19bonestock88's 2004 Saturn "Ion Green Line" build...

[California98Civic]

You have two cars maybe? Biking? A great discipline for me in terms of keeping my car at least running is I make it my only car. I can use wife's car SOMETIMES and I have my bike or pub transport for SOME trips, but ultimately, I HAVE TO keep "black & green" running nearly all the time. It is in pieces and not running a total of two weeks a year maybe.

Wheel skirts would look cool.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by 19bonestock88

I’m kinda stalled out on this project... I try not to drive it any more than necessary because my control arm bushings are awfully bad and I have new control arms ready to install... had to patch a tire because it went flat overnight, from 55psi, but haven’t done anything else...

I wanna make some wheel skirts...

Do you know why did it went flat?

Please do wheel skirts! I want to see!

Maybe an HX wheel swap too?

I bet those are all you need to beat a 50 MPG tank!!

[19bonestock88]

Originally Posted by mpg_numbers_guy

Do you know why did it went flat?

Please do wheel skirts! I want to see!

Maybe an HX wheel swap too?

I bet those are all you need to beat a 50 MPG tank!!

I think I ran over a nail or maybe one of the big staples we use at work, though it didn’t stay in the tire...

Dunno about the HX wheels, not sure if they would fit on my Saturn, and I’d lose lots of rolling diameter... I’m currently upsized to a 205/65-15 tire(5.3% taller than stock)

Originally Posted by California98Civic

You have two cars maybe? Biking? A great discipline for me in terms of keeping my car at least running is I make it my only car. I can use wife's car SOMETIMES and I have my bike or pub transport for SOME trips, but ultimately, I HAVE TO keep "black & green" running nearly all the time. It is in pieces and not running a total of two weeks a year maybe.

Wheel skirts would look cool.

I ride my bike to work whenever it isn’t raining(only 2.2mi away) and only use the car when I’m going somewhere with my wife, or when I need to carry more than can fit in my lunchbox (7x8x10”)...

Hoping to get my wife’s car up and going so she can start working(she can’t drive a stick), but since I can only afford to insure one at a time while we are paying on her car, mine will likely take a leave of absence where it’s parked in the garage and lots of projects get completed(hopefully)

I’d like to get either some smoother coroplast or some expanded PVC foam sheet to make the wheel skirts out of, as I dont really care for the look of the stuff I’m using at the moment, free or not...

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by 19bonestock88

I think I ran over a nail or maybe one of the big staples we use at work, though it didn’t stay in the tire...

Dunno about the HX wheels, not sure if they would fit on my Saturn, and I’d lose lots of rolling diameter... I’m currently upsized to a 205/65-15 tire(5.3% taller than stock)

I downsized from 15" to 14" rims and they fit fine. Unless your brake calipers are unusually large they should fit, and even if not you could always get some cheap 1/4" spacers. Is 205 width the stock width? Seems wide for a car not that much larger than a civic.

195/75R14 tires are about 0.02" taller than your current setup and I found some online for $28 each, cheap tires you could air up to 60 psi or higher and get some good FE out of. 185/80R14s are even taller and narrower but just over $200 for a set. HX rims are fairly cheap and you could probably sell your current setup and cover most of the costs.

Narrower tires also make wheel skirts easier to implement.

Just a thought...maybe.

[19bonestock88]

The Ion-1 sedan(base model) came with 14” steel wheels, but I have an Ion-2 which came with 15” steel and a 195/60 tire... I did briefly have 14” steel wheels off a Saturn S series which required a spacer in front to clear my calipers(slightly different offset)... however, possibly due to the spacer design, I was always having to re-torque my wheels and I lost mileage for some reason... was a 185/70 tire, compared to bald 165/60-15...

I don’t really think I’d sell my wheels even if I bought an alloy to run for weight reduction(wife drives an Ion-2 coupe) and I haven’t seen any HX wheels locally...

I also don’t know for certain that the Honda wheels would even go on... the bolt pattern is the same but I have no idea what the lug seats look like(conical or flat or ball socket shaped) or what the center bore diameter is...

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by 19bonestock88

.... and I haven’t seen any HX wheels locally...

I also don’t know for certain that the Honda wheels would even go on... the bolt pattern is the same but I have no idea what the lug seats look like(conical or flat or ball socket shaped) or what the center bore diameter is...

The lugs are conical. The Honda rims for 5th/6th gen Civics (and maybe 4th and 7th, too): offset 35-45; bolt pattern 4X100; lug size 12mmX1.5; hub center bore 56.1mm minimum (larger center bore needs spacer rings)

[19bonestock88]

Stock for my Saturn is 4x100, 12x1.5 lugs, 15x6”, 38-42mm offset and 57.1mm hub center bore...

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by 19bonestock88

Stock for my Saturn is 4x100, 12x1.5 lugs, 15x6”, 38-42mm offset and 57.1mm hub center bore...

The center bore being bigger on your car is a problem. They won't mount correctly. I could use your rims on my Civic, with a spacer, but you can't mount 56.1 center bore HX rims to a 57.1 hub safely. Bummer.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Sadness. What about Miata rims?

I had to use 1/4" spacers for the HX rims to clear the front calipers on my EX. Thankfully they weigh literally like nothing.

[19bonestock88]

It’s same bolt pattern but I don’t know the center bore... I have a set of factory Saturn alloy wheels, but they’re 16x6.5”

I’d love to buy a set of RPF1s but they’re pricy and I don’t know how I’d use smooth wheel covers with them...

Realistically I’m not in a big hurry to do alloy wheels, as about any upgrade will be expensive and the ROI isn’t that great... due to my considering ROI when planning mods, most of them have paid for themselves almost immediately