Aspire swap and custom wheels

[Flw Sock]

I know nothing about wheels.

I've been thinking about doing the aspire swap and advanced suspension for the obvious upgrades, but what about the wheels? I'd be forced to upgrade to at least 13in wheels. I could go to 14 if I wanted. But, I know there are other factors. Offset, etc. What would fit best for a car that just drives around on the hwy/street. What tires? I do top it out often.

Additionally, what about the Speedo? Won't it be effected? Is there a way to correct it with the new wheel size?

[Glow_Mouse]

Woah woah woah! Slow down speedy. One question at a time. From what I've seen Festiva to Aspire is different.
Not as much but still enough to wrack
your brain out.The wheels are a 4x100 - 54.1 offset. Largest I've seen on a Spire were 17" at 195 wide.
I think someone did a wide wheel job and added
fender flares. Which looked amazing! I suppose it's up to what fits and what is compatible.
Me personally I haven't done a hub swap before but hey, there's
a first for everything! If you decide to travel down this path, remember to take some pics mate!
I would love to see it so I can copy the process. Got some
really insane ideas for a five stud wheel conversion along with rear disc brakes!

~Mouse

[Flw Sock]

My main concern is the speedo. If there's not a way to fix the speedo with the new size wheels, I'm not sure I'd want to do it!

[william]

Keep you over all tire diameter the closest to stock you can and your speedo will be correct. I use 165/60/14 tires I run this tire on a 5.5 wide wheel from a mid 90s escort they also work well on wheels up to 7 inch wide with just a bit of stretch . 165 wide tires work great on a street festive and are narrow enough to keep from hydroplaing .

[Desert dog]

165-55-14 tires are very close in size to the factory 145-12 Tires.

[Flw Sock]

Are 165/55/14's or 165/60/14s good for snow and rain also? One benefit of the skinny 12s is that they cut through snow SUPER easily. It's a really good winter car. Will the wider 14's make it worse?

Note to self for further research: festiva stock tire size = 145/80/12

[firebush357]

The 165/55/14's work great in the rain for me and I would assume they would be fine in the snow as well since they are only 20mm wider.

Some food for thought before you do the whole Aspire swap. The aspire swap allows for slightly larger brakes and a somewhat more common bolt pattern but it has been found over the past few years to not preform around corners as well as the stock rear axle. The Festiva brakes are plenty strong enough as long as you keep them maintained. Personally I would recommend spending the money on the Suspension and some fresh rotors and pads and some wheels before you spend the money for an Aspire Swap. The car feels so much better with a 165/55/14 or something similar on it and the good thing about the suspension is that if the $600 price tag is a determent you can actually do the front and rear separate. I would recommend doing the rear first because it will only cost around $200 and makes the car feel a lot more stable while also allowing you to drop the rear down a little to level the car.

[Flw Sock]

The 165/55/14's work great in the rain for me and I would assume they would be fine in the snow as well since they are only 20mm wider.

Some food for thought before you do the whole Aspire swap. The aspire swap allows for slightly larger brakes and a somewhat more common bolt pattern but it has been found over the past few years to not preform around corners as well as the stock rear axle. The Festiva brakes are plenty strong enough as long as you keep them maintained. Personally I would recommend spending the money on the Suspension and some fresh rotors and pads and some wheels before you spend the money for an Aspire Swap. The car feels so much better with a 165/55/14 or something similar on it and the good thing about the suspension is that if the $600 price tag is a determent you can actually do the front and rear separate. I would recommend doing the rear first because it will only cost around $200 and makes the car feel a lot more stable while also allowing you to drop the rear down a little to level the car.

That's a good point, but don't I have to do the aspire swap to put on the 165/55/14? I was under the impression that there are no wheels in our bolt pattern, or that they are extremely hard to find.

[firebush357]

That's a good point, but don't I have to do the aspire swap to put on the 165/55/14? I was under the impression that there are no wheels in our bolt pattern, or that they are extremely hard to find.

There are plenty of older wheels with the 4x114.3 bolt pattern that came off of Nissans, Mazdas, Toyotas, Hondas and a lot of Aftermarket wheels with Dual Patterns. There is a list of known wheels on here somewhere.
I have personally bought the following with a 4x114.3 bolt pattern
Datsun 280Z 14" (Required Magshank Lug Nuts)
Nissan Laurel 15"
Mazda Rx7 14"
Mercury Capri 14"
American Racing 14x6
Eagle Alloy 14x6.5
3 Spoke Alloys 14x6


Most of those I got for less than $100 for the set of 4 and then the 165/55/14 tires are usually less than $50 each.

Also if you are dead set on a 4x100 bolt pattern you can just swap the front brakes and redrill the rears or just modify the Festiva rear beam to fit the Aspire spindle and drums without having to change the whole axle. The Aspire Rear Beam is the main issue with handling from what I have read.

[Flw Sock]

I really don't care about the bolt pattern. I just want them to fit. If a 4x114.3 pattern will bolt onto a stock festiva hub, that's enough for me. What width should I look for? (14x6, 14x7, etc). And what offset?

[firebush357]

Depends on what kind of look and handling you are going for but we usually recommend not going over 14x6. Offset depends on if you are running stock suspension or coilovers in the rear mainly. If you switch to the coilovers you can get away with a +40 I believe but it is really close so between 20-38 is usually pretty good. If you go lower than 20 you may need to roll the fenders some or add a little camber to keep them from rubbing on on larger bumps. You may be able to get away with +15ish but I am not certain.

[Flw Sock]

Just regular street driving. Stock suspension but might go to coilovers. I'm not looking to do anything crazy, I just want some nice looking wheels that ride good and have normal tread wear. What's the offset on stock wheels?

[firebush357]

I'm not sure what the offset on stock wheel are but make sure you get a Hub bore of 59.6 or higher and then use Hubcentric Rings for perfect centering. Also Here is a great Wheel Size Calculator for better visualization of how everything lines up. If you stick with stock suspension you can compensate with 5-10mm spacers to bring the Offset down but I wouldn't go any higher than that. Also you might want to consider swapping to Screw in or Press in Wheel Studs for quicker and more accurate mounting. You can find the Hub Centric Rings on Amazon for around $15 and Wheel Studs and Lug Nuts for around $50 (12x1.5 Thread Pattern)

[Festiva Mandela]

These wheels may be your solution, cheap and dual bolt pattern. This would allow you to use Aspire brakes up front and not mess with the rear brakes/beam. You want to keep the Festy beam anyway, because it's better for handling. With 165/55/14 they should be perfect for street driving and not really throw off your speedo.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/crr-83-4441

[Dragonhealer]

These look better, and with 165/55-14 will fit both 4 on 100 and 4 on 4-1/2
With or without the swap. This works in rain or snow just as well as the 165/70-12 optional tire from the factory. Speedo will only be off the tiniest fraction. I do recommend the Advance suspension.

https://www.performanceplustire.com/buy-wheels-online/vision-wheels/cross-426-fwd-gunmetal-rim/ws:14x5-5/?gclid=CjwKCAjwyOreBRAYEiwAR2mSknatup-sxtSX9BrZi9fl8ryzeVwByhQwvvmK97hfo7pL0JVWviClFRoC5h0QAvD_BwE

Though I got mine from Discount Tire for $73 each