Installed 20mm H&R wheel spacers - not happy with performance
 

Hey,

Last night I installed my 20mm H&R DRM spacers (bolt-on) on my nismo rear wheels only, with plans to do the front later. It looks absolutely amazing and I do notice the car feels more planted - all positive things. The one thing that's killing my experience is the car's pick up. A lot of people say wheel spacers are such a small lightweight mod that they wouldn't noticeably slow a car down but it is added rotational weight and I swear it's not psychological. It might sound silly but I actually feel the car is a bit slower.

Does anyone else with 20mm spacers feel the same way?

I'm thinking of taking them off now and maybe going for something smaller like 10mm.

nnnn... i really can't tell the difference especially if only a pair. when i put 4 on, i can tell the braking takes a little more effort, but dont notice much as far as acceleration.


is it warmer today than it was before you installed them? could be just from the warmer air. i forget if it was h&r or eibach, but one of those make a light weight version bolt-on spacer. stay away from ichiba and other ebay ones as they dont seem to use the same alloys as kics and others.

It's definitely not the weather. Immediately after putting them on I felt the (negative) difference and just before that, the car felt the way it always did.

I c.. yah take them off. I dont run spacers on my Nismo wheels.

It is most certainly all in your head. The spacers weigh what...1lb or 2lbs? Unsprung weight, such as that from a heavy wheel/tire combo, is bad because the weight is concentrated 8-14" away from the center of the hub. The further away from the center of the hub, the greater the effect. Your spacer's weight is concentrated an inch or two away from the point of rotation. There is just no way that two spacers weighing that little are noticeable.

I had 20mm spacers on all 4 wheels.. They were fine until I bought a set of wheels with perfect offsets to allow me to run no spacers and be flush WHAT A DIFFRENCE! More responsive and just felt better all around.

wow, ur spacers must be made out of carbon fiber or something..

Okay so how much do they weigh? I looked up specs and it says 5lb for a pair and that includes packaging and they round up weight. At most 2.5lb.......

I think I'm taking these off. Who wants to buy a set of H&R DRM 20mm spacers with only 20 miles on them? Or, I might trade for 10mm if someone has

Wheel spacers are pure aesthetics. Any claimed change of handling or performance is purely imagined.

Please tell me you aren't taking these off because you think it makes your car noticeably slower.

I had the same hr 20mm bolt ons put on a few months ago and i honestly dont notice the difference in handling or pick up. Not that t got worse or better

It's not about "thinking" it made my car slower, I genuinely feel it did and I drive my car enough to notice a before/after kind of effect.

Your butt dyno isn't calibrated that good - do you have the A\C on or something? Lot's of people on here have installed spacers and I've never seen anyone mention them making their car any slower.

Ok, I'll admit something...

Right before putting these on, and I mean during the same install, I got 2 new rear tires put on. They are a different brand that the OEM Potenzas - I got the Kumho Ecsta's. Maybe these tires are a tad bit heavier than the Potenzas and that's what I'm feeling? Now I'm tempted to look into how much these weigh compared to the OEMs

I should have noted that earlier.

Maybe its just me, but I wouldn't want to be running any spacers when im canyoning. another reason why im against them

Are you kidding me right now. :confused:

Of course that is what you're feeling. You changed your f'n tires man.....looks like not only are the ecstas a couple pounds heavier, but they are going to feel way different because you went from an older balder tire to a new one that is different.

Just.........wow. Changes the tires and thinks the spacers are changing the way his car feels.

Yeah, almost 100% the tires. The weight on them is way out at the edge of the wheel where it has the most effect. Unless you're Michael Schumacher you're not going to notice that little bit of spacer mass around the hub... until the wheel shears off because you forgot to periodically torque them or something.:rofl2:

Heh... blonde moment there. My fault. Appreciate the feedback nonetheless.

Trying to find a tire weight guide but not having much luck. I will chalk up this up to being attributed to the new tires though. Although it still is weird for the car to feel slower and that's one thing I'm not wrong about...whether it was the spacers or the new tires, there is a noticeable different in pick-up...take it for what you will

It was the tires. Move along

Umm yeah...

REO50
Size:
275/35R19 100Y Load Range:XL UTQG: 140 A A

Khumo:
Size:
275/35R19 (100Y) Load Range:XL UTQG: 280 AA A

Looking at this info you have effectively reduced your grip by 100%

That's where you're feeling the lack in performance

u do realize the RE11 are 200AA and they grip better.. you cant just go by wear rating especially when comparing different brands.

that said, i would never run those tires on any of my cars :icon17:

here is a blue car

here is a red car

looking at this info the blue car weighs less than red car :tup: :ugh:

Installed 20mm H&R wheel spacers - not happy with performance
 

Where does the RE 11 come into play here?

That's a whole different topic and tread pattern with different intent to begin with

We're just talking about a red tire and a blue tire right oh wait tires are black... Unless you have the ones that exude different color smoke when you light'em up!!!

Yeah!!!

wat "information" were you looking at while comparing tires? you only specified the tread wear rating...

unless you were posting that as a joke, then :rofl2: :tup:

blue car > red car

red car < blue car

Its in your head.

Installed 20mm H&R wheel spacers - not happy with performance
 

Exactly tread wear rating is a great place to start isn't it? Less the UTOG softer the compound... Then higher the UTOG harder the compound

OP went higher so in effect lost grip adding to the lackluster performance he now feels.

Just trying to solidify the fact that it wasn't the spacers (there's just no way) and that the tire change is the culprit...

well, considering there are better wearing tires that have much higher level of grip, that is a long shot. take PSS for instance. those wear like frikken all season tire territory (300AA).. and they grip much better than the factory RE050A's or AdvanSports.

RE11's are also 200AA which have better wear than RE050A's...but they are super grippy.

I think the weight difference in tires and sidewall stiffness can give different acceleration feel between the tires. Bridgestones are pretty heavy in general so not sure if it's the weight difference... probably more from tire feel in general and some loss in traction.

By this logic my snow tires should have incredible grip on the dry pavement.

Grip yeah rotational ease probably not so much... Tread pattern has to come into the debate somewhere

You're 100% right, car feels sluggish because of the extra weight, people said I was crazy for saying that. Go with extended studs, I got Z1 in mine.

My old bolt on spacers were 8.5 lbs all 4, the estimate is 20lbs for every 1lbs of unsprung weight, so at 170lbs it should feel similar to having a buddy of yours riding along.

That's because you are.

This is so incorrect it is funny. 20lbs for every 1 lb?! The effect of unsprung weight adding some virtual larger "effective weight" to the car would vary with the location. The further away from the point of rotation the greater the effect. Spacers are right at the hub, 8.5lbs for all 4 will not produce a noticeable difference in acceleration. It's absurd that you think you can notice that.

I never had any issues with the H&R 20mm I put on (all around). Never felt any difference in performance/pick-up.

I no longer run them, because I wanted new wheels and ordered them with that offset.

Installed 20mm H&R wheel spacers - not happy with performance
 

Tires clearly the issue.

I added 20mm up front and 25mm rear - ZERO impact. ... Other than they bring the wheels to flush and look wicked good.

Not enough weight at the hub to be able to feel a difference.


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