Wheel Size Opinion
 

Hey guys. I started a job recently at a tire shop. I'm ordering some rims soon, and just have a question. I currently am running 14" wheels. I am wondering if any of you are running 17's on your lowered Integra, and if you had any clearance issues. Here's are some photos of my car for reference.

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You'll get more than clearance issues. Personally, I dont think our integras should have anymore than 16's.

Plus, with 14-16's you'll look lower ;)

Yeah 16" is kind of the number I had my heart on, Just had a good deal come up on some 17's. 15-16" it is.

I know one guy that has 17's on his lowered DA and he says he does not rub...

I lowered my car which is a dc 1.25"-1.50" and I rubbed with my old 17's

Hell, I rubbed with Type R suspension, .75" from stock with my 17's. You have to go stupid low profile tire to get it all in there without rubbing.

15-16 is ideal. 16's for a more racey, modern look, 15's for a clean look

i have a dc with 17s with 40 profile and lowered 2.5 and i dont rub

pic for reference

^^really i had 45 profiles and it rubbed when I hit a bump while turning

i had 17s in my civic and lowered with 45 and they rubbed too but with the 40s ive had no rubbing at all

With a DA you can get away with 18's....do i encourage it? no.

16" tops. no bigger.

The size of the RIM should not dictate if you will rub or not. The size of the TIRE will. If you stick to the oem tire diameter and width, regardless of the rim size (this is only possible to a certain point, of course), you shouldn't have much to worry about.

As for rim size... Imo, anything much bigger then 15" on a car like ours is too big. The bigger the rim, the heavier. The more unsprung weight and mass of the rim, the more it will degrade and harm performance. Acceleration and braking will suffer as well as cornering, depending on the tires you use.

The side-wall profile is not as important as the type of tire you use. A performance/track oriented tire like the falken Azenis 615 or similar on a 14" rim will WAY out-perform any sport type tire on larger rims with a lower-profile. We run 205/50R15 Toyo RA1's on our MR2 and have even run it with 195/60R14 azenis 615's at shannonville and mosport with very surprising results.

A lower-side wall profile has more negative effects than positives imo. The ride is not as good as you'll feel every pebble and crack on the road. They will cost a lot more to replace. The bigger the rim, the lower the profile, the more expensive they get. Also by having such a low profile, they can actually loose grip quicker then the same size/type of tire on a smaller rim in some circumstances. I've seen it many times in autocross; Guys running low-profile tires on larger rims barreling into the corners and the tires either curl-over too easy causing improper/compromised contact patch (I've even seen them curl over so bad the rim was touching the ground!). Or the side-wall is too stiff and the tire becomes over-loaded too quickly and grip is lost. Most of the quickest cars in autocross tend use the smallest rims that will fit over their brakes with the widest tires that will fit.

Now I know I'm saying all this with regards to performance and what not, but a lot of it still applies to the street. Generally most people want a comfortable ride and good grip for safety and spirited driving. By using a close-to-stock sized rim with good tires will net you the best results and not cost you an arm and a leg for tires.

And of course, if you're into the looks (which I am not), by all means go with a larger rim. To each his own. I just wanted to bring up a few points I though should be mentioned to further help anyone in making a decision.

I think our cars look much better with smaller 14-15" rims. Better proportioned...

Sorry for writing a novel...lol.

Cheers. :)

MPR when you said that low profile tires = bad ride that is very true when I was on my old 17's and had 45's the ride quality did suck felt every crack and whatnot...now with my 15's and 50 or 55's can't remember it is a better ride don't feel as much which is a big bonus and I also agree that a rim size from 14-16" looks great on integra's.