Noize
Senior Member
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2018
- Threads
- 9
- Messages
- 346
- Reaction score
- 287
- Location
- Under the radar
- Vehicle(s)
- 2018 Civic Type R, 2017 GTI SE DSG
- Thread starter
- #1
OK, anybody who says you can alter the offset pretty dramatically on this car and claims you don't get torque steer is downplaying it a bit.
I recently picked up some nice 18x9.5 +35 wheels and mounted 255/40 tires on them. Overall combination is about 5 lbs. lighter per corner.
My car is otherwise stock, but 295 torque is still a lot for a FWD car. Today was unseasonably warm outside, and I put the new wheel and tire combo to the test with many aggressive corners of varying speeds with heavy throttle on entry. Here are my observations:
1) Torque steer is more obvious in corners on throttle. The stock +60 offset wheels do not exhibit this behavior, especially not in third gear.
2) 18" wheels with 40 tall rubber lessen the steering feel of sharpness at turn-in.
3) 18" wheels with 40 tall rubber lessen the immediacy of response for all steering inputs, thus decreasing handling feel due to so much extra sidewall.
4) I'm on 240 wear Bridgestone S007A, so although some feel is decreased, actual cornering speeds are maybe even a little higher due to a wider track and wider tires/wheels (more contact patch). These tires are rated extreme performance to the OEM Conti's that are max performance. But they seem close to one another in overall grip.
5) Driving comfort and harshness isolation is increased substantially with 18" wheels and 40 tall rubber. I was driving on a very poor road, and my car was isolating me from bumps much better in +R on the 18s than it does on the 20s in comfort. Pretty nice!
6) While 9.5 +35 wheels look nice, aggressive, and poke just the right amount, you'll absolutely need at least front mud flaps if you want to protect your paint. Pushing the tires out that far puts the sides of the car in harm's way for rock or pebble spray. My Rally Armor flaps arrive tomorrow, and I’ll install the fronts first and see how that goes. I haven't seen much spray behind the rear wheels yet, but don't have a lot of miles on the new wheels yet to know for sure.
I think people are making more of a big deal about scrub radius than need be. And here's why: It's a trade off. Sure, it would be nice if there were some +60 18" wheels out there, but at this point there are not.
Since we cannot really sell our wheels to the Si or base Civic guys due to a different bolt pattern, it seems silly to sell the stock wheels. Given the possible future collectability and high resale value of these cars, I think getting rid of the stock wheels would be a mistake anyway.
All that to say: Keep your stock wheels and tires so you can swap back and forth to have the best of both worlds. One can never have too many wheels.
Edit: Removed any reference to tracking, as that’s best left to those with more experience. I’m still learning about this stuff, so feel free to correct me where my ideas aren’t right.
Happy motoring.
I recently picked up some nice 18x9.5 +35 wheels and mounted 255/40 tires on them. Overall combination is about 5 lbs. lighter per corner.
My car is otherwise stock, but 295 torque is still a lot for a FWD car. Today was unseasonably warm outside, and I put the new wheel and tire combo to the test with many aggressive corners of varying speeds with heavy throttle on entry. Here are my observations:
1) Torque steer is more obvious in corners on throttle. The stock +60 offset wheels do not exhibit this behavior, especially not in third gear.
2) 18" wheels with 40 tall rubber lessen the steering feel of sharpness at turn-in.
3) 18" wheels with 40 tall rubber lessen the immediacy of response for all steering inputs, thus decreasing handling feel due to so much extra sidewall.
4) I'm on 240 wear Bridgestone S007A, so although some feel is decreased, actual cornering speeds are maybe even a little higher due to a wider track and wider tires/wheels (more contact patch). These tires are rated extreme performance to the OEM Conti's that are max performance. But they seem close to one another in overall grip.
5) Driving comfort and harshness isolation is increased substantially with 18" wheels and 40 tall rubber. I was driving on a very poor road, and my car was isolating me from bumps much better in +R on the 18s than it does on the 20s in comfort. Pretty nice!
6) While 9.5 +35 wheels look nice, aggressive, and poke just the right amount, you'll absolutely need at least front mud flaps if you want to protect your paint. Pushing the tires out that far puts the sides of the car in harm's way for rock or pebble spray. My Rally Armor flaps arrive tomorrow, and I’ll install the fronts first and see how that goes. I haven't seen much spray behind the rear wheels yet, but don't have a lot of miles on the new wheels yet to know for sure.
I think people are making more of a big deal about scrub radius than need be. And here's why: It's a trade off. Sure, it would be nice if there were some +60 18" wheels out there, but at this point there are not.
Since we cannot really sell our wheels to the Si or base Civic guys due to a different bolt pattern, it seems silly to sell the stock wheels. Given the possible future collectability and high resale value of these cars, I think getting rid of the stock wheels would be a mistake anyway.
All that to say: Keep your stock wheels and tires so you can swap back and forth to have the best of both worlds. One can never have too many wheels.
Edit: Removed any reference to tracking, as that’s best left to those with more experience. I’m still learning about this stuff, so feel free to correct me where my ideas aren’t right.
Happy motoring.
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