gas misers need to state their $.02 about the loss of MPGs.

I can not turn down this invitation.

• You've limited yourself to low-profile tires, which IIRC are stiffer, more expensive, and not available in LRR. And no RE92's!
• Speedo is off by 1%, so you'll have to adjust your fuel economy logs.
• They're too wide for the body, increasing both Cd and A.
• The brake cooling ducts are total overkill, and a big source of aerodynamic drag. When you're going down the highway at 70mph, the bottom of the tire may not be moving relative to the airstream, but the top is moving at 140mph. Since drag is proportionate to airspeed squared, that averages out to MUCH more drag than for an irrotational object. So rotating parts have to be smooth.

Also, I think you should paint the calipers and drums. Big airy wheels need to show off what's underneath. Then they need plexiglass hub caps like Mercedes uses.

As for the fashion aspect, I'm really not equipped to comment. I'm somewhat blind to those considerations, and my friends don't really mind.

I will say that I admire your wash & wax job. And what do you polish your headlights with?

 

Wouldn't have Volks in the same size as OEM's been better? But the aero drag still remains.
What's next? Heavy Brembo calipers on the front?

 

i just gave the car a quick clean at the car wash, no wax, and nothing done to my headlights.

 

15 x 7, + 35 offset, Volk TE37 with 195/50/15 tires.

I hope these tires channel water really well because they will be far more likely to hydroplane due to their considerably greater width compared with OEM tires. The light weight of the Insight accentuates this problem. Unexpected sudden hydroplaning on a freeway while driving under the speed limit in a rainstorm nearly caused me to crash a much heavier Corvette on which were installed wide, low-profile tires. I never want to experience that again!

gas misers need to state their $.02 about the loss of MPGs.

How have these tires have affected your fuel consumption?

 

I hope these tires channel water really well because they will be far more likely to hydroplane due to their considerably greater width compared with OEM tires. The light weight of the Insight accentuates this problem. Unexpected sudden hydroplaning on a freeway while driving under the speed limit in a rainstorm nearly caused me to crash a much heavier Corvette on which were installed wide, low-profile tires. I never want to experience that again!


How have these tires have affected your fuel consumption?

not trying to be an a$$, but you need to drive a bit better. the re92's are terrible tires, i hated them on my wrx, and i hate them on this car. however, i was perfectly fine with them in the rain and snow.

now, even though the car is lightweight, there are other cars that have the same weight, but with bigger tires. the lotus exige for example, and a crx hf. the crx can be modded and made a lot faster while staying at the 1849 lbs. ive driven one with 205/50/15s in the rain and it was fine. i doubt i will hydroplane due to this. if anything, i will hydroplane less.

not sure about fuel yet because i just filled up the tank and only driven 5 miles yesterday.

 

gas mileage is the same as before.

the rims weigh 9.5 lbs compared to stock's 11.

 

That's amazing. I don't recall anyone reporting no effect on their fuel consumption rate when switching to a non-OEM tire, especially one whose aerodynamics are considerably worse due to their larger cross section. It must be a very low rolling resistance tire, a feature that many of us are struggling to find. I'm sure that others would be interested in finding a good replacement for the OEM tires that doesn't increase the fuel consumption rate, so please report the tire that you are using.

The lighter weight of your new wheels might offset their poorer aerodynamics.

 

Are there any aftermarket wheels for the insight that are the same dimensions+, lighter and known to improve MPG? Custom two/three piece?

Your car with the volks looks good.

 

Are there any aftermarket wheels for the insight that are the same dimensions+, lighter and known to improve MPG?

Honda engineers appear to have been given the green light to do almost whatever was best to design a car that emphasized high efficiency. Their wheel was designed to minimize rotational momentum and aerodynamic drag. They compromised a bit on aerodynamic drag by designing a wheel that has a bit more cosmetic appeal than a smooth disk which would have been the most efficient design.

The Volks wheel has less mass than the OEM wheel, but as a spoked design with a larger diameter, more of its mass may be located farther from its center of rotation. This could make its rotational momentum worse than the OEM wheel. Or it might be slightly better in this respect because of its overall lower mass. We just don't know.

But the spoked design definitely makes it considerably less aerodynamic than the OEM wheel. These spokes probably disturb the air flowing past the outside of the wheel far more than the smoother surface of the OEM wheel.

Your car with the volks looks good.

I agree.

We all make choices, so if one believes that these wheels improve the appearance of one's Insight, and that's more important than a probable loss of efficiency, then go for it. The loss of efficiency may be minimal. But as those of us with manual transmission Insights know, lean burn mode is very important for ultimate efficiency. Any additional drag or friction could make lean burn mode almost impossible to enter, so modifications need to be carefully considered by those who value efficiency over appearance.

 

9.5lbs is a lightweight wheel, indeed.

The RE92's are a spectacularly lightweight tire as well, at 13lbs each. Since tires are farther from the axis of rotation, they contribute much more to intertia than the wheel does.

Most tires in your size weigh 17-20lbs.

Well, how much do your tires weigh?

 

im not sure of the weight of the tire. they are yokohama avs es100 (not made anymore).

before the wheel swap i averaged 50 MPG. I am doing the same now, mainly highway crusing between 70-75 MPH.

the car needs a tune-up badly (103k miles) and i will be doing so this weekend when my parts arrive from honda.

 

Looks nice, but I really doubt you're not seeing a loss in MPG. I'd love to see longterm results before and after.

I'm not knocking your choice. It's form over function. I'm cheap, so I chose the other one. If you can afford Volks ($$$), then I'm sure you don't care that much about saving a few pennies on MPG. That's probably why you might not report a small amount in MPG, where as a consistent 3-5MPG change would drive me nearly insane.

