THE EPIC SAGA OF WHEEL SELECTION

Some people think I’m crazy for writing an article about wheel fitment on a Honda Fit. They say things like, “That’s not very functional,” or “Now you’re all about stance?”

For starters, yes — this is very functional. Angie’s Fit isn’t a cookie-cutter Civic or Integra where perfect fitment recipes are just a Google search away. Being a relatively new car on a brand-new chassis, the Fit has very little aftermarket support, and even fewer people are actually modifying them.

Am I all about stance? Haha, people really like to poke fun at that one. Yes, I believe there is such a thing as “proper” wheel fitment and a certain way wheels should sit on a car. I don’t think it has to be hella flush to look good, but I do think it should look intentional and balanced.

Have you ever looked at a car and thought, “Wow, that thing looks sick,” but you couldn’t quite put your finger on why? Most of the time, it’s because the whole car works together as one cohesive package. You can take the right wheels and put them on the right car, and the result is magic. Put those same wheels on a different car, and they might look completely out of place.

It’s the same with fashion: a great hat, shoes, or belt can elevate an outfit, but the wrong ones can ruin it. I’ve seen incredible builds ruined by poor wheel choices, and I’ve seen otherwise average cars transformed into head-turners with the perfect set of wheels.

With all the challenges working against the Fit — its lack of low stance, its polarizing styling (that only a mother could love), and its limited popularity among enthusiasts — choosing the right wheels was incredibly important. We didn’t want an ugly car with “cool wheels.” We wanted people to look at the whole car and genuinely appreciate it as a complete, well-thought-out build.

From the day she first put the Koseis on until now, the evolution of her car has been respectful, tasteful, and functional. Everything she wanted to do, she decided on her own. I had no influence on her desire to modify the car in any way. The only thing I did was help guide her in the right direction when choosing parts.

Once we installed the Koseis, she was instantly disappointed in how funny the car looked. The smaller tires made the wheel gap much larger. That immediately prompted an online search for lowering springs.

I wanted her to get springs because they would provide a much nicer ride, and her car didn’t really need to be slammed anyway. As it is now, the car scrapes the front valence just backing out of the driveway. I wanted her to be able to go over speed bumps with ease and not worry about loading up three girlfriends for a night out on the town.

Sure, we could make this thing look super sick if we wanted to — but at what cost? The car is legitimately her daily driver. It handles work, trips to grandma’s house, taking the dogs hiking, and every other errand you’d run in a “family” car. Keeping it comfortable was the backbone of the entire modification process, and I wasn’t going to let her make the same mistakes I had made with my own cars.

So why didn’t we just keep the Koseis on there? Well, the wheels are actually my brother’s — they came off his K-swapped EG that’s been sitting broken in my garage for a few years. Recently, my brother started a new career and began earning a lot more income, so he’s been giving me money to get his car fixed back up. Once his car is fully repaired, he’ll be taking it back to his house in Missouri, and the Koseis will be going with it.

Angie could see that the end was near for her and the Koseis, and that pretty much forced us to make the most stressful decision we would ever have to face: What wheels would she get for her car?

Below you can see a picture of what the car looked like days after we got it. You can really see how the sixty series sidewalls fill the wheel wells decently.

The pictures below are from when we first installed the Swift lowering springs. As you can see, the wheel gap is pretty much the same as stock. That’s just because the tires on the Koseis are 205/50/15, meaning there’s less tire sidewall to fill the wheel gap.

Keep in mind that Fits come with either a 15×5.5-inch wheel with a 185/60 tire, or a 16×6-inch wheel with a 185/55 tire. Her car came with the 15s, and personally, I like the look that the 15-inch wheels give the car. The Kosei specs are 15×7 +38.

Going with a 16-inch wheel was never an option for us. Not only are they heavier than a 15″, but it can also be more challenging to find good tires for a 16″ wheel. The Fit’s lack of power also made the performance difference between a lighter and heavier wheel very noticeable.

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say the Koseis looked really good on her car. Let’s be honest though — do the Koseis ever look bad on any car? Personally, I think the flat-faced, full-length spoke design of the Koseis complements the lines of the Fit perfectly.

