My 1998 SC Rivera

ewolfe0050 wrote:

Nice find AA. Those would look great on your car. Let me know when the autocross event comes- I don't live too far from you...

you know i'd prolly track my way down too if we got a few riv's to go

I'm still confused bout the weight of your tires?? a tire weighing 27 lbs?/ am i missing something?

For our stock wheel size, a 225/60R16 tire weighs between 22-28 lb, while a 245/45R18 weighs between 27-30 lb. I think with a lower profile tire you have less variance, because the different sidewall thicknesses don't effect the overall weight as much.

no way! when i pick up my crap cumho it dont weigh as much as my rim! no way!

I think we need a video "Weigh Off"

my bfg traction t/a's weight in a hair over 25lbs. 225/60/16
tirerack.com shows weights of tires btw.
here is what Aaron has...i think

The issue is not that tires are heavy, it's that the OEM chrome rims are. My tires aren't outweighing the rims, the new rims are light, making the tires seem heavy. Although economy tires do weigh less because the side walls and tread patterns are leaner than on a performance tire.

Quote :

What are the two different bolt patterns on these wheels. I notice that on a lot of wheels but never inquired about it.

Rick, the other pattern is 5x100mm, which makes these wheels kind of a universal fit with many popular vehicles. I don't like the look of the extra holes, but it helps if/when I should want to sell them.

Well, got two of the new rims on the car tonight - mounted fronts for testing. They fit perfectly using the hub centric rings, which I finally got from a vendor other than 1010Tires. I got the incorrect size from the first vendor, so I found another set of aluminum rings on eBay.

Lugs lined right up with the holes. I used a torque wrench to cross-tighten them at 10,15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, and 75 lb-ft. I know, mucho overkill, but I wanted to give these rims every chance to be exactly centered.

Even with just the two on the front, I noticed a nice change in the handling. Vibration was minimal to nonexistent, although more than a few people told me you can't mount 5x114.3 wheels to a 5x115 hub. Can't wait to put the rears on!

One thing I did notice about the wider 8.5" wheels and tires, it makes the steering shudder more pronounced. I may finally need to upgrade to the larger trans power steering hoses to correct the problem.

The tires that came with the wheels, Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A are an expensive tire, and have a lot of positive reviews in regards to handling performance. I might agree, but I will also say they are noticeably louder than my OEM size Firehawk Wide Ovals, which I felt were a fairly loud tire.

To read about the unexpected result of mounting only the two front wheels, see my post in the TC thread:

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/brakes-suspension-f6/anti-lock-brakes-and-traction-control-ses-light-t161-150.htm#106518

So, to clarify you used just the hub centric aluminum rings and not the complete adapters with flanges and studs, is this correct.?

And, just so you know you mentioned replacing the Trans lines instead of Steering hoses.
Just an FYI

did you notice any difference in the weight of the new rims/tires? that was one of the first things i noticed was my power after 60mph was less due to more weight, and further from the center.

Matthew,
Can you explain in any more detail possibly about the feeling of loss of power and "further from the center"
I don't quite understand.
I'd like to know for when I install a set of 18"ers.

Rickw wrote:

Matthew,
Can you explain in any more detail possibly about the feeling of loss of power and "further from the center"
I don't quite understand.
I'd like to know for when I install a set of 18"ers.

sure! but i have to warn you i've had 4 whiskey coke's tonight so if my explanation doesnt make sense i'll correct in the am

with larger rims more of the wheel/tire weight is shifted to the outside and away from the center of the hub. the further away it is the more power it takes to turn.

as for the weight difference, the 18's i got feel slightly heavier than the sotck combo so i lost some power to the wheels, but not much. (most people probably would not notice.)
I find it is much more noticeable with larger wheels like 20's 22's etc that weight a lot and have all the weight on the outside. the steering has to work extra hard and so does the motor.

Ive been on this website since 2008 I believe, and thats the first time Ive seen your car. And the other day, I almost posted it on here because you have a train of mods in your sig and I wondered what it all looked like. Nice job!

Thx for comments, Kenneth!

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with larger rims more of the wheel/tire weight is shifted to the outside and away from the center of the hub. the further away it is the more power it takes to turn.

I think it all depends on the wheel, the material, if it's chromed (heavy!) or not. I think it has more to do with the tire than the wheel, if it's a light wheel. A larger wheel is usually a wider wheel, so the tire gets wider to, and that puts a lot more weight to the outside.

So far in my case, I think any extra weight of the wheel/tire is being offset by the fact that the effective tire diameter of the new rim is 3.7% smaller than my OEM's. That means less leverage needed to get the car moving. Maybe when I put larger tires on my new wheels I will notice.

Here are the tires, showing the size difference. New rims have the more worn tires. The Wide Ovals are almost new!



First wheel on:









Looks like a new car from that angle. Definitely need to replace these tires with a larger profile.

is the vehicle on the ground in those pics or is it jacked up slightly?

I plan on going with a smaller diameter tire because with my lowered springs i hit the fender liner tabs under hard corners/ banks.
245/35/18 vs the 245/45/18 that i have on now

Wheels are on the ground in all the photos, except one. You can see the jack poking out behind the tire in that one.

To give you an idea of how much difference the 245/35R18s will be, the 215/45R18s in the picture are 3.7% smaller than the OEM size, and 3.5% bigger than 245/35R18s.

I plan to go with 245/45R18s for my car at stock ride height. You might want to explore the 40R18 sizes if you are concerned with going to small. Personally, I like to fill up the wheel opening with the tire.

I totally agree with filling the wheel wells.
maybe a 255/40/18 would be better suited?
that is a 2.3% decrease in total diameter. should be enough to clear on corners but not make a odd size gap.

AA, the color of the wheels goes excellent with the car color and they look excellent from what you have shown. It reminds me of how mine used to look, as we have the same paint color. My car seems to look a bit more green than yours does though... maybe it's just my eyes :S

Thx for comments. It depends on the light really. The paint usually looks greener in sunlight, blue grey on cloudy days, and sometimes in the evening is almost seems purplish. Great color; not many came with it.

A couple more pics:





This is something I've wanted to do for a while. The split loom shields the brake line from abrasion from the zip tie, tire rub, and any part of the strut that it might touch as the knuckle flexes the line when turning.

I like those wheels a lot with your car's color. Better pics of whole car with wheels on?

hell to the yeah! and yes, will need some full body shots with those new sneeks, AA!

Wheels on! A little more space than I'd like in the wheel wells, but that will change when I wear these tires out.

Here is my photochop from Jan this year:



And here is the real thing:

this is, what we call here, shit hot.

Nice!

Nice to see some of the members here have found 5-stars that look good on the Riv! These wheels really bring out the yellow caliper, which goes great with the rest of the car's color.