How does a DSM with big rims handle choppy roads?

[98klipz]

I have a 1998 RS. I just got Eibach pro-kit and Tokico Illumina's along with Ingall camber kits to straighten everything out. I plan on purchasing rims within the net couple of months and I was wondering a few things.

1)I live in the Santa Cruz Mountains and the roads up here are pretty bad (pothole-wise), does it make sense to upgrade to something better than my 14"s??

2)How much different will 17"s and 18"s be on my car, in terms of rubbing? (I want to keep my car in one piece if i go through a dip)

3) Does anyone have suggestions on what rims i should get? My car is a deep maroon color and has fairly dark tint all the way round.

 

[ECLIPSE4x4]

I have 18" and have no problem, Personally in your case I would go with a 17" you should have no problems at all and still have a comfotable ride.

 

[jltcat]

17's but watch for pot holes you will want to have some tire there too. Dont go with a 35 series tire or else you will be asking for wheel damage.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

My 17's are fine on the bumpy roads it's about the suspension when it comes to the choppy roads.

 

[98klipz]

Ive defintely decided to go with a set of 17"s. It just doesnt make sense where i live to risk pounding the rim into the ground. I'm hoping that i can get a 7.5" width to them as well. Now its all up to deciding on a good rim.

Has anyone heard of the ASA FR1s?
Has anyone heard of the At Italia Inox?
Tirerack.com recommends a 215/45-17 tire, is this my only option, what else would work up here in the hills?
What is the recommended offset for the 17"X7.5" rims?

 

[AWDspoOLiN]

you should be alright with 17s... i drive 18s on LA roads daily and i'm sure that's worse than santa cruz... or is it? buy a quality wheel... i see my friends bending their 18s cuz they wanted to save a few bucks and i've had my wheels for ... about four years with no downtime.

 

[98klipz]

How do i properly distinguish between "quality" and "bad-quality" rims?

Were the ones i mentioned in my last post either of the two?

The roads out here are really bad, I live up in the hills above Santa Cruz where the county is in charge of fixing the roads, and they dont care about us because they fix all of the city streets all day long!

 

[pneumo]

My stock 16" rims and stock tires are no fun when the road gets really bumpy, but only an SUV works when the roads are that bad. The bumps keep the speed too slow to have any fun. I'd say get the 17's and some 225 x 45 tires and enjoy it on the smooth roads. Yes, you will really like it. So stick to smooth roads like Skyline, Highway 84, Highway 9, S.J./ Soquel Rd. when you really want to have fun. And if you happen to be on crappy one lane roads like Mt. Charlie or Zyante Rd. just take it easy and enjoy the scenery.

 

[GoSpeedRacerGo]

If the tokicos are adjustible you should have no problem, as you can raise/lower according to what tire/rim setup you get

 

[dont need 8]

Originally posted by 98klipz
Ive defintely decided to go with a set of 17"s. It just doesnt make sense where i live to risk pounding the rim into the ground. I'm hoping that i can get a 7.5" width to them as well. Now its all up to deciding on a good rim.

Has anyone heard of the ASA FR1s?
Has anyone heard of the At Italia Inox?
Tirerack.com recommends a 215/45-17 tire, is this my only option, what else would work up here in the hills?
What is the recommended offset for the 17"X7.5" rims?

I have 17x7.5 rims, 225/45-17 tires, eibachs pro kit, and illuminas and I have never had a problem with rubbing or pounding the rim. You might even be able to get 225/50-17 in there to give a little more cushion to the rim and the ride. I believe my offset was 42.

 

[DeezNutsForYou]

I have a 1g and I am going to put 18's on. Is a 225/40 to OK or could I damage my wheel

thanks for the help

 

[cucumber]

Originally posted by DeezNutsForYou
I have a 1g and I am going to put 18's on. Is a 225/40 to OK or could I damage my wheel

thanks for the help

That should be ok.

That's what I'm running on my 2G with no problem.

 

[AWDspoOLiN]

Originally posted by 98klipz
How do i properly distinguish between "quality" and "bad-quality" rims?

Were the ones i mentioned in my last post either of the two?

