Changing a wheel stud pattern - possible?

[sassthathoopie]

I have been trying to find some replacement alloy wheels for my 1991 Honda NSX and it is a nightmare. Suffice to say I have had to become an expert on staggers, potential handling traits, wheel weights, offsets and wheel/tire ratios!

I've finally found a wheel that I think would really suit the car, all the dimensions are correct except the stud pattern. The wheels are 5x112 and my studs are 5x114.3

If anyone has any suggestions as to how to convert my car to fit the wheels they'll be saving me around a grand and three months waiting for a parcel to arrive. Thanks in advance.



Bragging rights to the first person to guess the donor of the wheel

[sassthathoopie]

OK so possible but potential compromising the car.

Any suggestions for wheels wth flat extended blades that would maintain an OEM ish look, available new or 2nd hand in 17x7/17x7.5 (f) and 17x8.5/17x9 (r)

Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Nissan, Lexus, Toyota all use 114.3 stud patterns

[sassthathoopie]

4sure said:

mercedes slk ?

[sassthathoopie]

Pat H said:

How's about saving yourself a pocket full of cash and keeping the originality to boot?

Get them painted a dark anthracite?

Or white, if you are brave?

It is amazing what you can do with the original wheels.

My car currently looks like this



I am not adverse to a little experimentation, but I'm not sure painting them white is the answer.
These are my other ideas although they all cost 5 times as much as the Merc option






Which do you like?
Any other ideas for OEM wheels from other manufacturers?

Edited by sassthathoopie on Thursday 23 October 21:27

[sassthathoopie]

s3fella said:

You dont wanna mess with wheel dimensions on a sublime handling car like an nsx! my friend bought a 1997 one with 17 inch azev A 5 spokes , quality wheel, but it drove horribly. front end wandered and shimmied...tried lots of geometry changes etc, no avail...

got some 2nd hand 16 inch oem ones and it drove beautifully again!

Be careful!

That why I've spent hours doing my homework! I am staying very closely to the specs for the 2002+ OEM wheels ie 17x7 17x9 with similar weights and offsets, and not wacking on a random 18/19 combo like our American cousins favour. This way I ought to get more modern looks, a little extra grip and avoid spoiling the sublime ride/handling balance. It's not easy though!

[sassthathoopie]

dickkark said:

why not have your hubs re drilled in between the original stud holes?

It`s been done by many hot rodders(old stylee),you just need a friendly machinist.

Wouldn't that reduce the strength of the hub?

[sassthathoopie]

300bhp/ton said:

How much £££ are you willing to spend??

Some places will make wheels to fit, just tell them the specs and their CNC machine will cut the alloy.

This could be an interesting route. Any suggestions for a company based in the south of England?

[sassthathoopie]

I've found two more OEM options, both Honda so this time with the right stud pattern!
Unfortunately they have large offsets (even bigger than my current wheels!)





I've used an online offset calculator and it predicts that the front wheels will 6mm closer on the inside, and the rears 11mm closer on the inside. Will I be able to get around this by using the narrowest spacers I can get away with? I know the fronts are quite tight to the callipers but there is a little more room at the back.

Do you think I'll need longer studs? Is this safe for a car that will do 165mph and was built out of aluminium with fine tolerances?

Many thanks for your ongoing contributions

Edited by sassthathoopie on Friday 24th October 19:42

[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:

[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?

[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

[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

[sassthathoopie]

david_h said:

Sorry I've not been able to read the whole thread
Edited to say:-

you are mad even considering non-Jap wheels on the car. Jap wheels are by far the best made in the world, highest quality etc, and where BBS split rims are manufactured (they are only ever assembled in Germany).
You have a wealth of wheels available, SSR, Work, Neez (forged magnesium!!), Weds. All available as custom fitment for your car. Not cheap, but better than rubbish like Image wheels etc we get in this country.

Currently on the top of my list of wheels I know will fit are Hondas OEM NSX wheels (Built by BBS in Japan), Work Emotion XT7s, and Work VS-XX (not disimilar to BBS LM). The S2000 wheels will be almost certainly made in Japan, and I'd be suprised if Mercedes cheaped out on their SLK wheels.

I do appreciate that there are some great Japanese wheels out there. It's just that when you personally import what is already a very expensive set of wheels it costs a fortune. I rechecked my Honda quote yesterday for 2002+ NSX wheels: £5606 inc VAT but without tyres...

Thanks for the suggestions on wobble bolts.

