Quote:
Originally Posted by CigaR007
Why go through all this trouble though ? The original insight wheels are the best compromise between aero, weight and reliability/durability.
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I disagree. They're excellent wheels, no doubt. Possibly the lightest 14" wheels put on any production car from the factory. At 11lbs, they're featherweights, a full pound lighter than the extremely desirable Enkei wheels from the Civic HX, and they're aerodynamic to boot.
Having owned and driven an Insight for near a decade, with numerous different tires and wheels, even an extra 1lb is noticeable in the rotating assembly. Switching from summer to winter tires, where rolling resistance was similar but there was an extra pound in the tire itself, made a noticeable difference in the driving experience. Stock tires on 1lb heavier wheels was noticeable.
These wheels are possibly 4-5lbs lighter, and likely significantly stronger. Bare wheel to bare wheel, it's a 44% reduction in weight, and with like tires, a 22% weight reduction. 16-20lbs from the rotating assembly, in the place it counts most. I just need to figure out the aero aspect.
Quote:
Originally Posted by j-c-c
K>I>S>S
that being said, use open long lug nuts, (forget the spike solution) they will leave unuse female threads you can crew into and decide whether to use 2 or 4 attaching bolts of same thread as the lug nuts, if say 12mm, center drill them to reduce weight, you will need something to back stop the cover so the cap fasteners can be tighten against something. Might want to safety wire say two opposite bolts to see if the other two tend to loosen in extended use. I feel leaving a 1/4"? gap between the outer rim and the cap would be best for longevity of the wheel system in OTR use or trapping water, etc without serious impact on your primary goal, vs no gap at all.
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4x 12mm would indeed be massive overkill, but a reducer might overcomplicate it. Regardless, this seems a promising way to attach... whatever is going to be attached. As you say, I will need some kind of spacer or nut to hold the aero cover at the correct distance from the lugs. The issue with just using a bolt and nut, however, is that to snug up the nut that holds the aero cover, I need to be able to access the backside of it while it is already on the wheel, which is another can of worms. Or, I can get lugs that are already the correct length, so they stick out of the hub, and give a flush surface to mount to. But, that was what the spike lugs were intended to do to begin with.
And there's still the matter of what to use as an aero cover. Let's say I got a simple aluminum disc and polished it, with a Honda logo sticker in the middle. Let's say it extends to within half an inch of the wheel's lip. How thick do you recking it should be so it remains robust? 0.5mm? 1mm? 2?