So the old all season tires on our Project DC2 Integra were so bad that amazingly, modifying the suspension and adding an LSD did little to improve the cars lap times! All the suspension work was nullified by the old non-performance tires. To make the most of our car’s suspension and new brakes we had to drastically upgrade with a set of Rays Gram Lights wheels from Mackin Industries and some NT01 tires from Nitto Tire to wrap them in.
For wheels, we selected the Rays Gram Lights 57Transcend in Super Dark Gunmetal. Not only is this a cool color for the white DC2 but the color will hide brake dust since Jeff is lazy and never cleans anything. The finish is Rays corrosion resistant multi-step powdercoat which we find to be very durable.
The Gram Lights 57Transcend is a high-quality high pressure die cast wheel. High-pressure die casting eliminates the porosity, gas bubbles and other internal flaws that typical gravity cast wheels can exhibit. The process also gives better grain refinement. After casting the wheels are heat treated for additional increases in strength. All of these measures give us a wheel that is decently light and stronger than your typical cast wheel. Since we wanted to run a bigger tire, we went to a 15×8″ wheel with a 35mm offset. This is quite a bit up from the stock 15×6″ with a 45mm offset. The wheels weighed in at 13.6 lbs, not feather light but a respectable weight.
The Gram Lights 57Transcend easily cleared our bigger 4-piston Stoptech caliper and 290mm rotor with no issues. This means that it will also clear most big brake kits that are designed to fit inside 15″ wheels.
The stock sized tires were some wimpy 195/55-15 all season cheapo tires. We had to get something a lot better. Something better was a 225/45-15 Nitto NT01. This is a significantly larger tire with a lot of grip. The NT01 is a competition tire that is DOT approved making it street legal. Although the NT01 is a soft compound tire meant for racing in classes that require a DOT tire, the NT01 has a reasonable UTQG treadwear rating of 100 and is very durable and can endure many heat cycles without losing significant grip. We have gotten more than 20,000 street miles on NT01’s before and as many as 4 complete race weekends from a set making them superb dual purpose track/street tires.
11 comments
I always say: Always opt for the smallest wheels you can get away with. As long as they fit snuggly over the brakes its good.
And I also always say: Fit a brake size as small as possible so long as it fits inside a wheel.
So I can dig smaller rims and larger tires. On a integra 15″ is just fine. Going bigger will only slow you down. Besides: Sidewalls are tunable where a rim is not
Especially with moderate power levels where you don’t need huge brakes!
Absolutely right. Even with way more power it’s still the case. Sure, heavier vehicles are a concern, but most big brakes aren’t really needed to begin with. It’s all about temps, and to a lesser degree speed. But not about power. Most people think they need bigger brakes (or wheels for that matter). Just apply some temp paint or stickers and most of them will realise that they hardly come up to temp to begin with.
Only off-roaders need to have bigger tyres/wheels, but that’s just to be more comfy in terrain, and to climb bigger obstacles.
Didn’t reply in time on SH, regarding power limits for modified vehicles in Sweden.
If no limit is guaranteed by the manufacturer, the acceptable maximum power is 15 kW/100 kg car weight . You can file for special permit to get it up to 20kW/100 kg, as in a 1600 kg car may be allowed to have 320 kW (16*20).
This is only for modified vehicles.
So the porche 911 you used as an example would never be allowed to legaly increase the power output (unless you installed something extremely heavy to get below the accepted limit.
Power isn’t measured during the annual check-up, but they can fail you for obvious modifications. The police can impound the car and test it if they suspect something when you are out driving it too. Not to mention insurance won’t cover shit if it’s illegaly modified… So yeah, most of us do what I’ve done the last years, just hope that noone will notice anything.
When this is over for me, I will have a legal increase of 36%, not too far off from your allowed 40%. Just a bit more hassle to get it accepted.
The vibes is good for all Integra fans
Keep it going reply ing
I’ve been following this project closely. I have a 95 DB8 (also white) that is all stock and has been well kept by the original owner for 20 years. I upgraded/replaced the stock shocks with Bilstein HDs, replaced worn out RTA bushings. Anyways, keep it up! Love the integra GSR love! Are you guys eventually going to hookup a Hondata and squeeze what you can out of it?
We think we are going to do a moderate NA engine build, not decided on the engine management yet.
Great job keeping the DC2 spirit going!I would have kept mine but I grew tired of putting a quart of oil in every 2 weeks.
I assume the size of the tires is a typo: 225/50r15 would be almost half an inch taller than stock, so the tires you guys put on must be 225/45r15 right?
You are correct sir, good catch.
What alignment settings are you running? I’m trying to put together a similar wheel and tire combo and I want to know what degree of camber you’re running. I’m hoping to not go past -2.5 front and 2.0 rear for the recommended settings of my honed developments geometry correction kit. Thanks in advance