If I Drop On 18's or 19's...
 

After finding out that I will not have any financial backing from my family for selling my '99 EX V6 two-door and buying a new four-door car (which is what I wanted to do, as everyone probably remembers), I have decided to get more serious with the modding of my Accord being she is going to stick around a bit longer. Without the financial outside assistance, I am really not in a position to make expensive new car payments. The theme for my Accord is going to be Show and No Go, because I am more interested in the exterior enhancements to the vehicle than I am with the performance; I am a cruiser, not a racer.

I want to definitely do 18 or 19-inch chrome rims and have it lowered, but my questions are these: what do you guys recommend as far as larger rims like these? Are 18's and a drop "large enough" to fill the wheelwells of the Accord, or should I go 19"? And once I do the rims, tires and a drop, should I keep the OEM body kit on there and the OEM rear spoiler? Will they look good with the aftermarket rims and drop, or should I rip em off and get aftermarket body skirts, higher rear wing, etc?

Other mods considered: Xenon or HIDs, HID fogs, chrome exhaust extensions of some kind (the OEM stainless ones are becoming too "weak" to look at), changing tint to limo black all around (change from the current 20% thats on there now).

Re: If I Drop On 18's or 19's...
 

You are going to hear a lot of anti-chrome responses, with good reason. Big chrome wheels just don't look good on an Accord. The are also generally real heavy, so expect a decrease in acceleration, braking and perhaps gas mileage. Leave em to the SUV's and rappers. :D

18 or 19...your call. 19 looks great, but for everday driving, I'd go with 18s. That's what I have, I like em. They'll give you a bit more tire for a decent ride and protection for your wheels. A 2-2.5" drop or so with 18" will give you minimal wheel gap. I have 2" up front with 1.5" back, I have about a finger-gap all around. Wheel style will also affect how big they look to an extent. Wheels with a lip look smaller to me than wheels with spokes that go all the way to the edge of the wheel. My old 18's looked a bit larger than my new ones at first glance IMO.

Please keep the OEM kit and trunk spoiler. That's what will look best. If anything, the WW kit is the only other one I'd do. Since you already have the OEM kit, keep it, they look great.

I wouldn't do limo tint. You'll get hasseled, and IMO it just looks too dark. Esp on red.

HID's are sweet. Best thing is to retrofit OEM projectors in your housings if you can swing that.

Exhaust, up to you, just don't get real guady with cheap-looking add-on tips, you'll be okay.

Really though...drop the car first with quality spring/shock combo or a complete coilover system like TEINs. You may love the increased performance and decide you want to go more with a peformance theme than an all show with chrome wheels, etc.

:)

Re: Re: If I Drop On 18's or 19's...
 

Schmiddy,

As always, THANK YOU very much for taking the time to reply to this and give me your thoughts; I will definitely take them into consideration. By the way, I think I happened to like your old rims a bit better----BUT, your car STILL looks great and is probably the cleanest 6th gen sedan up in this piece...

I think I will go 18 on the rim and a 2" drop, as you suggest, and take into consideration chrome or no chrome; I really do want that sun-sparkling look of chrome when the rays hit the side of the car...

I will keep the OEM body kit, as advised...I spent the $1000-plus for the thing already from the dealer, so, sure, why not keep it there? Okay. The rear OEM trunk wing? Man, I WISH Honda would have put a higher wing on this car. It just doesn't have that in-your-faceness of the mid wings, ya know? But like someone once said (it may have been you), the NSX-like brake light clusters are meant to be "bridged" together with this spoiler.

Tint? Man, I gotta tell you---sometimes I hate when its a real sunny day and you can see right through my glass. The 20% doesnt really feel or look all that dark. I thought blacking out the windows would give a nice effect. But you are right----and here in New York, cops WILL harass you for dark windows. It happened to me many times in my previous car, a white 94 Accord EX coupe.

what about in texas.....do you think that i would get hassled for a limo-ish type tint on my car?

Vroom, depends on the state....I dont know about Texas...but like in Florida and California/Nevada, because of the heat, people can have their windows as dark as they want.

You can get a polished silver lip they sparkle :) chrome is tite on SUVs thats about it, stick with aluminum wheels, BTW real chrome is too expensive :)

Go with some really nice 18's (chrome) and get a GOOD coilover and shock package so its not bouncy. With the coilovers its adjustable so no matter what the wheel gap is you can always go lower.

Big rims and bodykits make me laugh, all its doing is making the car slower. Its just nothin but weight. If anything, keep either the stock lips or take them off and have nothing. If you go with the stock body and no lips keep the spoiler on, if you keep the factory lips take the spoiler off. If you get a body kit find a spoiler that matches or dont put one on the car.

As for the exhaust, just but some brand name mufflers and put them on the stock piping. Or buy a cat-back, Greddy has some really beefy lookin mufflers (look great IMO)

Re: Re: If I Drop On 18's or 19's...
 

I agree with this response entirely.

Limo tint looks bad IMHO.

If you already have your kit keep it. In the long run it will be better. Spoiler kits are like clothes in that they are trendy. If you want your car to look its best you'd have to keep on changin kits to match the current styles. There are some rare exceptions of course.

As for the crome that was good on Accords maybe in the early 90's, ( ain't gonna lie I use to sport cromes up to like 97 :D) go with anything with a nice lip.:thumbup:

Truthfully I'm running 18's on 225/40 tires with H&R 1.5 drop springs on my 6th gen and the rims really do look small, kind of like seventeens.

Nineteens would fill the space better but you'll pay with your accelaration.

hell yeah you will get harrassed. they don't play that game at all.

Thanks Weiman,

I think I have my heart set on chrome, but thanks for your opinion! I appreciate it.

"I thought I was looking at my mother's old douche bag but that's in Ohio..."
-Curtis Armstrong, "Revenge of the Nerds"