The roads out here are really bad, I live up in the hills above Santa Cruz where the county is in charge of fixing the roads, and they dont care about us because they fix all of the city streets all day long!

if at all possible, it would be best to physically go and look at the wheels. some look great on picture but look like ass on cars. people pass off knock-offs as bad quality. but i've been told a couple times that some knock-offs are in fact manufactured by the same company and are identical in construction and weight and you wouldn't have to worry about saving some money. that's not to say you should find the cheaper wheels and slap expensive-brand-logo centercaps on. with some wheels you can see that the welds are running and uneven. you generally get what you pay for. no i'm not familiar with what you listed. but go see the wheels rather than trust a picture. most of the time when i see a wheel in person i can already tell how the ad was doctored. looks real nice doesn't it? stay away from the luxury wheels. we don't drive luxury cars. a healthy dosage of rice can actually be a good thing when it comes to wheel selection.

 

[98klipz]

sweet, thanks for the advice dude.

I'm still really liking those rims that i mentioned before, hopefully somebody has heard of them and can verify if they are cheap and ghetto or down to earth.

I really dont have the ability to go look at these things in person. They do look rather nice on my car in my color on the tirerack.com photo match thing, but that cant do justice to reality

I'll repeatmyself just to make sure its nice and clear...
Has anyone heard of the At Italia Inox or ASA FR1s.

 

[Module Unknown]

Don't even worry at all if you get 17"s as long as you get a 45series tire. I also have an eclipse RS like you, except mines a 97, i Live in San Jose, CA, my wheels are 17x7 with some 215/45-17 tires and i've taken my car to santa cruz plenty of times and driven on the crappy roads with no worries. In fact the whole bay area is full of crappy roads and i don't have any problems right now.

Here are my past experiences... When I first got my wheels i went with some 215/40-17 tires... bad choice. First of all it made my wheels like tiny, the diameter of the wheel was noticeably smaller than my stock wheels/tires so i'm sure that threw the speedo off a bit, heh, and of course there wasn't even enough rubber to protect my rims. Still, potholes weren't much of an issue... even though I was as cautious as possible i still managed to hit a few with no noticeable damage. However, there were a couple that messed up my wheels. A while back near my work there was some construction going on on a freeway onramp, anyway I was headed home. It was late, dark, and i came off the ramp doing close to 70 when I notice a sudden abrupt rise in the surface of the road... I swear it went straight up like an inch and a half. Anyway's, by the time i noticed it it was too late. I hit it at like 70, my cd player totally stopped for what seemed like probably 10 seconds, there was a loud THUMP, BANG! as my wheels went over that, was i pissed! That was when I had my 40 series tires on and i did actually end up bending a couple of my wheels. It actually turned out to be nothing major, just some very minor bends that you don't even notice unless you're looking for them. Anyways, it took a serious hit like that to actually do any damage. Since then I've had 215/45-17 tires on and i don't even trip when i see a pothole (unless it's big enough for a whole wheel to fall in) I haven't run into any instances where i have damaged my wheels in the past year runnin around the bay area.

 

[98klipz]

I made my decision today and purchased the 17"X7.5" ASA FR1 rims from tirerack.com. I also got some 215/45/17 Kuhmo ecsta 711's to start off with. I will post again once i get a good ride in to let you all know how it is!

 

[SoCaliEclipse]

do you guys think a 235/40-17 would work on a 2g gst with a 1.3in drop? i live on smooth roads, but i just dunno about rubbing....thanks

 

[98klipz]

TO answer the question in the original post, a DSM with big rims handles choppy roads quite well. I got exactly what i posted last time, and the ride is wonderful. There is enough feel of the road that i dont feel like im in a luxuary sedan, but there is still enough ride comfort to keep my girlfirend and even mom happy while i transport them. Eibach pro-kits and Tokico Illumina (set on 3 all the way round) do the trick for me)

 

[ECLIPSE4x4]

I wouldn't exactly call 17's , BIG rims. But they are a good choice.

 

[98klipz]

You are defintely correct, 17s are far from what people get on their vehicles now a days. Anyone living up in the Santa Cruz mountains can tell you that going too big on your rims is only a perscription for repetitively buying replacements. I'm happy, and thats all that matters! I recommend my set up to anyone who has the challenge of dealing with horrible roads but still likes to drive like they are behind the wheel of a racecar.