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Wheels and Tires
Neons don’t come from the factory with the best setup for performance driving, so often the best thing you can do to improve the handling is to upgrade your wheel/tire combination. But before making a decision about what wheels and tires are right for you, it’s important to decide what you primarily want to do with your car. For a cool street look, there are many options out there. Most street drivers simply choose a wheel with good looks to complement their car’s personality, but if racing is your priority, the selection of available wheels is more limited. Wheels for racing have an emphasis on function, and are generally not as attractive as those designed for street looks. You may end up choosing a wheel based on weight, specific diameter, width, backspace, and price, with little regard for looks. If winning is at the top of your list, then looks should not factor into your choice, but the type of racing you do should.
Street Wheels
Never in automotive history has there been a larger selection of aftermarket wheels from which to choose. Prices range from $50 apiece to upward of $2,500 per set. But how do you decide which wheel-and-tire combination is best for your car? There are several factors that can help you make this often difficult, but mostly fun, decision.
If you’re not concerned with a budget for your project, then looks should be the priority. The particular design of the wheel selected should be one that enhances the overall look that you have planned for your vehicle. Shop around, as prices can vary as much as $100 per set for the more expensive brands.
 
Choosing the right wheels for the street is more a matter of form than function. Pick the wheel that best fits the personality you want your Neon to present. But keep in mind that the bigger the wheel, the more expensive the tire. (Photo courtesy Howell Automotive)
If you’ve taken the advice in the Introduction and have created a budget, then your budget will help you decide what wheels will best meet your needs. After buying the stereo, spoiler kit, intake, exhaust, and header, you may find that you won’t have enough money left over to get some super expensive wheels. Then again, wheels may be more important than that stereo. A budget is all about compromise, and it will help you to make sound decisions guided by your head, and not so much by your heart (or the limit on your Visa card). Remember, you need to have enough money (or credit) to go have fun with your car after the project is finished.
One of the big decisions you’ll have to make in choosing a wheel/tire combo is the diameter. Keep in mind that the larger the diameter, the lower the final drive ratio. In other words, a larger combo makes fewer revolutions than a smaller diameter for a given distance. The results of this change are far reaching, impacting many of your vehicle’s operating systems.
Stock Neon wheels are 14 x 5.5-inch wheels, with the 5 x 100-mm bolt pattern, and 40-mm offset. ACR and R/T wheels are 14 x 6-inches. The most popular sizes for performance (not looks) are 14 x 7 and 15 x 7 inches.
Since larger-diameter wheels go around fewer times for a given distance, your tires will last longer (unless you’re doing burnouts). However, tires come in different compounds; this point is only valid when comparing tires of similar composition. Stickier tires will generally wear out sooner. Your car’s speedometer will also be affected by a wheel/tire combination that is larger than the stock diameter. The common result of this phenomenon is a speeding ticket. The speedometer is tricked into thinking that your car is going slower than it actually is because there are less tire revolutions per mile.
A positive effect of changing to a larger diameter setup is that your wheel bearings may last longer, but you’ll be putting more stress on your transmission. It’s much easier to turn a small wheel than it is to turn a larger wheel. That also explains why you’ll feel a reduction in torque when you use a larger wheel/tire combination. The good news is that although you may not be quicker off the line, you will be able to hold first and second gear longer before having to shift. This effect, however, is undesirable if you want a lot of low-end torque, as most autocrossers do. A smaller combo will help keep the RPMs up slightly when you are trying to exit a turn. At any given point, acceleration with a smaller wheel will likely be livelier than with the bigger tire/wheel.
Then there is the cost of the tires. For a given brand and model of tire, the 14-inch size will be cheaper than the 17-inch version every time. Of course, some high-performance street tires don’t come in 13- or 14-inch sizes, but there are always alternatives. Just because a specific tire brand is “cool,” doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to find your size in a different brand that will match or outperform your friend’s “cool” tire. A 15 x 7–inch wheel is probably just the right size for most Neon applications because there are more performance tires available in that size. Of course, 15-inch wheels and tires are more expensive than 14s.
