There's a great deal that came up on my local craigslist, $500 for polished 15x7 enkei rpf1s with tires, albeit crappy tires, but with tires nevertheless, they are in great condition, shown only in pics(haven't seen in person yet), however I asked the owner what offset they are and he replied that they are +42. I've searched around and can not seem to find +42 offset for 15x7 rpf1s, so this makes me wonder if they are legit. I asked him if they are legit and he swears they are.

So I was just wanted to get some opinions from you guys if you think these are legit or how I would go about finding out they are once I inspect them in person, possible signs of structural weakness, and if fitment will be an issue.

I'm current lowered on swift springs. 2011 GE8 sport

Before this I had my mind set on 15x6.5 rota slips, as they had (IMO) best price/weight ratio.

Thank you all

 

when you say polished, are you referring to the Special Brilliant Coating (SBC) finish?

Enkei's wheel sizing chart doesn't have +42 offset in 15x7's; however, it says at the bottom that "Matte Black and SBC finish are limited sizes and special order only" If it's special order, perhaps the person was able to get a special offset? Here's the link to the chart http://www.enkei.com/size_chart/RPF1.pdf

As for telling if they're real. I've had two different sets in my possession. Here's some pics of them that might help you tell if it's real

Here you can see stamps on the inside with tons of information. The second set had the offset stamped on a little raised area, like a plaque. Either way, on both sets it was a little hard to read the offset, so perhaps the seller is mistaking the 2 in 42 as a 1, which then makes the 15x7 +41 very plausible that it's authentic wheels.


Both sets I've had blue valve stems, but I think there is red and black too.


The "enkei" is just a sticker, but there is another stamp by the lug nuts


and the oval shaped sticker in barrels are like paper or something....I couldn't read anything off them cuz they wore off from regular washing.

Hope this helps

 

Thank you for the reply, apparently he mis typed the +42 and it is actually +41, as far as the special order, I'll just have to wait and see it in person to verify with this information. I'm super excited about this, I just hope he's not trying anything funny.... Fingers crossed*
And as for fitment, I don't think I'll have an issue with just swift springs, unless someone else has experience otherwise?

Thanks again Cruatchin for your knowledge.

 

I don't think you'll have troubles with it fitting. When I look up wheels for a fit on tire rack, they suggest you buy the +41 offset and swift springs are a mild drop. Maybe the seller will let you test fit the wheels.

As for the price, he may not have factored in a price for tires because as you said, they're garbage. So the price may indeed be a fair one. The 16's that I had in silver, I sold them for less than $500 with no tires.

 

My friend max is running 16 x 8 so I think the 7 will do just fine.

I was in the same boat as you on going 15's for my GE8. One thing that stopped me was the limited tire selection. In order to get the same O.D. as the 16 you will need to run 60 series tire. But if you dont mind the misread on the speedo then by all means go wit the 15.

-bee

 

The misread will not be too much of an issue, as I understand it reads higher so this may trick me into driving slower actually lol, my main goal was to lose rotating mass and gain better handling with a wider tire, plus the minor acceleration gain would be nice as well.

Thanks for all the helpful inputs so far, much appreciated!

 

205/55 for sporty tires 195/60 for all season commuter tires. I have had both and the speedo is not off enough to be of any concern, maybe 1 mph fast with the 55 and 1-2 mph slow with the 60 series. Both sizes are less than 2% off the stock diameter.

Problem with getting wider tires that handle better is that they're generally a little bit heavier (extra plys on sidewall, etc) until you start getting into race tires. You may lower total weight slightly but at the same time you're moving rotating mass outward from center, which is bad. It is a trade-off, but an acceptable one for better handling IMO. You will not find any good handling tires in 195/60, only mediocre, but definitely good enough for daily driving and a little bit of spirit.

If you are keeping the same tires and getting a lighter rim, the effect will be fully beneficial, but when you are talking about changing everything, you have to look at tire weights #1.

 

So say we disregard the speedo readings and only worried about best balance in terms of weight distribution(tires/rim) / handling, what would be an optimal size? I'm a complete noob when it comes to wheels/tires....

Also I've just learned these wheels were not originally polished, he had them wet sanded and polished. So I'm now wondering if they are structurally sound after this process?

 

they will be structurally ok. They will also be a pain in the but to keep clean. I have had 4 sets of uncleared polished wheels and I keep telling myself never again, countless hours with a drill and metal polish .. But, they look so good when clean What ever you do... Don't let the salt and sand get to them you will be very sorry

 

Excellent, I'm not too worried about how they look, weight loss is the priority, and as long as they are structurally sound, I'll be satisfied.

 

Optimal size depends completely on what you're trying to accomplish.

Smaller overall diameter than stock will shorten your effective final drive ratio. It will shorten your gears and get you better acceleration, but your cruising RPM will be higher, which may or may not be an annoyance in daily driving, the Fit already has short gears and a low final so it will be more pronounced than on other cars with longer gears. Your speedo will read high.

Larger overall diameter will do the opposite of above.

Wider tires will get you better traction in all directions, but are generally heavier, so acceleration will suffer. Fuel efficiency will suffer because of the larger contact patch and weight and the extra effort the motor has to put out to move it.

More narrow tires will get you better fuel efficency and will usually weigh less, making them a little more easy for the motor to turn, but at a loss of traction.

Tire to wheel choice is important as well. Too wide a tire on too narrow a rim will generally be slower than a square setup; with the tire being the same width of the rim or close to it. This happens because the sidewalls are no longer vertical because they have to curve inward to shape to the rim width... under load this deforms the sidewall and causes the sidewalls to flex more than they should.

Wheel choice should always be the lightest you can afford while keeping strength in mind for your particular application. i.e Magnesium racing wheels are super light and great on a racecar, but you'd never want to run them on the street, they are prone to cracking. That is just an extreme example. Width should match the tire width you plan to run as closely as possible.

In conclusion, tire and rim choice is a balancing act, especially on a light, low power car like the Fit. Too much tire will slow you down, not enough tire means limited traction.

For a stock or close to stock fit, I think 205s are plenty of tire.

Your mileage may vary.

 

Ok, I think I have it narrowed down after doing some research. I will likely get 195/55 so that way I can keep the fuel economy, get slightly more tire width and lose around 1%+ of diameter keeping the speedo somewhat close to oem spec but also get a slightly shorter gear ration for my enjoyment, I think with this coupled to the lightweight rpf1s I will be pretty close to my goals with this car.
Thank you all for the great tips, I've learned much in the past couple of days!

 

Glad to help!

and I was going to run 195/55/15 S Drives on the stock steel wheels before I decided to get aftermarket, so I approve of your tire size, not that that matters at all but just saying lol

It should be fun.