Hello   Well I have the sound put in, next is wheels/tires.   The thing is I wanted like 18's but the 16-17's are cheaper, way cheaper.  So could I justify smaller wheels becase they would make the car faster ?    Brad

i think it's more weight than wheel size (for speed). but you really don't want 18's on a track car. they're about the biggest i'd go for pure "show", but as you say - they're much more expensive. considering that, do you want to take the responsibility of screwing up (potentially) nice 18's that cost a lot more than 16's or 17's? i am assuming this car is a daily driver. 17's or 16's still can look nice. what kind of rims are you looking at? gun metal? silver? chrome? brand? i've always been partial to Racing Hart C5's.... a little on the pricy side, but they look fiiiine... :) just something about how they look when they're in motion or at rest that really makes me notice 'em. right now though i have Konig "Rated R" rims that the only reason (when i didn't know much about tuning) i got 'em was b/c i didn't want to waste almost new 80,000 mile tires. they look nice (silver), but they're stock size, which sucks. one of the reason this sucks is that i really wanted to get AEM's big brakes and the drum-to-disc conversion, but stock rim size is too small for that. when i'm ready for new tires, these rims are gone and i'm going to look into a decent wheel package.... FYI though (public service info): if someone has stock wheel size and wants to upgrade their brakes, there are companies who can help. in my front i have Powerstop's cross-drilled rotors, with performance pads. they work real nice, and have for over 20,000 miles - and i'm not always nice to my brakes, if you know what i mean. ;) also, get a decent (not cheap sh*t that will flake off) caliper paint kit to spruce up the looks even further. you can also use the same paint for the rear drums as well. my paint kit cost about $40. it's a brush-on application. some are spray-on, but i think it's a better application if you brush it. takes more time, but lasts much longer, possibly even the life of the car. this paint thing is also something you can do yourself without removing the brakes. it'll save you roughly $200-$250 in labor vs. letting your local shop put it on (application & drying time). just find a nice day to do it.

Brad, I have 17's on my car. To be specific, 17" Koni Verdict. I was debating what size to get for the longest time. If I was gonna stick $1400 into rims and tires, I wanted to get something that I wasn't going to have to worry about damaging, and still look TIGHT. I LOVE my rims. I've hit some pretty big potholes, and still no damage. But here's how it works. A car comes from the factory set for a specific overall wheel size. (the measurement from the outside of the tire, to the other side). When u buy new rims and tires, you have to stick to that measurement, otherwise your speedometer will be off. All wheel places will know that measurement and stick to it unless you tell them otherwise. So with that rule, the bigger rim you get, the smaller the sidewalls of your tire will be, with the bigger chance of damaging your rims if you hit a big enough pothole. Also, another thing that you will want to look for, is this. Depending on the STYLE of rim you get, they can actually LOOK bigger than they really are. Like you can take one style of a 17", and it will look like a 16". But like the style I have, they actually look more like 18's. Check out a pic of my rims, and you'll see what I'm talking about. -Josh

  i think it's more weight than wheel size (for speed).  but you really
don't want 18's on a track car.  they're about the biggest i'd go for
pure "show", but as you say - they're much more expensive. 
considering that, do you want to take the responsibility of screwing
up (potentially) nice 18's that cost a lot more than 16's or 17's?  i
am assuming this car is a daily driver.  17's or 16's still can look
nice.  what kind of rims are you looking at?  gun metal?  silver? 
chrome?  brand?

i've always been partial to Racing Hart C5's....  a little on the
pricy side, but they look fiiiine... :)  just something about how
they look when they're in motion or at rest that really makes me
notice 'em.  right now though i have Konig "Rated R" rims that the
only reason (when i didn't know much about tuning) i got 'em was b/c
i didn't want to waste almost new 80,000 mile tires.  they look nice
(silver), but they're stock size, which sucks.  one of the reason
this sucks is that i really wanted to get AEM's big brakes and the
drum-to-disc conversion, but stock rim size is too small for that. 
when i'm ready for new tires, these rims are gone and i'm going to
look into a decent wheel package....

FYI though (public service info): if someone has stock wheel size and
wants to upgrade their brakes, there are companies who can help.  in
my front i have Powerstop's cross-drilled rotors, with performance
pads.  they work real nice, and have for over 20,000 miles - and i'm
not always nice to my brakes, if you know what i mean. ;)  also, get
a decent (not cheap sh*t that will flake off) caliper paint kit to
spruce up the looks even further.  you can also use the same paint
for the rear drums as well.  my paint kit cost about $40.  it's a
brush-on application.  some are spray-on, but i think it's a better
application if you brush it.  takes more time, but lasts much longer,
possibly even the life of the car.  this paint thing is also
something you can do yourself without removing the brakes.  it'll
save you roughly $200-$250 in labor vs. letting your local shop put
it on (application & drying time).  just find a nice day to do it.

  Thanks David and Josh.  I guess if the bigger wheels dont add to performance I can save a little money and get some really higher end smaller ones.   Works for me !   I am just really hyped to get this car modified :)    Brad

I had 14's (stock), 15's and 17's and I liked the 17's the most.  It handled the best, but was a little slower because of the rotational mass.  I wouldn'tgo bigger than 17's unless the road is really smooth by you. IMO they just look too big for a civic, plus the brakes behind the rims look really small.

Dre

>

   

I had 14's (stock), 15's and 17's and I liked the 17's the most.  It handled the best, but was a little slower because of the rotational mass.  I wouldn'tgo bigger than 17's unless the road is really smooth by you. IMO they just look too big for a civic, plus the brakes behind the rims look really small.

Dre

 

Honestly since i dont care so much about looks, but more about speed, I am thinking about just going 14 now but with better rims and tires.  That will save me some money for maybe a carbon fiber hood :)

 

Brad

I'm not into bling either, but 14's are really small.  I would at Least get 15's.  Just my opinion.

Dre

>

Andre   What kinds of stuff do I need to do to get sponsored lol.  I was thinking it would make affording fixing my car up alot easier lol.  Maybe I could like goto businesses in town and tell them iam building a race car for the speedrome lol.  Then maybe if I got really lucky I could get some money :)   Brad

I had 14's (stock), 15's and 17's and I liked the 17's the most.  It handled the best, but was a little slower because of the rotational mass.  I wouldn'tgo bigger than 17's unless the road is really smooth by you. IMO they just look too big for a civic, plus the brakes behind the rims look really small.

Dre

>

Brad,

Think about it. Why would a sponsor give you money without you having a show winning car?  They don't want to start from scratch and if they did they would probably do the whole thing in house.  Any real kind of sponsorship is going to expect you to be at a certain amount of events do serious modifications to your car. AND if you don't win you are going to say bye bye.  It's competitive and if you aren't ready to sacrifice a serious amout of your time, you aren't going to get a realy awesome sponsor.

Dre

>

Yeah I get that Andre. I was thinking on a much more cheesier level actually. Like if I start racing at the Speedrome, then maybe get a couple small businesses or banks or something to buy space on my car for advertising. However thinking it over its not worth the money to me to put a bunch of names and stickers on my ride. Brad