Aspire swap - rear drums make the difference

[danwheeler]

So I just finished the rear half of my Aspire swap. After doing just the front (BTW - many thanks to whoever did the writeup) I noticed no significant improvement in braking.

well I just came in from a test drive after finishing up the rear and WOW, the bigger drums are where it's at. Now I feel a huge improvement in braking.

I'm now rolling on stock hub-centric 13" Aspire wheels w/ 175/50 Sumitomo HTR 200s and it is awesome! finally no highway vibration from my 13x8 Aero Race Wheels which were lug centric.

I'm also noticing a slight improvement in cornering probably because of the stabilizer bar welded into the rear axle beam. If I were smart and thought of it earlier I would have just re-used my existing Festiva axle beam and welded in some 3/4" rod. I believe the Aspire brake backing plate and spindle are interchangeable with the Festiva (Those 4 studs are the same)

Understeer is still dismal.

Overall the swap was easy/medium. The fronts were much easier than the rear. I had to make new hardlines for the rear but was able to re-use all the existing soft hoses and parking brake.

Now the real problem of it is last Friday when I was in the Junkyard I spotted a new CRX that had just landed in the lot and yep, sure enough there were the CRX HF wheels. I knew it had to be them even before I saw the HF badge because I couldn't believe how light they were when I picked them up.

Now I have to re-mount my Sumitomos on the HF wheels but I need to find hub-rings first. I finally have a smooth ride at all speeds and I don't want to give that up. Anyone know hub sizes for the CRX and stock Aspire? and/or where to get rings?

[sasquatch]

i still only have the front done and WOW i love the brakes, the are so good. i cant wait to get the rear done.

[festivaWES]

hf's are 14's....vx are 13's

[gothguydante]

it's awesome to hear that i'm currently doing the rear right now also haven't been able to do the front yet...

[danwheeler]

hf's are 14's....vx are 13's

positive? The CRX definitely had an HF badge and I'm 95% sure the wheels are 13". I'm 100% sure they are ridiculously light.

[skeeters_keeper]

^ yes, festivaWES is correct... i would like a set of vx wheels, i want them so bad! hf would work too, tires are just a little more pricey. both wheels are very light and look similar.


the brake swap does make a huge difference! the aspire rear beam does help in the corners, but you need to use the aspire beam if you don't want to do some fab work, because the aspire backing plates DO NOT bolt up to the festiva arm! htchbck put aspire backing plates on a festiva arm, and had to drill at least one hole and get a new nut inside the box beam.

[mechanicaldj]

who??? what???

did someone mention honda VX wheels???

[danwheeler]

ok, here's a picture of the wheels.

They are definitely 13 x 4.5 it says so on them. I got them from a CRX with a "HF" badge

[Silv3rBull3t]

Wow, we were talking about these wheels:



My VX's are cast, very light. We were not thinking about 13" steel wheels. Those are probably still lighter than the HEAVY Aspire steelies but still not as light as the VX's that myself and mechanicaldj have... -Kyle

[danwheeler]

It may look like it in the picture but those aren't steel. It's aluminum or some kind of alloy and if you look a little closer you can see that they have some thickness too them and those holes could have only been cast.

I just cut a tire off one of them and will weight it tomorrow

[Safety Guy]

A long time ago I read about Honda making stamped aluminum wheels for one of the HF or VX type Civics or CRXs. I've never heard about them since.

Perhaps they are a combo of stamped and cast parts?

BTW, I'd also like to know how people are running the VX alloys. With hubcentric rings? If so, what size and is there a good place to get them?

When I put VW alloys on Muttstiva, I had to have steel custom rings made at a price over $110. Not cool!

Karl

[Silv3rBull3t]

I'm not running hubcentric rings. I have the Honda acorn lugs and I haven't had any problems at highway and above speeds... -Kyle

[m715]

When I bought a couple of the sets of Konigs from Roger years back, I was surprised that he advised I did not need hubcentric rings for them even though they are not the same diameter as the hubs. Now that I have run them for what.... 6 yrs or so, I still have to wonder if they wouldn't balance out better with them.

Michael

[Safety Guy]

Well I believe the difference in centerbore between Honda and Aspire is 2mm diameter. That would make 1mm thick rings appropo to get the job done.

Karl

[danwheeler]

ok, here's a picture of the wheels.

They are definitely 13 x 4.5 it says so on them. I got them from a CRX with a "HF" badge

FWIW - i put these wheels on and they very slighly rub the aspire calipers where the valve stem is.

I think it could be safely ground down enough to clear but then i'd be charting into more troubule than its worth territory with the need for grinding and hub rings and also one of the wheels had a run in with a curb and is kinda bent up.

looks like they'll go into the pile of useless parts. At least the junkyard miss-charged me, they were only $6 each.