I suggested we just order a new set of Koseis, but she wasn’t having it. She said the Koseis looked too plain and that they are “the Skechers of wheels.” I mean, technically she’s right — they’re a more affordable wheel that resembles a higher-end design. Just like how Bob’s are the Skechers version of Toms shoes.

I tried explaining that it wasn’t really the case here, and that the Koseis have a solid reputation for being a budget-friendly, strong, track-capable wheel that is actually very tasteful. She still wasn’t interested. She had a better vision in mind.

I told her to just start searching the internet for wheel designs she liked, and we could go from there. Of course, it didn’t take long before she stumbled across TE37s and said she liked those.

“NO WAY!” I told her. There was no way she was going to daily drive on arguably the most iconic and recognizable wheels in the history of import cars. The car would get stolen just for the wheels, or they’d just steal the wheels off the car.

I started showing her Google images of Honda Fits left sitting on bricks or wood blocks right in front of the owner’s house after their wheels were stolen. I suggested we could just get knock-off TE37s, but she immediately hit me with the Skechers analogy again. She also argued, “What’s the point of getting excellent quality parts — Swift springs, J’s exhaust, and a Takeda intake — just to cheap out on the wheels?”

I explained that the other parts aren’t as recognizable or theft-prone as wheels. She then pointed out how the craftsmanship and quality of a real TE37 is obviously better than any knock-off. I explained that the real TE37 is forged from a solid block of aluminum, so there’s no way a cast wheel can have the same sharp edges, and a knock-off wouldn’t have the same high-quality paint finish you get with the real thing.

Despite my persuasive attempts to have her want a different style wheel, she was dead set on the look of the TE’s. I was also dead set on the fact that she couldn’t get TE’s, but just to humor her we decided to throw my TE’s on her car.

Now, of course you’re thinking… “NO SHIT, of course TE37s look good! They would look good mounted on a pile of shit too.”

Yes, this is all true, but I’m actually not a fan of how they looked on her car. This was the day we both began to realize it was going to be a bit more complicated than we originally thought to find the right wheel for her Fit.

The specs of my TE37s are 15×8 +35 with a 225/45 tire. This ended up giving us a little too much poke in the front. With Angie, my brother, and myself in the car, there was actually a light rubbing issue in the rear when going in and out of driveways.

Being a few months after we installed the springs, if you compare the Kosei pictures to these ones, you can also see how the car sits a little lower due to the springs settling. We also installed camber bolts up front to add a little negative camber (which lowered the car a tiny bit more in the front).

So clearly a 15×8 with a 225 tire wasn’t going to work. The next thing we tried was my Enkei PF01 (15×8) with a 205/50 tire, hoping the stretch would accent the look of the car better. However, all this ended up doing was making the car look not as low, because there was less sidewall to fill the wheel gap. The PF01 wheel design also has a “mushroom” style face, which only seems to work well on cars that are pretty low. On her car, it just looked funky.

I don’t have a better picture, just because these wheels weren’t even on the car longer than 5 hours.

By this time, she was still indecisive about what style of wheel she wanted, and I was over here trying to figure out what size would fit better: 15×7 or 15×8. I kept telling her that we needed to figure out the right wheel and tire combo first before worrying about styles.

Of course, this turned into an argument. It was frustrating for me because she was obsessing over the aesthetics of the wheel before we even knew what would actually fit the car properly.

Searching for wheels consumed our lives. We would search for hours at a time. “Do you like this style?” “Wait, never mind — it doesn’t come in a 15-inch.” Or “Let me just search for 15×7 wheels.” “I don’t like any of those,” she would reply.

I even started “tricking” her into liking a wheel she had previously dismissed by showing her pictures of it on other cars. As anyone who has searched for wheels will tell you, no single photo looks the same — each unique angle and car gives the wheel a completely different appearance.

No matter how hard I tried, she just seemed to have a natural ability to only like the more expensive wheels. I would joke with her, “Of course you like those — they’re like $2,500!” She would reply, “What can I say? I have great taste.”

