Rage Coda wheels on an '05 Accord

[andysinnh]

Ok - here's a couple of pics of the 15" Rage Coda wheels from Discount Tire Warehouse that I had installed on my 2005 Accord LX today. They're purposely 15" so I could reuse the OEM Michelin tires. I was going for a different look on my Accord (not the typical 5 or 6 spoke alloys that are typical). I like it - it's different.

Andy

[andysinnh]

ok - learned a lesson that I thought I'd share with others. Put on the aftermarket Rage Coda wheels from Direct Tire. They were a 15x6.5 wheel, same as the factory. But there was a difference. Factory rim offset is +55mm, and the offset on these wheels was +40mm. This means that the tire/wheel sticks out about 2/3" further than the factory setup. On the surface, this doesn't sound like much, and if you went with a wider wheel on the car, it would stick out a bit anyway.

But the experience of about 1000 miles showed that the 6.5" wheel at this offset gave the Accord a very "interesting" feel on cornering - it would tend to cause an oversteer condition that, at higher speeds, wasn't expected. Also, the wider stance cause a much more sensitive pull based on the crown of the road. So, while I got a good highway ride, the good handling of the accord went away.

So, I had the factory steels/hubcaps put back on today, and it drives much better. I'm gonna stick with this setup until at least when the tires wear out, then I'll look at maybe a take-off 16" set with tires when the time comes.

I have to put a plug in for the direct tire folks (www.tires.com). The told me when I was looking to buy that if I had any issues they'd take the wheels back, and they lived up to their word. They're sending me packaging materials so I can repack the wheels and sent UPS labels to get prepaid mailing back to them - and will credit my account in full when the wheels arrive back. Their customer service, at least in my case, was much more than expected - so if you're thinking of doing business with them, it's worth a strong consideration.

andy

[jintegra]

Thanks for sharing the experience. Will keep this in mind when ordering rims in the future.

[CA05LXDriver]

Personally, I didn't really like the look. I think you'll be better off getting some OEM honda take-offs down the road.

[andysinnh]

I think I agree with you - the style wasn't growing on me as much as I thought it would. I think the real issue is any 15" alloy on the new body style won't look as good as the factory 16" inchers, or something else in that range. Anyway, back to the steelies with covers for now - I'll take the smooth ride and great handling over the looks at this point...

andy