Any numbers available?

 

i hit lean-burn all the time. it's not hard even with the volks.

again im getting 50 mpg with or without the volks.

 

A 50 mpg average but with "lean-burn all the time". The fuel consumption rate in lean-burn is frequently in the 100 mpg range. So there must be many miles of really aggressive driving or lots of A/C use to bring the lean-burn fuel consumption rate down to 50 mpg.

I'm not saying this isn't possible. My 2000 Insight had a lifetime mpg of 49.5 for its first 9,500 miles. The original owner drove mostly in urban traffic with the A/C on at all times and not in ECON mode, so no auto-stop (many Honolulu drivers drive with A/C year-round). He drove his new Insight just like he drove all his previous cars. He did not maintain tire pressure which was below the low recommended pressure when I bought the car. So even with the OEM tires and wheels, a significantly lower than average Insight fuel consumption rate is possible.

crxgator's driving style may be the most significant factor in his fuel consumption rate such that mounting wide, heavy, high-rolling-resistance tires on light wheels may have little effect on his fuel consumption rate.

 

i also drive in the hudson region which has a lot of large hills that make getting a high mpg rather hard.

im not saying im always in lean-burn, im saying it's easy to get into. my driving style is not your typical hypermiler.

 

can you take a pic of the volk or rays stamped on the rim.....not that i care but rota grids look the same and i see you dont have volk valve stems soooo......

 

or you can tell by the location of the lugs holes...

 

ok? go take a pic! seems pretty simple? prove me wrong.

 

this is on the inside of my te37s. in case you need proof mine are real.

btw notice the volk valve stem

 

ok? go take a pic! seems pretty simple? prove me wrong.

To prove to an internet stranger what brand his wheels are?

can you take a pic of the volk or rays stamped on the rim.....not that i care but rota grids look the same and i see you dont have volk valve stems soooo......

Gotslicks, I'm calling you out: You really, REALLY care. Deeply. What brand this man's wheels are.

Is this the kind of conversation that develops on fashion-oriented automotive enthusiast forums?

 

ya i do care.
i do own a set of real volk te37s!

if they are grids great! if they are volks great! but dont call grids volks!

this whole conversation can be stopped on here and on h-tech with a simple pic of the wheels on his car!

i guess its up to him now to settle this! right?

 

and if you were smart and knew the difference between the rotas and the volks, you would see mine are real by the way the lug holes are offset with the spokes. i have pics of the stickers. i just dont care to post them because you didn't know the real difference via casting. people on other forums knew exactly what they were before i even posted the brand.

 

WOW, and I thought this was an automotive list, not a fashion list.

Personally I cant see much difference and I would imagine the rims cost more than a new set of Portenzas would have.

 

i havent a clue about volks at all. that pic i posted is a photoshop rota.

lol

i just dont understand why you wouldnt have said to me that real volks arent cast with volk or rays into the wheel anywhere?
seems odd, dont ya think??

fyi rota isnt the only copy ever made. i have seen at least 5 or 6 copys of these wheels since the late 90s. ive read all the fake wheel posts and all the bs about the spokes and the holes. the problem is that it only applies to rotas. everyone forgets or is too young to remember about vorks roys LB Motorsports VARRSTOEN ect...

i look foreward to seeing the pics hypebeast. lol

 

ok, yet you seem to think mine aren't real due to the lack of the rays valvestem. you do realize people can change it?

im not going to post pictures. you can think what you would like; i know they are for a fact real, and that's all that matters.

 

You said the are volks. Good enough for me, I don't need any pictures as proof. Why tell me they are volks when they aren't? We are not on a car forum where you are measured in part by the size of your wallet!

I am more interested in continued driving impressions and the mileage tradeoffs. If the wheel/tire combo is about the same as stock (lighter wheels, but heavier tires), then the potential for improved handling with little to no mileage penalty is possible (although at a cost that you will never recover).

For those who want better handling, more, and better, rubber is a huge component towards achieving that goal.

I didn't measure, how much taller are the new tires?

Regards,
Jerry

 

the new size is 0.3 inches taller.

 

Thanks. Pretty inconsequential.

Did you find a lot of choices in 195/50-15's? Only need about S or T rating given the cars top speed.
Regards,
Jerry

 

the tires are fine, i dont really care about getting the most MPGs. I'm still at 50 MPG.

Had a huge thunderstorm just about 30 mins ago in which I was caught on I-87 doing 70 MPH without a problem. NO HYDROPLANING.

 

Hey, You said that your rims were 15x7 w/35 os...Did you ever have to trim the rear skirts? How much room do you have on the inside of the front and back for clearance cause I was about to order the pretty much same setup with the Enkei Racing RPF1 w/41 os and wanted to know if I could suck the tire in a bit so it doesn't stick out as much, without rubbing on the suspension. Thanks

 

you are probably better off with a 41 then the 35. i had to trim a bit off of the rear side skirts.

here are others with aftermarket wheels

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2652114
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2380505

hey, are you the guy with the homemade spoiler?

 

hey, are you the guy with the homemade spoiler?

Well I wouldn't really call it home made. That just sounds so...hick. Like with a jigsaw, some screws and a piece of plywood, lol. But yes, that would be me

 

looks great man. got any extras laying around?

 

Haha, no, that was a one off that I built last year...Thought about selling it and making me another one that's a little shorter but who knows when/if I'll ever get the time again. I got a wild hair up my *** when looking at the back one day and said to myself "I'm gonna fix that.." I just wanted something that would make the rear a little more finished rather then just dropping off.

It's funny that you recognized me off of cardomain, lol. Where are you on there?

 

im not on there. i just saw your username here and on there when i did a search.

 

I really like these rims.