S2000_Europe

Finally I got M04 Wheels; as you all know MY02 has a difference of 1" between front and rear wheels and 20mm in tires.
MY04 wheel's difference is 1,5" and 30mm regarding the tires.


Which are step shpould I follow in order to keep stock MY02 stability, I know that grip has increased but stability?



Juan

tothemaxx

There is no difference in handling improvement. They did this test on Option Video and it did nothing.

S2000_Europe

they put MY04 wheels on a MY0"?


Becuase the suspension setting and swaybar of the MY04 are different than MY02

Billman250

I found 04 wheels with about 100 miles on them for my 03, after a long wait. Put them on my car, and tried them out on a twisty road by my house, that I've driven hard on countless times.

Handling was reduced to total crap. Car was bouncy, unsorted, and loose as can be.

I sold them an hour later.

S2000_Europe

There must be a solution!!!! stronger front sway bar i.e.

Billman250

Stronger front sway bar would make it even worse.

Fongu

Juan, don't panic. You have the wheels already, just try them out for yourself.

Suspension is such a subjective thing, unless you track the car a lot and have lap/sector times to worry about. Even in a track situation, suspension tuning is track and condition specific. Some person's bouncy is anothers responsive and firm. Some person's "neutral" handling is another's understeering pig. It really depends on what you use the car for and what your actual driving skill/preference is.

Here are some generalizations that might help.

1) Try to only compare one difference at a time. Different tire models will feel totally different. Different rim sizes should feel different. Changing both you might mix up what is causing what.

2) Larger rim sizes will typically ride harsher, because of the shorter sidewall of the tire that goes on it. Shorter sidewalls also typically mean more responsive steering, since there is less sidewall to flex.

3) More stagger will typically mean more grip in the rear, i.e. more understeer. There is a range of tire widths that can be chosen for a given rim size and width that can be used to adjust over/understeer. You can also easily adjust over/understeer with tire pressures.

4) Different tires make a huge difference in how the car handles. Mixing tire brands or comparing all-seasons to summer to R-compound tires will make the car feel and handle totally different.

5) Given the same tire type the difference between OEM 16" and 17" rims will be noticeable, but you'll probably get used to it and forget about the difference.

edit...

6) Forgot to put down alignment. The car has fully adjustable alignment settings. This also has a big effect the car's handling.

Just saying there are a lot of ways to tune to how you want. Having OEM wheels with the right fitment is not a leathal error that can't be adjusted to. You won't need more parts. I'm not even talking about damper and spring settings either. That's a whole different world of options.

edit.....

Woodson

I've been looking for '04 wheels for some time now. This is good info to have.

Bill, any idea what causes this? xviper went with 17" Volks and he's happy with the results. Could it be the weight of the OEM's?

tothemaxx

Well the spoon president explained that the 04 S2000 has it's geometry setting changed to make it handle much better than the 99-03 s2000. Thats why they brought in the 17's to tie in the handling package. When the guys tried to swap the mags to each different year model S both of the car handled really badly. It was swirving everywhere and lost 1/2 second off the lap times.

Billman250

It's difficult to say, but my car did feel very unsafe, even on smooth pavement.

Wheel weight may be ONE factor. The ratio of the 04 steering rack is slightly slower, prolly to offset the weight of the wheels.

There were many revisions, to offset the wheels. I've driven the 04 with stock wheels, and I like it alot