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After a month of waiting on shipping and the appointment for ceramic coating the wheels before installation, they are finally installed! Need to modify the OEM Acura center caps as the front axle bolts in the center of the hubs stick out a little bit. Going to take a dremel and going to try carving out a little bowl in the back side of each center cap as the tolerances are very close (they almost fit!). Also tinted the windows while it was in the shop, 20%.
Did you wanna stay with the oem wheel specs? I think a +35 offset and 17x8 would have given the car a nicer stance with some wider tires to fill in the wheel gap
Did you wanna stay with the oem wheel specs? I think a +35 offset and 17x8 would have given the car a nicer stance with some wider tires to fill in the wheel gap
I get this question quite a lot. Yes I did want to stay OEM spec's. My reasoning is as follows.
1. 17x7 width would mean a slightly stronger wheel. I researched these wheels and there are stories out there of people bending / warping them. One thing I noticed about those stories is that most of those damaged wheels were larger width wheels with lower profile tires. That got me thinking that a wider wheel will have less support at the inner edge of the rim (under the car) where the majority of the forces are being applied, as the spokes are farther away from that edge of the rim on a wider wheel which means less structural support / rigidity.
2. A narrow wheel is also slightly lighter (1.2 lbs per wheel between 17x7 vs 17x8) than a wider wheel which means better acceleration / throttle response. I know this goes against the idea of better grip from a wider tire but it makes the car feel more fun when daily driving.
3. A narrower wheel / tire is also better for all weather (year round) driving with better wet grip and hydroplaning resistance. I plan to use these wheels and tires all year round.
4. The higher side wall on the smaller / narrower wheel (45) makes for a more comfortable ride and offers better protection of the rims from dents and warping. My car is my daily and I do not track the car so comfort is a primary consideration when considering modifications to my car.
As for the offset, my views on that are that having the wheels tucked in the wheels more with the +45 means more of the dirt and road debris is thrown up into the wheel wells and not up the side of the car body. Again, year round daily driver so driving in the rain and snow will be a common occurrence which means driving on roads covered in sand / gravel / salt. Another small factor was scrub radius which affects tire wear. Most cars have their suspension geometry setup based around a specific offset and if you change that offset, it will cause the tires to scrub or slide over the road surface causing excess tire wear and different handling characteristics. I am happy with how the car handles in general with OEM specs so didn't feel a need to change that.
Some people have suggested that I at least lower the car to reduce the wheel well gaps. I looked into that but found that using lowering springs will damage the shocks over time. I don't want to go with coilovers, as again it's just a daily not a track car so comfort is a priority. I actually really like the OEM Acura reactive dampers in the ILX. They have 5mm of soft travel for small road imperfections mixed with firm travel the rest of the time for low body roll and an overall sporty feel. These considerations left me with the decision to just keep the car's suspension as is.
Last edited by Quegyboe; Mar 19, 2024 at 12:46 PM.
They do look smaller because of the lip but I am happy with them. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess. I'm sure the lack of fitment bothers some people but I'm fine with it.
As I said before, I like it. Sometimes understatement is a better option. Forged scares me on the street. Too many bad stories about them. I think it has the perfect daily driver look. I got a bunch of bad comments in the wild about my polishing mine, but it was the look I was going for. I spent a winter stripping and polishing them to get that look.
Stay you and don't let anyone smash your vision.
