Ok so right now I have a stock 96 Honda Accord Coupe in black and I have a question; I never really started this whole modifying business but I would like to enhance the appearance of my car. I'm getting 17" rims possibly by the end of this week however the problem is that I wasn't planning on lowering it but the guy tells me I might have to in order to not have it look much like an SUV. Note: in order to lower the car might cost me another $300 with labor and springs included. I wasn't planning on spending too much money

SO here are my questions:

A) Would it really look tooo bad if I didn't lower the car and just kept the 17" rims on? and would it affect it's performance?

B) Would it be better to get 18" rims so I won't have to lower it, and would this make it look odd?

C) Would you recommend big rims on accords like mine?

Thank you all any recommendations would be very much appreciated!

 

I would lower it, accords ride pretty high stock. And the bigger the rim the higher its going to ride.

For example heres my 95 with 18s:

 

A) I just got 17"s with no lowering, and it looks fine. Lowering is something that just makes it look that much better. If you can't afford it, don't do it, but def still get the rims.

B) 18"s would look worse with no lowering, IMO. The bigger the rim, the more need for a lower car to reduce wheel gap.

C) I would stick with 17"s for your car, although I'm sure others will have their opinions too. :P


And welcome to the forum!

 

I agree with what's been said.

You are not going to be able to lower the car much for $300... Eibach Pro-Kit are the only springs you can use with stock shocks safely, otherwise you're looking at blowing the shocks.

 

Thank you all for your input I'll be sure to post pictures of it once I get them by the end of this weekend so we can analyze results :-) Thanks again!

 

I agree, a 17" rim with a 45 series tire is perfect for every day driving. I would lower it too. At least some. If you do decide to lower it, don't forget to factor an alignment into the budget.

 

The 17" - which is a plus 2 since originals were 15" - will have the same overall size measured at the tread. So to answer the original question - you'll be fine w/out lowering. As you go up in size the overall wheel size starts to increase - that is plus 3 and higher. Also consider the wheel offset - I believe originals have a positive offset. If the new rims have a greater offset than original you may run into inboard rubbing - since the wheel is wider and placed more inside the well, so you may need spacers.

 

What kind of finish were you thinking of for those wheels ?

 

By the way Rice..your car still looks pretty good in that picture

 

Here is a picture of my car with 17" rims I said I was going to do, I think it looks great without it lowered. Anybody have any suggestions as far as future modifications? =)