I never said they were the best tires in the world, he just asked what I had. They aren't bad tires for the money, they are ranked #11 out of 40 in their category on tirerack, they were #4 when I bought them. Sure there are better tires out there, but remember that tires in your size are going to be less expensive than in 225/40-18...and I was a student when I bought these. No regrets here, they are much sticker than the "high-performance all-season" Yoko Avid V4S I have on my 16's that I used for winter that are ranked #1 out of 17 in their category.

I wasn't trying to put down your chrome statement, I guess I thought you and I shared a dislike of chrome wheels on Accords from past discussions. Guess not...no offense meant, sorry if it came off that way.

 

I saw a very unique looking wheel combo on a TSX,

235 on the front 245 in the rear, running on 18"s he sized the rears to fit the widest rim possible, it sounds dumb. But it looked so bad @$$.

The sidewalls looked the same but from the rear of the car you got the impression he had massive meats.

check out those rear meats, yummy...

 

Yeah, that looks sweet...hard to tell exactly how wide they look because the rear splash guard kinda makes it look wider than it is due to the shadow. I don't think 1cm is enough to justify not being able to rotate them front to back. Plus there's that whole thing about having wider rear tires on a FWD car lol.

 

Look at the rim, look at the brake kit. $$ was not an issue for this guy, tire rotation, he pays someone to do that.



This car had everything you could bolt on to it period. The worst part, it was an Auto like my wife's....doh!

 

John,

I'll defer to you on this since you've been there done that. Point taken w/ the lowering first b4 getting the wheelset.
HOW did you go about lowering your ride and still have the Accord drive smoothly. How much did you lower your ride? Do you recommend a particular set of springs, or can I get away w/ having them cut? If the springs are being swapped out is it also a good time to upgrade the struts or other parts of the steering column?
I read a thread from which I understood if one lowered more than an inch that the geometry (camber?) or something causes the tires to toe in or out basically throwing the handling/alignment/etc all out of whack.
The (glove) manual also comments about one's tires wrt the ABS that if the tires/wheels are too big it somehow affects ABS performance.
I'm probably overanalyzing - over to you!
Kelly

 

Well I don't claim to be an expert, but here's what I can contribute:

Don't cut your stock springs. There are lots of aftermarket springs that are available that are all pretty cheap...$100-200. Most manufacturers make a couple or three types of springs, some are called sport, race, etc. Sport springs will offer a mild drop of 1.25-1.75" or so, basically an inch and a half or so. Race springs are usually around a 2-2.5" Some advertise to lower the front a bit more than the rear to even out the wheel gap (most cars have more front wheel gap just to give the front tires a bit more clearance since they can be turned under suspension compression) and to give it a bit more aggressive stance, and some advertise to lower the front and rear the same.

Lowering springs have to be a bit stiffer so you don't bottom out, and most people that swap springs are looking for a stiffer spring that will decrease body roll and increase handling, plus lower the center of gravity. So there will be some compromise in ride quality. If you are concerned with ride quality, then stick with a "sport" type spring. Eibach Prokit is probably the most popular, but H&R Sport springs, Tein, and others make springs with similiar drop and spring rate. These types of springs will lower the car down to get the wheel gap to a respectable amount without making the car overly rough to drive.

Yeah, you really should get some performance shocks to pair with the new springs because they can react better to the higher spring rate and keep the dampening in check. With some of the softer springs, you can get away with using your stock shocks, but it will likely decrease the life of the shocks and won't handle as well as the performance shocks. The stock shocks probably won't "blow" right away, but you never know, depends on the mileage on the shocks, how you drive, the spring rate, how much of a drop, etc. Basically if you have a 6th gen, your stock shocks already are 3 years old, so just upgrade to performance shocks at the same time, besides...it's the same amount of work (or install cost) to swap the springs alone, or springs and shocks. Look at brands like Koni, Bilstein, and Tokico.

An alternative to buying a separate spring and shock combo is to buy a complete "coil-over" system that has springs and shocks in one. There are lot of brands out there as well. Tein, Tokico, H&R, etc are some off hand.

On our cars, the camber is a function of ride height, so as you lower the car, the negative camber will increase. This isn't really a bad thing in moderation. A bit of negative camber can improve cornering grip, and help avoid rubbing tires in the rear. If it's extreme, it'll decrease straight line grip, and result in excessive tire wear on the inside of the contact patch. But negative camber won't eat tires as fast as incorrect toe settings. Most sixth gen Accords won't require a camber kit up front unless you are lower than 2.0". In the rear, beyond 1.5" requires a camber kit. And I really shouldn't say require because it's not really required, it's just a matter of tolerances for performance and tire wear. If tire wear is your priority, you'll likely need a camber kit, but for the rear only. Search on here for brands like SPC, Ingalls, etc.

After the suspension stuff is installed, get an alignment soon after to get everything set up for optimal tire wear and performance. The toe can be adjusted, no biggie.

Larger wheels and tires shouldn't mess with the ABS other than the fact that you'll have a heavier wheel and tire combo (depends a lot on the wheels, but most larger tires will be heavier due to wider contact patch, and thicker sidewall rubber for increased strength). Because it's heavier, it will be a bit harder for the car to get the inertia going, and for the brakes to get the car stopped. Will you feel the difference in acceleration and braking? Probably only a little, and you'll become desensitized quickly lol. I feel it a bit when I swap from my winter wheels and tires to my bigger wider summer ones. But the added grip, handling, and looks is worth it to me.

A mild sport drop is completely drivable, there will still be tons of cars that are lower than yours from the factory. Some might say that a lowered car will put more stress on other suspension components like bushings and ball joints, but if it's a mild drop the effects will be very small.

A good place to get some good general info about this stuff is the tirerack's tech center. http://www.tirerack.com/about/techcenter.jsp

Also check out the drop-down menu on this page: http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/t...jsp?techid=115

Some good test results here than can help you make your decision: http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/testing.jsp

That's about all I can think of right now lol.

 

John, I wasn't dissing you. I was just sharing my experience with the Yokos.

I do dislike chrome wheels but some people go for that look and there's no talking to them about it :dunno:

Those TSX wheels look awesome but putting wider rear tires in a FWD car is retarded and must throw off the handling like whoa h: the new Grand Prix GXP actually has tires 40mm wider in the front :lmao:

 

On my 2000 Accord with about 76k miles I replaced my OEM rims and tires with Falken ZIEX ZE512s (215/45R17) on MSR brushed aluminum rims (weight 19lbs compared to 21.5 stock rims). Big fender well gap, but I do not want to seriously compromise my stock ride so I went with KYB GR-2 shocks and Tein H-spec springs (I could not make a decision on anything else more expensive), KYB boot w/bumpstop (see tirerack) and pillow aftermarket mounting (tirerack again!), all other parts will be replaced by factory OEM parts from the dealer (really, those parts are fairly cheap). So after that my entire suspension will be new again. No camber kit, the drop is less than 1.5". If I need it, I will have to consider the options. I think I will have the shop install this one after nearly having my face torn off by an overly excited spring. My wife would not volunteer to help me with spring removal either.

 

OEM Honda Accord wheel size

195/65/15

wides i've seen on accord is 235/40/17 front 245/40/17
but no need for that wide.

 

My OEMs rims were 5 lug 16" alloy V6 EX Coupe