New Wheels & Tyres

[ctrlaltdelboy]

Hi all

my new 'Volk Racing' wheels arrived and I have just ordered the tyres to go on them, just thought I'd share the technical elements of the wheel tyre change for those who are interested.

wheels

http://www.darrenferneyhough.com/images/nsx/wheelweights.jpg

as you can see the oem wheels grew by 1" diameter and 0.5" width both front & rear between the orig spec in 1991 and the revised spec in 1994, and my new wheels have retained the larger 16"/17" diameters of the revised sizes, but added an extra inch width at the same time. Crucially this extra width in the larger size has come not only with zero weight overhead but has reduced the wheel weight below both the revised AND original weights.


Tyres

I have gone for Kumho V70A tyres front & rear for 3 reasons:
1. excellent trackday grip
2. lowest weight I could find
3. comparatively inexpensive

see in the chart above how 3 different sets of tyres compare - there's not quite so much of a weight saving for me on the tyres, but not bad considering the extra tyre width though - up from the current 225 front to 245 with a minor saving of 0.4kg per tyre, and up from the current 255 rear to 275 for the same weight.

so I have gained 20mm per corner over my current setup at the same time as trimming 8.7kg of rotational unsprung weight from the car (that's 30mm per corner over standard oem 94-01 sizes with similar weight savings), and a whopping 40mm per corner front and 50mm per corner rear over the oem 91-93 sizes at a weight penalty of just 3.2kg - although this last comparison is largely academic for me and most NSX'ers since most are on the oem 94-01 wheels anyway, but useful for anyone who is still on the smaller oems.

here is how the dimensions vary between the different setups

http://www.darrenferneyhough.com/images/nsx/tyresizes.jpg

the Volk TE37s look like this
http://www.stillen.com/product_images/207352.jpg

the website is here http://www.rayswheels.co.jp/emenu/wheel.html

my source for the wheels was Dali Racing - details here (http://daliracing.com/v666-5/catalog/wheels/te37.cfm?focus=157)

useful tool here for calculating tyre sizes etc (http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html)

UK & Europe info on the Kumho ECSTA V70As is here (http://www.kumho-euro.com/Motorsports/KH_brochure01.html)

my source for the tyres was South Shore on 01253 761362

I'll add some pics of them on the car once they are on there and I've taken some!

[Kevin]

Very technical! I'll tell you what would be an really interesting experiment to do. My engineering tendancies coming out.

As some people claim that one size of tyre over another doesn't actually give you more rubber on the road, may I suggest trying the following.

Paint the bottom of a tyre, with the car jacked up, and lower it onto some paper or card. Then do the same with the new wheels. Same psi in both tyres.

Measure the print from each, and tell us, for certain which tyre has the most rubber on the road.

The arguement some people make, is that as you have a wider tyre, the contact patch changes shape, and does not increase.

I understand the theory, but its needs some real testing.

Anyway, nice wheels.

[ctrlaltdelboy]

Kev, I would be interested to try the Volk 16" fronts over your BBK - you never know?

[mcibuk]

Your'e probably aware of this but, contact area, weight and rolling resistance are important elements in achieving grip but slippage, shear and stiffness are also elements in the equation which will have a positive or negative impact depending on the characteristics of the rubber.

I'm keen to also hear your opinions/reactions of grip and any impact on handling / speed following a road/track tests as i think that these are the acid tests :wink:

The wheels look cool and i look forward to seeing photos on the car too.

[ctrlaltdelboy]

agreed mcibuk - I'm very much looking forward to a trackday with the new set-up to see the real world difference!

[ctrlaltdelboy]

the rears are now on - with the 275 tyres on I am at the absolute limit for clearance under the factory width rear fenders, the 10mm H&R spacers had to come off not only because the tyre would not clear the fender edge with them on, but the hubcentric rings which need to be used with the Volks would not go with the spacers still in place. The spacers are no longer needed since I raised the springs up to the upper perch of the bilsteins anyway (on the lower perch the tyres would hit the springs unless the spacers were used). I'm still waiting for the Kumho 245/45/16's for the fronts to arrive, they are on backorder so I intend today to swap out the half worn Eagle F1 225's from my oem 7" fronts onto the new Volk 8" fronts until they do.

got a couple more jobs to do on the car today and then she'll be back on the road - I'll get some pics posted up shortly, and I have a VERY funny and interesting story to relate to you guys as soon as I get the pics off my mate's Mac (Andrew knows already - it is quite bizarre!)

also, I had a phone call from a police officer that I know who told me that a memo has gone around from the chief inspector about this silver Honda driving around without a front number plate and that it MUST be stopped asap! - well, it's been 13 months without a plate on the front - not too bad a run I guess! I now have a nice little 3/4 sized front plate which fits perfectly to the front edge of the bumper via sticky pads - not too obtrusive I guess.

