Did you notice a difference when changing from the ET60 offset?

[oak]

you don't see the advantage to running wider / sticker tires?

not for myself. at that point if it's full on track day time trials I would track my turbo. but I get the limited tire availablity issue. my assesment was a true comparison utilizing same rubber and stock to 18's with -38 off sets.

Sponsored

 

[Speed9117]

I feel ya, but stock for stock it's no slouch. how are you doing in your class?

Oh it's still great stock, it's just not perfect. I compete locally, but if I wanted to compete regionally or otherwise I would need the DS package. 19x8.5 +53 with 255 or 265 RE71Rs and a large rear sway bar.

 

[oak]

Oh it's still great stock, it's just not perfect. I compete locally, but if I wanted to compete regionally or otherwise I would need the DS package. 19x8.5 +53 with 255 or 265 RE71Rs and a large rear sway bar.

right on, go get it.s one thing Ive learned over the years is you will never have a perfect set up. IMO the trick is to find an ideal neutral set up. it will quickly become a slippery slope.

 

[Speed9117]

right on, go get it.s one thing Ive learned over the years is you will never have a perfect set up. IMO the trick is to find an ideal neutral set up. it will quickly become a slippery slope.

That is the plus side to the rule set. It limits how deep the rabbit hole is.

 

[oak]

right on, go get it.

That is the plus side to the rule set. It limits how deep the rabbit hole is.

the deeper you dig into the rabbit hole the more you will appreciate the stock set up for what it is. out of the box it hits all the marks for me as daily. daily sensibility is not over rated.

 

[TheCanadian]

Thanks for the replies! Truth be told, I want a smaller wheel for a better daily tire. I drive 75 miles a day commuting.

 

[butdamnbrian]

personal impressions, no engineering degree. observations based solely on two very scientific tests: butt-in-seat-impressions and ah-sht-the-baby-woke-up. AITA for using my kid as a test subject?

stock:
400 miles driven .
pros: no torque steer, and superior turn-in on windy ocean roads. ref: northern california highway 1.

cons: mild seams on daily driven roads and highway would bump loudly and concerningly, and baby would wake up at least once per drive. one particularly nasty road seam resulted in a crying kid. deal breaker for daily driving. car would lose traction, or skip just a bit, when hitting road seams under acceleration, particularly on curved on-ramps. just enough to be concerning and wreck confidence under acceleration. butt test results: stock wheels and tires handle daily driving bumps 4-5x more poorly than 370z, s2000, fk2 si, brz.

replacement:
1500 miles driven.
replacement specs: 18x9.5 +45, 265-35-18 ps4s.

pros: road bump/seam issues eliminated. now comparable to 370z, si, brz. comfier than s2000, vastly comfier than stock 20’s. kid no longer wakes up during drives. also, much less wheel jump in first and second and third. more confidence in grip during turns at speed. and something something unsprung weight... i duno!

cons: juuuuust a bit more torque steer, but honestly next to no discernible difference while daily driving, under any amount of acceleration. no idea what it would feel like mid-turn on a track at 100 mph or living life a quarter mile at a time! my type r is a family wagon

more noticeable cons: turn-in is just a bit more sluggish on twisty roads. tramlining is noticeable now. butt test initially flagged for alignment or tire pressure adjustments, but quickly realized it was tramlining.

long-term pro: the high cost of stock tires over time outpaces the cost of buying good 18 in wheels and wrapping them in preferred tires. that made switching a no-brainer.

i am OK trading off deal-breaker bumps for some nominal tramlining. most importantly, the sleeping kid stays asleep! YMMV. i am a dad. AMA.

tl;dr: stock 20’s make car feel like it is breaking in half on bumps or road seams, making baby wake up and/or cry. 18’s = baby stays asleep. drawbacks w 18’s barely noticeable during daily driving. stock wheels fragile and expensive, stock tires expensive and turn to dust quickly, making 18’s arguably a money-saver.

 

[Lust]

I don’t get how you guys are feeling torque steer on a 18x9.5 +45 setup. I’ve got nearly 10 track days this year and I’m certainly faster on that setup. The front knuckle design along with the EPS does most of the job eliminating torque steer. The zero scrub radius is icing on the cake and IMO is all placebo. If you want to get back to zero scrub on a more aggressive offset, increase the negative camber. This car does not have nearly enough negative camber for moderate to heavy track use.

