Changing a wheel stud pattern - possible?

[Holst]

OZ definatley make wheels in the correct offset.
Superleggeras look nice, but i think they only make ultraleggeras now.

I wouldnt run the car on an incorrect offset, and personally I dont like the idea of spacers.

If you really want to change the stud pattern or offset you could probably get some custom hubs made up. However you will then have to change all your brake disks as well, which may cause more problems.

Have you asked on more honda specific websites? like hondaevolutions?
They should know more about what wheels are avalable.

Nice car

[thinfourth2]

The amount of time and money it would cost to get your car it fit the wheel it would be cheaper i think to get a custom three piece wheel made to fit the car

[sassthathoopie]

mackie1 said:

I believe the RX8 comes with 16" or 18" wheels only.

What about S2000 wheels?

Those last two pics were both S2000 wheels :wink:

[MrFlibbles]

sassthathoopie said:

mackie1 said:

I believe the RX8 comes with 16" or 18" wheels only.

What about S2000 wheels?

Those last two pics were both S2000 wheels :wink:

I was just gearing up to claim MY bragging rights!

For the record, neither of the 04 s2k wheels look completely wrong, the 07 wheels look better, but still not right.

[sassthathoopie]

Holst said:

OZ definatley make wheels in the correct offset.
Superleggeras look nice, but i think they only make ultraleggeras now.

I have been offered some Oz Superleggeras - see 4th pic from the top. They are pretty good for weight, and the right offset. I would need to go to 18" on the rear though. There are several NSX owners in the US who have bent spokes on their Superleggeras. Unfortunately I live in pothole central Southampton, and I'm not overly keen on the design.

Holst said:

I wouldnt run the car on an incorrect offset, and personally I dont like the idea of spacers.

If you really want to change the stud pattern or offset you could probably get some custom hubs made up. However you will then have to change all your brake disks as well, which may cause more problems.

Have you asked on more honda specific websites? like hondaevolutions?
They should know more about what wheels are avalable.

Nice car

I agree with you. I don't really want to mess around with the car too much, and changing the discs as well seems a little OTT.

I may well ask on the NSXCB forum.

Thanks for the positive comments.

Does anyone have a link to a custom wheelbuilder in the UK?

[Reidy10_0]

As you know there is only 1.15mm difference in the PCD.
You would not need to open the holes in the wheels up very much for them to fit.
I would look in to it some more.
You would need to check if the bottom of the counter bored hole in the wheel is tapered or flat bottomed.
If it is flat bottomed then you could open up the holes in the wheels and they would fit.
What diameter are your studs on the NSX?

[sassthathoopie]

MrFlibbles said:

sassthathoopie said:

Those last two pics were both S2000 wheels

I was just gearing up to claim MY bragging rights!

For the record, neither of the 04 s2k wheels look completely wrong, the 07 wheels look better, but still not right.

My research suggested the offsets for all the S2000 17" wheels were the same:

17x7 +55 (f), 17x8.5 +65 (r) If I'm wrong that might be useful!

I'm currently running 15x6.5 +55 (f) 16x8 +60 (r). Ideally I want to change to the 2002-2005 NSX wheel specs 17x7 (f) and 17x9 (r) but am willing to consider 7.5 on front and 8.5 on rear, as I will probably still be able to run the same tyres.

[sassthathoopie]

Reidy10_0 said:

As you know there is only 1.15mm difference in the PCD.
You would not need to open the holes in the wheels up very much for them to fit.
I would look in to it some more.
You would need to check if the bottom of the counter bored hole in the wheel is tapered or flat bottomed.
If it is flat bottomed then you could open up the holes in the wheels and they would fit.
What diameter are your studs on the NSX?

This might work. I'll see if I can find the stud specs

[sassthathoopie]

Lug Nut Torque Spec (all years) 110 N.m (80 lb-ft)
Offset (1991 - 2001) 55 mm front, 60 mm rear
Center bore (all years) 70(.1) mm front, 64(.1) mm rear
Bolt pattern (all years) 5-bolt pattern, 114.3 mm bolt circle
Lug nuts (all years) 19 mm with 12 mm x 1.50 thread pitch

[Reidy10_0]

Looks good to me.
Did you take a nut off to see if it has a tapered seating?
It would be good to see how much clearance there is around the nut in the new wheels so when you open up the holes in the wheels you know that they will not foul the side walls of the counter bore.
If they did foul you could get some special nuts made with a smaller outside diameter than standard.

