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I have a 2015 V6 AWD. My lease ends in June and after considering all my options I am going to purchase my lease. I have been very happy with my car minus a couple problems. I never had the jerky transmission or vibration issue. Sprint-booster and Sport + fixed my biggest complaint which was throttle response/lag. Since I decided to buy out my lease and lower my payments I have decided to pump some money into the car so it can be where I want it to be.
September 2015 replace the Eagle LS2 with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ 225/50/R18. Much much better then the crappy LS2. The only thing good about the LS2s was I could slide the back end out turning into a corner.
October 2015 Bought and had a mazda mechanic (friend) install it off the clock. H&R Sport springs 51846. It fits AWD fine (3.5 years going strong). Great drop and makes my version of driving (spirited) feel much safer. I felt a little more road feel and bumps but in all reality feels better then a stock civic suspension which I thought felt harsh(rental at one time)
Fast forward to March 2018
Notice the camber on the rear stock rim.
March 2018 Installed SPC 3 piece rear alignment kit at Firestone and lifetime alignment.
Installed 1 week ago Advanti DST Catalan 20x8.5 with 42mm offset and Extreme contact DWS 06 245/35ZR20
Driving impression: Just as comfortable as the previous tires and rims. More road feel in a good way. Braking improvement is amazing. I didn't complain about it before but I tend to forget how much good tires can affect braking. I love the way they look and handle the road.
Notice the better camber and with the wider wheel it is more flush but not quite complete
Now some would say that I should have bought rims. I didn't want to go with the staggered rims because I want long life from this tires and the ability to rotate them front to back. Also concerning the following I know some will probably say that they (spacers) are unsafe or I could die or they know someone who has died or been injured because of spacers. Yes they can be dangerous if crappy product is purchased or installed incorrectly or not checked up on to confirm fitment. If someone puts on rims themselves and don't install and torque it properly you can have similar risks. Given all these things I accept the risk and quite sure they are safe if quality product is purchased and installed correctly. There, now that I got that out of the way for the keyboard warriors here is the following.
Today
Hubcentric 5x114.3 (64.1 bore) 3mm aircraft aluminum spacers for the front by Euro Motor Werkes. Anything more than 3mm would require longer studs.
Eight prince (made in Japan) 15mm 12/1.50 5x114.3 6061 aluminum with heat treated carbon steel studs. For the rear wheels
rear of rim. Notice the gaps for the wheel stud to go into that extends past the spacer
Front rotor without spacer and as a side note the studs measure 27mm in the current photo.
3mm hubcentric spacer installed. Firm fit around hub
From side. Applied anti seize to reverse side
front installed 3mm spacer
Eight Prince spacer installed after cleaning hub and applying anti seize to reverse side. As you can see I have blue lock tight on the stock lug threads
torques to 85lbs
After install and torques 30.5mm eight prince threads to 85lbs. notice the space provided for the stuck thread to be so it doesn't hit the rim
Finished product. 1 tight index finger between front tire and fender and 1 loose fit index finger between rear wheel and fender
Finally I drove it on the freeway up to 100mph and no noticeable vibrations. Feels really good. I will re torque the spacers after 50 miles to confirm it is staying put and re torque all the lugs(when cool of course and not hot)
Price break down if someone wants to know
$250 Springs
$500 Spring install
$400 SPC alignment kit
$500 SPC install and lifetime alignment
$2300 Tires/Rim package shipped
$170 Spacers
As a side not if anybody does a private message make sure your inbox in not full or I cannot respond to you.
Thanks and I hope this was helpful
Update.
New tires have some serious grip! I have tried to get them to lose traction round corners and so far I cant. Improved braking from tires as stated before is superb. Tires and rims are just as comfortable except at potholes “ouch”. Tire and rim package on weight scale are about the same. Even so the acceleration seems better. It could be in my head or down to the better traction. At least it doesn’t feel bogged down. No vibrations.
Horseshoez is right. You put bigger wheels on, which means they are heavier, meaning the engine has more unsprung mass to try and spin. You have effectively increased your unsprung mass, at the axle... the effects are slower acceleration and longer braking. There's no two ways about it.
Yes, exactly. Even if they were lightweight rims, the fact the rim extends further out from the centre point of the hub (aka bigger diameter), means more weight, further out. I doubt a tire sidewall weighs anywhere near as much as a wheel (when putting bigger wheels on and shrinking the sidewall)
So if you had two wheels, both weighing the exact same.. it would still be easier to spin the smaller wheel, then the big one.
I was saying that because when I weighed on a scale both the rims and tires combined it was 49lbs for stock rim/tire and aftermarket. Also I did some 80-100 speed tests. Before it was 6.23 seconds. (4000ft elevation). Afterwards with rims and tires and of course a new aFe drop in filter (disposed of 30,000 mile K&N filter) my time was 5.86 seconds. Even if that was within limits of error or the day I did it or attributed to just the filter. The car doesn’t feel any slower. If anything it is peppier. But I am attributing that to just the filter change. What I did for the speed test is set cruise at 80 and used a stopwatch. Stomped on the gas pedal and as soon as I hit 100 I clicked stop on the stopwatch. I am perfectly okay if I didn’t gain any. I really don’t think I lost any is all I am saying.
I was saying that because when I weighed on a scale both the rims and tires combined it was 49lbs for stock rim/tire and aftermarket. Also I did some 80-100 speed tests. Before it was 6.23 seconds. (4000ft elevation). Afterwards with rims and tires and of course a new aFe drop in filter (disposed of 30,000 mile K&N filter) my time was 5.86 seconds. Even if that was within limits of error or the day I did it or attributed to just the filter. The car doesn’t feel any slower. If anything it is peppier. But I am attributing that to just the filter change. What I did for the speed test is set cruise at 80 and used a stopwatch. Stomped on the gas pedal and as soon as I hit 100 I clicked stop on the stopwatch. I am perfectly okay if I didn’t gain any. I really don’t think I lost any is all I am saying.
Weight is only one factor, the position of the weight is by far a larger factor. Fact, the larger the wheels, the further the bulk of the weight of the wheel/tire combination is from the axis of rotation; slice it and dice it any way you want, replacing the OEM wheels with 20" wheels, even if by some miracle they are lighter, will still slow your car down.
If you want a more detailed analysis of the factors which cause this phenomena, refer to these pages:
Interestingly enough I never disagreed with the science and theory of rotation mass or torque required to rotated mass located further out from the center as evidenced by this quote I made on 3/28/18 on one of the other posts here.
Thread
is a 40/45 series tires on a 20 inch rim possible without rubbing
Originally Posted by ultrapogi
Plus too you have to think about weight. I just got some 20” rims with 245/35 continental extremecontact dws 06 xl. The weight for these are 24lbs each. The 245/40 is 27lbs. 3 more pounds may not sound like a lot but when the weight is on the very end of the rotational mass like that is will make the car feel more sluggish (throttle response and acceleration) because the extra torque required to turn it. A heavier rim were the weight is toward the center has a smaller effect at 3lbs then a 3lb heavy tire will. But if that is not important to you then okay.
So I am forced to agree with you that my tire and rims have slowed me down.
Man the aFe drop in filter must have made the difference then.
03-30-2018, 01:39 PM
