NSX. That doesn't make any sense at all. You spent a lot of money for the high performance of the NSX; don't downgrade that performance just to save a few bucks on tires.

 

[CaliNSX]

Yeah, you're right - I'm just trying to budget out the actual cost of ownership over the next few months as I get ready to buy the one I've got my eye on right now... Thanks for the constant feedback nsxtacy!!