It's all a bit of a guess without seeing the new wheels.

[french]

I think the BBS LM's look really good, great car by the way;)

[AMCDan]

OJ said:

Would be very careful with that, 90's CAD engineered Honda will be more tightly engineered than 60's-70's Ford or ancient Hot Rods designed on hand calcs and intuition

eh? care to justify that comment?

--and to the OP, you can buy "wobbly" wheel bolts. although i'm sure they should have a better name.. opinion is out on them but generally accepted for up to a 2mm PCD difference.

Edited by AMCDan on Saturday 25th October 20:26

[Boosted LS1]

You can either have new hubs machined for about £800 at a guess or why not order wheel that haven't been drilled? Then get them done locally. Azev offer wheels drilled to your pcd and have some different offsets.

[aeropilot]

Boosted LS1 said:

Azev offer wheels drilled to your pcd and have some different offsets.

Azev's are heavy and are made of soft alloy and bend and buckle too easily.

To the OP, have you tried Rays Wheels, they are a top Japanese alloy wheel manufacturer, so would almost certainley have the correct offset and PCD for an NSX off the shelf I suspect.

See here...

http://gtc-r.com/index.htm?tuning_rays.htm

[BlueCello]

Thse SLK wheels look fab, hope you carry out your plan

[Reidy10_0]

AMCDan said:

OJ said:

Would be very careful with that, 90's CAD engineered Honda will be more tightly engineered than 60's-70's Ford or ancient Hot Rods designed on hand calcs and intuition

eh? care to justify that comment?

--and to the OP, you can buy "wobbly" wheel bolts. although i'm sure they should have a better name.. opinion is out on them but generally accepted for up to a 2mm PCD difference.

Edited by AMCDan on Saturday 25th October 20:26

What are "wobbly" wheel bolts?
I dont like the sound of them.

[FNG]

5x114.3 is a very common Japanese fitment used on loads of larger cars, some of which are available in staggered options.

But as drifting is becoming popular, staggered fitments are getting popular in a one-piece rim.

Try www.rarerims.co.uk for Rota wheels. They're generally very light and in many cases available in a pretty good range of offsets and rim widths.

Personally I would consider bolt-on spacers to change your PCD (but that can make getting the offsets right very difficult) but would stay well away from wobble bolts and shim-type spacers.

I think your best bet is an off the shelf rim for a Japanese car, though, and Rota have a good range at decent prices. Most other makers are more expensive. Good luck.

[AMCDan]

Reidy10_0 said:

What are "wobbly" wheel bolts?
I dont like the sound of them.

yeah, like i said - opinion is divided, but i know people who use them on "normal" cars without issue.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

[sassthathoopie]

aeropilot said:

To the OP, have you tried Rays Wheels, they are a top Japanese alloy wheel manufacturer, so would almost certainly have the correct offset and PCD for an NSX off the shelf I suspect.

I have looked at lots of the Rays wheels: They generally offer the perfect fit and weight - but at a price.

I thought I would investigate OEM wheels from other cars in order to maintain an OEM look, and because £300 for six month old SLK wheels seems better value than £1500 plus £250 shipping from US/Japan, plus import duty!

[sassthathoopie]

Well after a little impromtu session on a large piece of empty private tarmac on Fri night I was in need of some replacement rear tyres.

I had a good chat with the tyre fitters in regard to the S2000 wheels and it turns out that my rear wheels actually measure 16x8.3 (officially 16x8), this means he thinks I'm unlikely to have an issue with the S2000 wheels. He suggested that I might need a small spacer that fits into the wheel between the studs - but not over them. The spacer helps support the wheel but doesn't physically move its position relative to the hub.

Has anyone come across this before?

Does anyone know an S2000 owner in Southampton who might be prepared to let me try a wheel on just to see if it fits; I'm sure there would be a beer or two in it for them!

Edited by sassthathoopie on Monday 27th October 00:36