Not only that but it's dropping unsprung rotating mass. And you are losing a good deal of that weight at the outside of the wheel going from a chunky winter tire to the more lean, lower profile Ecsta's!

The difference should be huge.

 

Im really hoping for it. I wish i knew the logistics of unsprung weight a little better, mathematically speaking... I know every car is different, but im hoping for a noticable improvement since last year. I pushed my old wheel/tire setup to the absolute limit, i cant believe i got through last summer with my setup, i just went cheap i guess.. lol

 

You will be amazed..... I have had RPF1s for almost 3 years and I still can't get over the difference they have made in so many ways.... There is nothing bad I can think of that is about them.... I had 195-55-15s mounted on mine and had to tweak the fender liners but that was no big deal.... I am interested in how the 205-50s work out for you, I think I need a little more rubber on the ground.

 

Thanks for the reply. I was running jmags with cheap falkens, and I was consistently breaking all 4 loose around corners driving last year. I actually got so used to it I would already start compensating for the understeer before it came... Really excited about these ecstas, I was going to roll my fenders, only to find out that the front fenders aren't really rollable. Wondering how much ill rub, hopefully not bad....

Looks like rubbing may be in my future....

 

How do you 'tweak' the liners? I.E. cut them out where the liner meets the fender???

 

The fit actually has a hub bore of 56.1 on both models gd3 and ge8

 

I just bent the tabs that hold the liners to the front fenders. When I put shorter springs on the car, the tires themselves removed the part of the liners that rubbed while driving on bumpy roads.... I am pretty sure that there is a DYI thread here somewhere that shows a better way than mine to trim the front of the liners if you were to do a search.

 

I see what youre saying. Last year i only got rubbing in the fender when id hit a bad dip in the road. How low, what suspension are you on, texas?

 

It's just less mass to overcome.

Think about holding a shovel at the very end of the handle and trying to pick up a full load of snow or mud or something.

Now compare that to when there is no snow at the end, much easier right?

Now go one step further, and instead of holding the shovel at the end get a grip in the middle and it becomes even easier.

That is basically what you are doing when you remove weight around the outer edge of the rim, you are taking some of the load of the shovel, and your arms don't have to produce as much torque.

Then when you switch to shorter profile tire, like 50mm, it is similar to holding the shovel closer to the middle or by the shovel-head vs holding it at the end of the long handle. This gives you another leverage (torque advantage)

So lighter wheels, with lighter and lower profile tires should make a huge difference.

The over simplified version is Torque = Force x Radius
Torque - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So you have just about done the single most comprehensive performance enhancement we can do for our cars. It improves the way the shocks work because there is less mass to manipulate, and greatly improves braking and acceleration because there is less mass to speed up or slow down and you shortened the radius of the lever arm, so the actual torque applied to the ground increases significantly.


I gotta say those look really nice! Some meaty rubber on there too!

Maybe with a bit more contact patch you won't be rotating and melting tires so often

 

robotfist, with the encouragement of Texas Coyote, I mounted a set of 15" RPF1 wheels. The lighter wheel/tire combo does make the Fit a lot zippier! I am extremely happy with this upgrade. Casual acceleration from stop lights tend to leave traffic far behind. Getting up to speed on freeway onramps are not a problem. Texas Coyote shares good advice. Reps for him.

I also installed an Injen CAI. Besides giving the Fit a healthy intake roar, I feel that it works really well with my DC Headers and MagnaFlow exhaust. Starting at 4,000 rpm, the pull is especially sweet up to 5,500 rpm.

So, do I notice a difference in get-up-and-go? I would have to give a definite, "Yes!"

FYI, for AutoX, I mounted a set of 205/55R14 Kumho Ecsta V710s on those tiny wheels... and yes, they do rub when I hit a bump or dip in the middle of a hard turn. I would like to try 195/55R14s next time around.



I was considering this tire for street use. Imagine 9.3 lb wheels paired with 15 lb tires...24.3 lbs per corner!:
(click to open)
Toyo Proxes T1R 195.45R14

I originally had a set of 215/45R15s on my RPF1s, man those were some nice tires. They were quiet, comfortable and STICKY! Oh, and they were also light!

 

My front is 1.4" lower than stock, rear I think is .75" with Swift Mach springs. I had 16"x7" 38 offset wheels with 195-45-16s that were actually a little smaller in diameter than my 195-55-15s but the wheel/tire weight was just a little less than the stock wheels. I was still messing with my exhaust system when I put them on in place of the RPF1s. I didn't think that they hurt my acceleration all that much, they had softer compound than the tires on the RPF1s and felt good on smooth pavement but on rougher roads they did a number on the suspension, steering felt much heavier, torque steer was much more noticeable, more pressure was needed to slow down or stop and the clutch didn't seem to fully engage as quickly when shifting at red line into 3rd 4th and 5th gears... I guess I didn't notice it all that much until I put my RPF1s back on after getting the exhaust sorted out... It's crazy how much better my car does everything now... Even with a 240 pound passenger it feels faster than it did when I was alone in it before. Where I would drop into 3rd to pass someone I might shift into 4th.... Changing the wheels and springs I feel was the best things I have done to my car... I spent over 10 hours in my car and burned a tank and a half of fuel Sunday, turned 61 years old an hour ago and don't feel like I would if I had driven less than half that far in my car when it had the stock wheels/tires and springs.... I'm sure that the sheepskin seat cover helped some though.

 

Hey macbuddy, thank you sir.... The 16"X7" Final Speed Eraser wheels I got from JCrimson had fairly well worn 195-45-16s on them and they were great for about 2000 miles and still had good traction when I removed them the last time I changed my oil... The ones on the front were completely bald and I guess I should have had my toe in adjusted because the steel belt was worn off of the inside of both of them The back ones still have some miles left on them.... I can't remember what the offset of your RPF1s were but if they were 41mm I might consider the 215-45-15" .... I really do need more traction.... With your car being an automatic, the little 195-45-14s would make a lot of sense.... Personally I think they would look real good as well but that is because I outgrew the Hot Wheels look a long time ago...

 

coyote tex, can you post a pic of your fit? it looks sweet in your avatar

 

I'm pretty dumb when it comes to computers and doing stuff like that but I will see if I can soon.... I need sleep right now, I don't have recent photos, the car is filthy and it is supposed to rain... Hell if I 'd known you wanted to see it you should have said so a couple of weeks ago... I was lost in Houston for most of the day 11 days ago

 

what wheels are they? and epic fail lol

 

They are 15"x 7"/ 41mm offset Enkei RPF1s with 195-55-15" Conti Pro Contact tires... If I'd known that the KWSC kit was to be released shortly after I put them on I might have gotten stickier tires.

 

Quick question,

I have a set of Enkei 15x7/41 and was thinking of the Kumho Ecsta AST in 195/50R15.

Would I expect any rubbing? I would appreciate any thoughts or opinions. I had 205/50R15 (which were awesome) but there was rubbing even after having my fenders rolled. Unfortunately the wife did not like that so it's either new tires or new wife and the tires are cheaper...

 

They are .7" smaller in diameter and the same width as the tires I have on my car equipped with the same wheels and Swift springs. I have no scraping or rubbing issues from tire contact on body parts... I had the Ecsta's in 195-45-16 on 16x7"38mm offset wheels and rubbed on the rt front fender but not often.

 

Question for the guy asking the question....

Are these wheels going to be on the car all year? Why not buy some summer tires?

 

Thanks for the quick response!

As for the summer tires, yes I was thinking of those too since I do put on snow tires for 5 months out of the year, but I'm in Vancouver and it rains...and rains...and rains...