WWHD (What Would Honda Do?)
I've read through a lot of posts on 18" wheels...but either didn't see what I was looking for or don't understand enough about wheel width and offset, and tire sizing, to know better. So, if Honda had offered 18" wheels/tires on my 2006, what widths and offsets do you think they would have gone with? Another way to ask this might be - in keeping with Honda's logic and reasoning in the 17" configuration, what would be the 18" combo in keeping with their original philosophy?
Thanks.
Thanks.
I would think they would use the same offsets and widths from the 17s. (18x7 +55 and 18x8.5 +65) Maybe a 7.5 up front.
If 18s were better for the S2000 though you would think Honda would have but them on from the start. It certainly wasn't a cost cutting decision to go with the 17s.
If 18s were better for the S2000 though you would think Honda would have but them on from the start. It certainly wasn't a cost cutting decision to go with the 17s.
Originally Posted by DerrS2K,Jun 9 2006, 10:10 AM
I would think they would use the same offsets and widths from the 17s. (18x7 +55 and 18x8.5 +65)
Just because you go to a larger diameter rim, doesn't mean width and offset has to change. Honda went to wider rims because they needed to use some other model of tire to get the same sort of tire footprint on the ground. We all know that the OEM SO2s had a particularly wide footprint for the numerical size of them on the rear.
Going from 17" to 18" and keeping the tire contact patch more or less the same keeps the width and offset of rims the same. Only the tire hole diameter and aspect ratio needs to change in order to maintain speedo and odo readings the same without changing anything in that area.
Not sure why you say it wasn't a cost cutting decision not to go with 18's?
It's very common for concepts, show cars, etc. to have 18, 19 or even bigger wheels for aesthetic reasons. But when the cars go into production they reduce the size for unit cost, comfort, handling, unsprung weight, consumable cost (tires) reasons.
I would imagine Honda modelled all those variables when deciding on the 17's wouldn't they?
It's very common for concepts, show cars, etc. to have 18, 19 or even bigger wheels for aesthetic reasons. But when the cars go into production they reduce the size for unit cost, comfort, handling, unsprung weight, consumable cost (tires) reasons.
I would imagine Honda modelled all those variables when deciding on the 17's wouldn't they?



