I cannot believe how much better the Aspire rolls!

[harpon]

Finally got the "new" Honda alloy wheels on with the 155/13 tires, narrowed down from 175 width..

I wondered if I was going to be able to feel any difference and was very . I was quite surprised that I could feel the car roll much better. This has gotta boost the mpg!

The width is 20mm off each side or about 3/4 of an inch- 1 1/2 total for both sides.

I do mostly in town driving and the car is quicker accelerating from a standing start. The biggest surprise is how easier the STEERING is- almost feels like power steering suddenly- and at 62-not getting any younger or stronger- this will help me out in the crowded grocery store lot.

My scale is on the fritz so I couldn't measure how much weight difference on the wheels there is, but I could tell a slight difference handling the wheels and itres- smaller tires on the alloy wheels- probably makes some difference mostly on dead rolling start, but I think the biggest gain in roll is simply the narrow tires.

it turns out that 20mm is an 11.428 percent decrease in width from the 175 to 155 width-

I thought about 145 width even- they are available, and would be a 17 percent decrease in width. But my experience with the 12 inch festy tires has been that 145 wears just a bit too quickly, so I stayed with 155- the width my old VW Rabbits had back in the day- which were a larger and heavier hatch back with a larger motor. Some other friends who had them remarked how long the tires would last- compared to the larger cars around then . If I get more frail and want a easier steer I can always go there in the future.

The change in the steering is really worth the price of admission though. MUCH easier now.

[Eaglefreek]

I dig those wheels.

[Advancedynamix]

Those are nice wheels. I agree with you on the width. These cars ride and handle better with a 155-165mm wide tire.

[mikemounlio]

Im not sure about the aspire setup at all but i would guess its close to the festiva. If thats the case and you want to turn the wheel easier look into getting the 2 bolt kia rio top hats. The FESTIVA top hats are straight metal to metal. The kia rio top hat has a bearing in them. When i made the switch from stock to kia my wheel became 30% easier to turn with some giant 15" tires on it. I would think with near stock width tires the kia rio top mount would make a giant difference in wheel effort.

[blake4591]

Are those the '80s accord wheels? I have seen a couple sets of them listed on Craigslist but they are always extremely oxidized with a good bit of curb rash.

As far as the top hats go I went from a 155 tire to a 175 and put in the bearing top hats. After swapping everything the steering effort went down even with the wider tires. I'm planning to run 155s with kia mounts in my car for daily driving and expect power steering like feel in parking lots.

[harpon]

The wheels are I think 87 Accord wheels if I recall right- I got them on ebay last winter- I think about $100 for all four shipped, really a pretty good deal, tho I saw a set here on Craigslist for $75 a couple months back- more rashed out tho.

NOBODY's using 13's much these days! My own humble opinion is that Big Oil has everyone over-tired to sell more gas, after getting their oily noses into all manufacturing. After alloy wheels FINALLY started becoming more common- all at once the rubber had to be much wider, and heavier, and so did the rims too. Everyone's a Kurt Bush!

They were pretty clean but I steel wooled them and they are sprayed with Chrome spray paint which comes out about the same sheen as alloy. I have the smooth plastic inner circles I'll put on after re-tightening the lugs. You can see the car itself touched in a few places with it- someone gave me "The Mark of the Prius" about a year back on that front fender. Not sure if even Prius owners ever noticed how common this "bit of a thing" got, but it wasn't enough to make contact with the fender pulling out next to me- someone had to drag along it a couple of feet.
:tm:

They take a very small one millimeter thick concentric spacer for the axle opening, but fit side to side perfectly. . I drove them about 50 miles out to the beach today and they roll great.

[harpon]

Geez- I've always said that a Festiva is more fun to drive than an Aspire- but the new thinner tires give the old Aspire something closer to that "nimble" feel I associate more with Festy.

I can't believe I've personally driven the car 85,000 miles in about 14 years now with hose stupid 175 wide tires on it. Faster acceleration- gotta be easier on the clutch, MUCH better roll and MUCH easier steering- I can't say enough about it! I can't believe that 3/4 of an inch off the tires makes the difference I'm feeling.

[Advancedynamix]

A lot of people put too wide a tire on their cars thinking that it'll give them more traction. This is not the case in most circumstances though. A wider contact patch distributes the cars weight over a wider surface. This basically takes pressure off the contact patch while simultaneously adding weight and rolling resistance. All this equals to less traction, and less available power.
After testing tires from 145mm to 215mm wide on festivas, I've come to the conclusion that 165mm is the best width for street performance and 155mm is the best for typical street driving. This was most apparent with my b6t car, which hooked up better when I went from a 185/45-15 to a 165/45-15.

[bhearts]

A lot of people put too wide a tire on their cars thinking that it'll give them more traction. This is not the case in most circumstances though. A wider contact patch distributes the cars weight over a wider surface. This basically takes pressure off the contact patch while simultaneously adding weight and rolling resistance. All this equals to less traction, and less available power.
After testing tires from 145mm to 215mm wide on festivas, I've come to the conclusion that 165mm is the best width for street performance and 155mm is the best for typical street driving. This was most apparent with my b6t car, which hooked up better when I went from a 185/45-15 to a 165/45-15.

I ended up with a 175 rear width, and 205 on the front. I'll probably hate my life won't I.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[harpon]

I ended up with a 175 rear width, and 205 on the front. I'll probably hate my life won't I.

You'll just more likely end up rolling along in some other fashion with less MPG, but CORPORATE loves your "giving back" choices.


Below- Life before NO climate Crisis brought 8 feet of water
as seen from the intersection in the background

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