S2000 wheels look favourite at the moment

[sassthathoopie]

MrFlibbles said:

sassthathoopie said:

S2000 wheels look favourite at the moment

Which year?

I can't decide between the 2004-6 10 spoke and the 2007 10 spoke. Need to look at some in the flesh I think. See the photoshop pictures I posted on Friday. Opinions?

Edited by sassthathoopie on Monday 27th October 20:52

[sassthathoopie]

aeropilot said:

sassthathoopie said:

I do appreciate that there are some great Japanese wheels out there. It's just that when you personally import what is already a very expensive set of wheels it costs a fortune. I rechecked my Honda quote yesterday for 2002+ NSX wheels: £5606 inc VAT but without tyres...

Why do you need to personal import....?

I know Rays have UK agents, other Jap wheel makers must have as well.....unless you are after something that you can't get here at all...?

You're right I don't have too. I can get good Japanese wheels from vtecdirect. In practise though that is what you are doing; and it's priced and timed into their offer. Unfortunately they don't carry (many/any?) NSX wheels as stock.

2nd hand Acura NSX wheels can be had in US without too much difficulty, it's the inspection, delivery and import that are the tricky bits.

[sassthathoopie]

Well after a couple of hours on www.nsxprime.com I've discovered that S2000 wheels from prior to 2006 fit on the later cars.



But not on NSXs 1991-94 (like mine) without a spacer in addition to the expected hub centric spacer
but the jury is out on how large it needs to be in order to clear the brake calliper.

No one has yet tried the 2007+ 10 spoke S2000 wheel on a 91 NSX.


Just a reminder to S2000 owners of those beers available for a 30 min wheel brace meeting!

[sassthathoopie]

david_h said:

sassthathoopie said:

Currently on the top of my list of wheels I know will fit are Hondas OEM NSX wheels (Built by BBS in Japan), Work Emotion XT7s, and Work VS-XX (not disimilar to BBS LM). The S2000 wheels will be almost certainly made in Japan, and I'd be suprised if Mercedes cheaped out on their SLK wheels.

I do appreciate that there are some great Japanese wheels out there. It's just that when you personally import what is already a very expensive set of wheels it costs a fortune. I rechecked my Honda quote yesterday for 2002+ NSX wheels: £5606 inc VAT but without tyres...

Thanks for the suggestions on wobble bolts.

S2000 wheels look favourite at the moment

Sorry but I think you are nuts to consider buying an S2000 OEM rim for over £5,600. They will only be one piece cast alloy and if they are forged they won't be super light.
Generally speaking a set of 2/3 piece cast alloy Jap rims for your car will set you back at around £2.5k all in.

The one piece Work Emotions are cheaper around £1100 all in, but again cast.
The Volk one piece are mainly forged so a bit more expensive.

If I had £3k to play with I'd go buy a set of Neez wheels, they are fully forged alloy or magnesium, very high grade, made to your stud pattern offset etc. A new company with super light, super strong wheels, better even than Volk.

Work and SSR also do forged centred wheels as well but they start at £3k.
You should not try personal importing, it is too expensive for jap stuff. Jap dealers in the UK receive up to 50% discount on the domestic Japanese price of these wheels because the cost of shipping is so expensive.

I will add, the JPY has risen by 25% in 2 weeks, the prices above are before this move. It kills any chance of a cheap set of wheels.
I know Andy at Sumo Power often has containers sent over of parts/wheels and this will be the cheapest way of getting your wheels.
Lead time to build a full set of custom wheels is 8 weeks, then you have container shipping time too. You can air freight them but it costs around £900 in shipping, taxes and vat via fed-ex.

hope this helps

I'm not sure how you've managed to get the wrong end of the stick so firmly! Read the whole thread and then you might understand where I'm coming from!

I wanted Honda's 2002+ NSX wheel. For which Honda UK are charging £5606 plus fitting for a set of 4. Best option for new wheels looks like Work XT7s (see above) for £1250 ish. The thread started because I wanted a more OEM looking wheel set that wasn't stupid money (hence why I'm not buying Volks - very nice, good sizes, but very pricey and very aftermarket looking)

Since S2000s seem to get pranged regularly I am looking into fitting a set of 2007 S2000 wheels, which at current market prices would be about 300/400 quid. I'd need to change the front tyres, but the rears would probably be OK.

If I had three grand I was willing to spend on new rims I wouldn't have started the thread!

Thanks for the recommendation of Sumo Power, I'll look into it.