Are spacers that bad?

[Superhatch]

I don't know about wearing and tearing faster on suspension components, but I'll tell you that I ran spacers on my 2019 CTR and it made the handling complete garbage. I installed 30mm H&R spacers...

I did leave one thing out, read as much as you can from other people to find out what sizes to run. I'm running 15mm and that is as wide as I'd go on this car, Maybe even just 10mm would have been enough for me. You can over spacer and especially on a car with a well designed suspension setup it can change the feeling of the handling.

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[FL5HondaGuy]

I am running H&R hub-centric 20mm in the front 25mm in the rear. Car looks worlds better (no more tuck). That being said I don't track my car only dd and spirited driving when in the right area for it. Car drives great. I am also lowered on H&R springs and have a taller sidewall (35). Like many have said running spacers is just like running a more aggressive offset with new wheels.

 

[Brittania]

I did leave one thing out, read as much as you can from other people to find out what sizes to run. I'm running 15mm and that is as wide as I'd go on this car, Maybe even just 10mm would have been enough for me. You can over spacer and especially on a car with a well designed suspension setup it can change the feeling of the handling.

I did 15mm all around and took them off after a week. I just didn't like the way the car drove compared to stock. Some people are just more sensitive to changes though.

 

[J_D]

With stock wheels it’s fine. A 20mm spacer will bring you to +40, which is in the range of [38,45] most people run with aftermarket wheels anyways

 

[TheFactor]

I did 15mm all around and took them off after a week. I just didn't like the way the car drove compared to stock. Some people are just more sensitive to changes though.

You are exactly correct everyone is different but for me with the wider wheel base it road better and handled just as good on the street. Don’t know about the track but spirited drive in the twisties it felt planted as it did in stock form.But for sure hands down looks sooo much better now.

 

[the27thaxe]

Personally, I'm not a big fan of spacers, the idea of adding anything between the hub and the rim bugs me, id rather get different wheels at that point.

That being said, as long as your being smart and using them to get a fitment you want with a specific wheel set up and NOT because you're chasing clout on the cheap, then do you dude.

 

[MooMoo]

Agree with above, not a fan of adding another possible stress fail point on a pretty important part of the car. That said for street use its fine, track however I would not use em personally.

 

[jcb]

The front geometry is very critical for minimizing torque steer. ET60 matters. A lot.

That is simply a fact - geometry/engineering. Changing that will degrade the design and introduce the potential for torque steer...and think "lever arm longer" on wear type things like bearings. If you just drive around with the car's appearance being 90% of things, ok....maybe....but you need to check on the torques from time to time. Hubcentric probably is a little easier to live with if not mentioned.

I'd NEVER use them on the track. I choose to not use them on the street on this car due to the front suspension design.


I don't know how the rear would impact things so I just leave it as the engineers designed.


One plus to being stock....a lot less rock chip damage from the road.....and a lot less dirt on the side of the car.

 

[TheFactor]

The front geometry is very critical for minimizing torque steer. ET60 matters. A lot.

That is simply a fact - geometry/engineering. Changing that will degrade the design and introduce the potential for torque steer...and think "lever arm longer" on wear type things like bearings. If you just drive around with the car's appearance being 90% of things, ok....maybe....but you need to check on the torques from time to time. Hubcentric probably is a little easier to live with if not mentioned.

I'd NEVER use them on the track. I choose to not use them on the street on this car due to the front suspension design.


I don't know how the rear would impact things so I just leave it as the engineers designed.


One plus to being stock....a lot less rock chip damage from the road.....and a lot less dirt on the side of the car.

Again as I stated earlier here I have absolutely no added torque steer with my 15mm front spacers. You will obtain the same results with offset wheels. This is first hand experience with my setup anyway .Also no negative handling results either on the streets/Twisties that I can feel If anything it feels more planted. You might get different results on a race track but for My application I love them !
15mm front and 20mm rear .

 

[TheFactor]

I did 15mm all around and took them off after a week. I just didn't like the way the car drove compared to stock. Some people are just more sensitive to changes though.

I felt the same way as it’s the first time I’ve ever run them. When I learned some times they are even used on race car applications and got over all negativity some folks have and actually drove the car for a week to make my decision I loved them. From the looks down to the affordability compared to dropping 3000 to 4000 dollars minimum. Also my shop that is well respected and has race cars told me to run them and enjoy them as with a quality set of spacers I’ll be fine and I love the looks of the stock rims

 

[MooMoo]

I felt the same way as it’s the first time I’ve ever run them. When I learned some times they are even used on race car applications and got over all negativity some folks have and actually drove the car for a week to make my decision I loved them. From the looks down to the affordability compared to dropping 3000 to 4000 dollars minimum. Also my shop that is well respected and has race cars told me to run them and enjoy them as with a quality set of spacers I’ll be fine and I love the looks of the stock rims

Race cars don’t use these kind of spacers, they have extended studs and have an aluminum spacer in there.

Also the honda race car has a different kind if suspension so using the spacer or lower offset wheels will not change scrub radius.

Not saying a little scrub radius change really changes the feel too much but I currently have +38 offset wheels are am not a fan of what it did to the steering feel and handling of the car.

 

[TheFactor]

Race cars don’t use these kind of spacers, they have extended studs and have an aluminum spacer in there.

Also the honda race car has a different kind if suspension so using the spacer or lower offset wheels will not change scrub radius.

Not saying a little scrub radius change really changes the feel too much but I currently have +38 offset wheels are am not a fan of what it did to the steering feel and handling of the car.

Maybe not the exact same spacers but the same principle. But yeah as long as everyone is happy with there setup as am I it’s all good in my book

 

[Robo7]

There is fundamentally no difference between running 15mm spacers on this car with the stock wheels and running new wheels with a +45 offset. As long as you are using high quality spacers and torquing them to spec they are putting the same additional leverage on the bearings. Maybe the bearings wear out faster, maybe not. It’s a risk you should be ok with if you are changing the wheels from the factory geometry. I run spacers because I like a flush fitment and like the factory wheels as much as any aftermarket wheel.

 

[TheFactor]

A little off track but I remember as a kid I always ran off set wheels and my dad never liked it he was pretty old school and conservative. One day he said put your finger out and he grabbed the tip and cranked down on it Then grabbed my finger farther down more secure and did the same and asked which feels better? and explained it’s putting more stress on my suspension. He was the kind of guy that liked everything stock on his car and always said it’s hard to beat the factory design and things are designed that way for a reason. Moral to the story towards the end of a health battle he had he told me you know maybe your right the hell with tomorrow and hooray for today enjoy life and what you have how you want.
I know he meant within reason of course and to this day I can remember his words like he just said it.

 

[MC BumSlap]

Putting on spacers pushes out the pivot point. For some people that's okay. For others, it's not.

I think if you are tracking it or parking lot racing, I'd probably NOT go with spacers.

If you have basically a garage queen that goes to Cars and Coffee and is your weekend ride, I think spacers are fine.

Everyday car with mix use street and highway, eh...I think going with no more than 15-20mm spacers shouldn't be an issue.

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