An important advantage of larger wheels and tires is that you can fill up your fender wells without having to lower your car to the point where you won’t be able to straddle road kill. You car will look lower than it actually is. Dropping a car too far also adversely affects your suspension. So, a larger wheel will help you achieve that “racing” look without giving up your car’s streetability.
 The tires you choose for the street should be researched before you buy a set of wheels. You may discover that the tire brand and compound you want isn’t made in a size that will fit on the wheel you just bought.
There is less of a selection of quality street tires than of cool wheels. The question asked most often is: What tires are best? There really isn’t a single answer to this question. The tire you select should be based on what type of driving you want to do. Usually, you get what you pay for. But if you buy expensive tires expecting that they will be good for both the street and occasional track use, you will be disappointed. Tires come in different compounds. In general, a softer compound will offer better handling, but will wear out sooner than a harder tire. A racing tire may handle well on dry pavement, but not in the rain, and vice versa.
There are a lot of great tires out there that outperform your stock tires, but still have great tread life. This is a Falken Azenis Sport. (Photo courtesy Chris Malluege)
There is a big difference between the different models offered by a given company. Tire manufacturers offer many different designs and compounds, in the same way that GM builds Corvettes and Cavaliers. Take a BFG ZR and a BFG Touring TA, for example. The top-of-the-line BFG ZR tire is a much better performer than the bottom-of-the-line “touring” design. However, the top-of-the-line performance tires offered by BFG, Kumho, Yokohama, Michelin, Falken, and Nitto all compare favorably. Once you narrow down all the brands that make a tire for the particular use you have in mind, you can go pick the tire that’s on sale, or that has a cool name. It’s very similar to choosing which sneaker you want.
The first thing that you need to do before you choose a street tire is to decide what type of driving you want to do. If you don’t plan on doing any racing, then a harder compound will do nicely. Traction in the rain and snow will not be compromised as long as you stick with good name brands. If you care more about handling than tire wear, select a softer compound performance tire. But be careful when using these softer compound tires on your daily driver. Dry performance will be superior (if not exhilarating), but under any other conditions, you could be putting yourself at risk. In other words, if you live in Arizona, go for it – but for Seattle, a more conservative compound would be a better choice.
The only problem is that it isn’t always easy to compare compounds from one brand to another. The government created its UTQGS (Uniform Tire Quality Grading System), but each manufacturer has a slightly different system of grading treadwear. A 250 wear rating on a Goodyear tire may not compare to a 250 on a BFG. But within the same brands, the rating is more of a constant. For example, a BFG tire rated at 250 is softer than a BFG rated at 300, and will usually provide better traction.
Tire sizes can also be very confusing. For example, both a 225/50/15 and a 205/50/15 will fit on your 15 x 7-inch wheel. Your first impression may be to go for the 50-series tire, since you think it has a smaller overall diameter. That, however, would be an incorrect assumption. Actually, these sizes have the same overall diameter. The first number in the tire size is the width in millimeters. The second number, “50,” is a percentage of width vs. the height of the sidewall (distance the tire extends above the rim). In other words, a given “series” indicator (which is a percentage) is not constant. In this case, the height of our 225/50/15 is the first number (225 mm wide) multiplied by the series number (50%), equals 112.5 mm in height. For our narrower tire, the 205/50/15, the height is 205 mm x 50% = 102.5 mm tall. Therefore, the 225/50/15 has a sidewall that is 10 mm taller than the 205/50/15.
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Table of Contents |
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Introduction |
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Chapter 1 Neon History |
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Chapter 2 Suspension and Handling |
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Chapter 3 Wheels and Tires |
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Chapter 4 Braking |
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Chapter 5 Intake System |
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Chapter 6 Exhaust System |
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Chapter 7 Ignition and Fuel |
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Chapter 8 Camshafts and Heads |
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Chapter 9 Body and Interior Modifications |
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Chapter 10 Turbocharging, Supercharging, and Nitrous |
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Chapter 11 Transaxle Tech |
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Chapter 12 Engines |
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Chapter 13 Modifications on a Budget |
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Chapter 14 Don't Just Sit There - Go Racing! |
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