Torque Steer Discussion

[MediaMaster]

Hello friends,

I recently got ahold of a type R, and this discussion of torque steer has been on my mind. It's been said that deviating from OEM wheel and tire size will facilitate torque steer since Honda Engineers designed the set up to eliminate/almost eliminate torque steer.

I see everyone on the forums get all these crazy different tire and wheel set ups, but nobody seems to talk about the torque steer. Anyone have an "ideal"
wheel and tire set up?

My goals are to use the car on canyon drives, both cruising and fast. I live in a mountain area with very little traffic, so its easy for me to "shred" the streets.

I've tried several different setups myself. I'm currently on stock wheels with 255/35/20 Michelin PS4s. This is my new summertime cruise mode for traveling to music venues all summer. Much nicer ride than the stock setup. This will give you a 3mph error at 65-70. So your speedo will read 65 and the radar detector (using GPS) says you're doing 68. This will also make the car feel a little mushy in the harder corners which I usually refrain from with this setup. No torque steer evident. Kind of turns the car into more of a sportster model if you will.

I also have a set of Motegi 924 wheels (19" +53) with Michelin PS4AS 255/35/19. These are my regular tires for 9 months of the year. Almost no. speedo error but they are just a shade bigger than the stock setup because of the 255 width. No torque steer with this setup either. Tires are really good all-around tires for me. Still have most of the turn in responsiveness of the stock setup and not that mushy feeling as the summer setup in hard corners. Of course you'll lose grip first with all season tires. All in all a nice nimble feeling to the car with better acceleration ( less tire/wheel weight ). I wouldn't hesitate to try either the Conti or Michelin summer tires with these wheels ( or similar spec like NSX) or ADVAN.

And of course the stock setup. Which just for the record I really liked for the first 3K miles. Really hated the crunch/bang of the bumps and what they do to the car. I live on fairly decent roads I can just imagine what it's like in MI and other places out east.

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[bring]

Stock wheels work fine for me, and I love the red stripe - tracked it twice so far - no issues

 

[Lust]

The torque steer debate is beating a dead horse.

Most of the torque steer is eliminated due to the front knuckle design, EPS, and drive shaft design/length.

Scrub radius is important and plays a factor, too. It can be tuned though by adding negative camber. Don’t get hung up on getting it perfectly 0 as even some of the most aggressive wheels add very negligible amounts of torque steer.

The people who haven’t driven any other wheel setup other than OEM will tell you that you’re gonna torque steer into a wall if you don’t run a +60 offset. This could be further from the truth.

My FK8 is one of the fastest around a track in Northern California and I run aggressive specs. 18x10 +40 and 265/35 tires for reference.

TLDR: pick whatever wheels you want as the wheel spec will make an insignificant change in torque steer.

 

[bring]

The torque steer debate is not beating a dead horse because there are currently ‘21 CTRs selling to new owners. If you have a ‘17, I get it - you’ve been around the block a few times. Some here have not - this is a new experience.

To me, it makes no sense to spend more $ on a new set of wheels right off the bat - but to others, they may want to, especially if they plan to track it. So they research and find an article that it might affect torque steer. They next smartly come out here searching for advice.

There is a good video on YouTube from Randy Pobst (Tire Rack sponsored) where he compares CTR stock setup to dropping down to 18s.

 

[boosted180sx]

theres TONS of threads and posts regarding it that people can search if they really wanted to.

 

[bring]

Agree, which is why I specifically wrote “come out here searching” in my post

If the ”beat like a dead horse” comment was about the question being lazily posted vs searched for, I misunderstood

 

[Lust]

Agree, which is why I specifically wrote “come out here searching” in my post

If the ”beat like a dead horse” comment was about the question being lazily posted vs searched for, I misunderstood

Its asked at least once a month and the answer never changes. People can use the forum search function or search the FB groups they post on.

I find it ironic that people are so bent over getting +60 offset wheels to keep the scrub radius 0. Then add some lowering springs and camber, throwing off the scrub radius anyway.

 

[Night Fury]

Would it be even possible to get a smaller rim but in turn get a thicker/wider tire to compensate for the deviation? I seen people here post about NSX wheels.

Oh totally doable. I’m running the FK2 rims with same ET offset as the 20” OEMs, this is actually a great option if you are not completely sold on the NSX rims. And doing (if you want) the same 255 of the NSX .

 

[Dave B]

If there is any torque steer happening with my 18 x 9.5 45 mm offset Titan 7s with 265/35 tires vs the OEM setup , it is minimal and certainly not an issue for me either on the street or at the track.

 

[Cavayo]

I've done some research on this topic. I found a few places discussing using 19" wheels, with a bigger (meaty) tire would be the best move if you plan on changing out the wheels.

I figure the weight of the wheels, can cause the torque steer to happen. The reason for most to change the OEM wheel, is they don't want to drive on rubber bands. lol. Honda had a purpose for this setup.

What do you suggest ?

 

[Jimmyjambo_fk8]

What do you suggest ?

for the money, I would say either Variant Wheels or Titan Wheels.

 

[Cavayo]

If there is any torque steer happening with my 18 x 9.5 45 mm offset Titan 7s with 265/35 tires vs the OEM setup , it is minimal and certainly not an issue for me either on the street or at the track.

That’s what I’m hearing

 

[AlphaDigital]

I offset torque steer with intense P90x workouts.

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