A simple way to test if your more aggressive wheels is giving you torque steer: go to a smooth, flat and empty road and accelerate hard without hands on the wheel. If the wheel is moving left to right then you have torque steer. If the car moves to one direction constantly it could be the crown in the road.

Tldr: +45 offset wheels will not add any noticeable torque steer. If you want to feel torque steer go drive a speed 3 or focus st

 

[boosted180sx]

It's only really noticeable when accelerating out of a turn on bumpy surface. It's almost non existent on straight line.

 

[bobafettm]

I don’t get how you guys are feeling torque steer on a 18x9.5 +45 setup...

Tldr: +45 offset wheels will not add any noticeable torque steer. If you want to feel torque steer go drive a speed 3 or focus st

Exactly... They must all be Senna or Button. I'm used to a full manual lotus on the track and the difference between the shit 20s and some proper 18s is night and day... The 18s being a much better option in road control and track/aggressive driving. The grip from the skinny 20s to the 265/35 PS4S is drastic and with Hondata 93 base tune and TC adjustments you never slip. Just grip and go! Out of turns... Straight line... You can mash the gas at 10 mph and steer with your knee in any mode (com/sport/r) and only feel any disturbance in the wheel if the road is garbage.

No noticeable torque steer even with that huge power bump and the car only improves selling those overweight and oversized 20s.

 

[butdamnbrian]

agree 100%

 

[Methane Herder]

Exactly... They must all be Senna or Button. I'm used to a full manual lotus on the track and the difference between the shit 20s and some proper 18s is night and day... The 18s being a much better option in road control and track/aggressive driving. The grip from the skinny 20s to the 265/35 PS4S is drastic and with Hondata 93 base tune and TC adjustments you never slip. Just grip and go! Out of turns... Straight line... You can mash the gas at 10 mph and steer with your knee in any mode (com/sport/r) and only feel any disturbance in the wheel if the road is garbage.

No noticeable torque steer even with that huge power bump and the car only improves selling those overweight and oversized 20s.

Coming from a FiST (2014 & 2016) these are my impressions of the Si (2019):
The LSD, great stuff as long as you keep the boost up. This is kinda a hit or miss thing because the Si's throttle response is like a playstation controller.
The brakes are much more linear than the ST.
The springs/bushings are softer and numb the feel of the car.
The clutch feel is also playstation related.
Much better everyday car.
I did not like the shifter at first but since it has broken in some it is growing on me.
The stock wheel/tire sizes almost overwhelm the car. I plan on going to 17x8 for stock class. The FiST liked the stock 17" wheel/tire setup better than a 16" setup.
The Si seats are a mixed bag, not enough lateral support in the seat and the seat is too short (6'-2" - 220#). They are more livable day to day than the FiST Recaro.
The FiST can feel "tippy" on some autocross layouts. I have had it on three regularly but not on two. The Si (to date) has not given me that experience (doubt that it will).
The VSA dance is the only way I found to keep the throttle/boost from not being cut in most situations. The Fist basically said "Sure, we will let you wrap the car around yon utility pole. If that's what you want."

Bottom line:
The FiST told me what it was doing every second (regardless if I wanted to hear it).
The Si muffles some of that conversation (sometimes too much) but brings some new topics to the conversation it does have with you.

Since Ford has abandoned me as a customer, the Si is a different but still pleasing alternative.

Just my 2e-2

MH

 

[Chief lazy leaf]

Here's my experience with different offset/rims/tires on my 2018 Si

Stock a/s eagles 235/40/18 on stock rims: car was fun to drive and easy to find the limit. I suggest everyone push them to the limit to see what the cars capable of.

Yokohama S-drive summer tires 235/40/18: was able push the car harder right away. Added 20mm/25mm spaces and again gained more confidence in the turns.

Rim swap/tire- 18x9 Rpf01/federal Rsrr 255/35: immediately felt the difference. Felt like I was able to turn in faster and slow down sooner. Improvement in lap time right away. Tire made a huge difference with the 200tw.

Attached is my 1:30 in a civic coupe si with only rims/tires/swift springs/carbotech brakes vs a sedan with a tsp stage 1 tune with other stuff running 1:32.

So if you wanna hard park buy whatever big rims you want. If your after speed going light weight rims with larger width and ok offset and sticky tires is well worth it. I daily my car and do canyon/track days often.