[NSXGB]

Darren...how do you stand legally with the 3/4 size front number plate?

[ctrlaltdelboy]

the 3/4 plate is not strictly legal, but obviously much less attention-grabbing & infuriating to the police!

I will wait to see if I get any grief from them over it, but I have spoken to a couple of guys using them who have not been pulled even after 2 yrs+

if anyone wants non-legal or even legal plates made up without having to produce documents etc go to www.fancyplates.com

[NSXGB]

....good link, thanks.

[ctrlaltdelboy]

here are some pics of them on my car

http://www.darrenferneyhough.com/images/nsx/VolkTE37s/volks1-800.jpg (http://www.darrenferneyhough.com/images/nsx/VolkTE37s/volks1big.jpg)
http://www.darrenferneyhough.com/images/nsx/VolkTE37s/volks2-800.jpg (http://www.darrenferneyhough.com/images/nsx/VolkTE37s/volks2big.jpg)
http://www.darrenferneyhough.com/images/nsx/VolkTE37s/volks3-800.jpg (http://www.darrenferneyhough.com/images/nsx/VolkTE37s/volks3big.jpg)
http://www.darrenferneyhough.com/images/nsx/VolkTE37s/volks4-800.jpg (http://www.darrenferneyhough.com/images/nsx/VolkTE37s/volks4big.jpg)


here are some action shots at Nurburgring, Germany

http://www.darrenferneyhough.com/images/nurburgring/easter2005/darren2.jpg

http://www.darrenferneyhough.com/images/nurburgring/easter2005/darren8.JPG

http://www.darrenferneyhough.com/images/nurburgring/easter2005/darren9.jpg

[MattS]

Very nice. I love the red calipers too. That's something else for the list!

[imvarma]

Very Nice, the Blue Logos help the Wheels to really stand out
8)

[AR]

The look superb.

[ctrlaltdelboy]

thanks to someone on Prime weighing their 2002+oem wheels, we can now add the weight of those to the compare chart too:

fronts
15x6.5 = 6.91kg - oem 91-93
16x7.0 = 7.61kg - oem 94-01
17x7.0 = 7.68kg - oem 02+
16x8.0 = 6.14kg - volk TE37

rears
16x8.0 = 8.57kg - oem 91-93
17x8.5 = 9.48kg - oem 94-01
17x9.0 = 8.94kg - oem 02+
17x9.5 = 7.73kg - volk TE37

[chris]

Hi. I have followed your story and would be grateful for any advice. I have a '91 NSX Silver Manual so I expect yours is pretty identical, before modifications. I am coming up to tyre change and would like to remove and preserve the original wheels.
Without having to make any significant modifications to brakes for instance, what would you recommend as a medium cost solution for wheels and tyres?
I do not want to spoil the excellent ride characteristics too much. I have not driven later versions but I expect the ride is probably harsher.
The car is absolutely original, just over 40,000 miles.
I am aware of and have used Dali, but it seems such a performance and expense to cart wheels all the way from California. Surely there are UK suppliers?
Hope to be at Siverstone in May. Thanks

[ctrlaltdelboy]

hi Chris

for a 2nd set of wheels, first consider a spare set of oems - used 16"/17" sets go for between £500-£1200 depending on quality and tyres.

beyond that of course I am a big fan of Volk, but they are massively over-subscribed with lead times of up to 9 months if the comments in the wheel & tire section of NSX Prime are correct - irrespective of which reseller you order through.

your best couse is to refine what you want from your wheels a bit more and then post over on Prime in the wheel & tire section for suggestions

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=32

[chris]

Thanks Darren
I hope to be at Silverstone and use the opportunity to network and see what may be available to buy. Cheers Chris