This was funny the first few times, but it quickly lost its humor as I became increasingly frustrated with her unwillingness to compromise.

JESUS H! Why can’t we just get Koseis?! They’re cheap, they’re tasteful, they look great on the car, and they wouldn’t be such a huge target for theft.

Since Patrick’s car was in my garage for his K-swap project, we decided to try fitting his Gram Lights 57DR wheels on her car. Patrick’s wheels are 15×8 +28 with a 225 tire, and I knew this wasn’t going to have proper fitment. I just wanted her to see if she liked the style so we could at least have a direction to search for that wasn’t a TE37.

These ended up looking a lot like the PF01s since they have a similar “mushroom” style spoke, and she really wasn’t feeling them. At this point, we decided that a 15×8 wheel just wasn’t going to work on her car. Yes, maybe if the car were a lot lower, a 15×8 would look good, but even then, I feel we would have had to roll or pull the fenders — which wasn’t even an option.

(I don’t have any pictures of the Gram Lights since they weren’t even on the car for an hour.)

So here is what we know so far…

• IMO a flat face wheel looked best on a GK5 chassis.
• A 15×8 was too wide.
• she wanted a light wheel.
• She had exquisite taste.
• I didn’t want her to have an expensive iconic wheel that would potentially get stolen.
• It must be a 15″ wheel.

I finally did it! I found a wheel that met all the criteria: quality, flat-faced, 15-inch, and light — the Wedsport TC105N.

This was it. She liked it, I liked it, and it was low-key enough. After a quick search, we saw that they came in a 15×7 +35, which seemed like it would be the best-fitting size for her car.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find anywhere that had them in stock. Every site that listed the 15×7 size showed it as out of stock or discontinued. This was the last straw. We were both completely over it — drained and out of hope of ever finding a wheel that met all our criteria.

Then I remembered seeing some guys running Konig Dekagram wheels and how they slightly resembled the Wedsport TC105N. I pulled up a picture and showed her. She was very undecided. Part of her didn’t want to settle for a cheaper wheel, but the other part was WAY over the whole process.

It just so happened that the Dekagram came in a 15×7.5 +35, which I felt would fit the car perfectly. The wheels are made using a new process called flow-forming, which allows them to be both light and strong. Lots of open-wheel racers and track-day enthusiasts are already using these or the Konig Hypergrams.

I feel like these might become the next Koseis — a good, affordable wheel that’s light and strong, and quickly becomes a popular “budget” choice among the racer and track community.

After discussing all this with her, I headed off to bed since I had to be up early the next morning for work. When I woke up, I found out that she had already ordered the Konig wheels. It was a great feeling — a decision had finally been made and we were done with all the wheel shenanigans.

While on my break at work, I was doing my usual Instagram scrolling when I came across a post from Yooitzjohn (John Cruz), an avid seller of Japanese cars and car parts. He was selling a set of Volk RE30s in 15×7 +35 offset. The moment I saw them, I knew they would look perfect on her car. I also knew we had to act fast before someone else bought them.

I texted Angie immediately and showed her the pictures. I told her these were made by the same company as my TE37s, with the same high-quality paint and sharp edges she had been wanting. She searched online for “RE30 Fit” and, deep in the rabbit hole of images, stumbled across a Honda Fit with RE30s on it and instantly fell in love.

She was torn, though. Not even eight hours earlier, she had ordered the Konig Dekagrams — plus another surprise she hadn’t told me about: a J’s titanium shift knob. She knew it would be a bad financial decision to get the RE30s too.

As we all know, when it comes to car parts, it’s hard to make a good financial decision (unless, of course, you’re Patrick Hidden, who somehow only makes financially sound car purchases).

So she texted me back and said, “Let’s get them.” I messaged John and sent the funds immediately to hold the wheels. I told him we would drive down from Vegas that afternoon once I got off work.

I got off a little early, headed home, picked up Angie, and we hit the road. In all the excitement, I had forgotten it was Labor Day Monday. Everyone and their mom was heading south on the 15 toward California. What should have been a 3- to 3.5-hour drive turned into a brutal 7-hour drive from hell.

We finally arrived at John’s house around 8:30 p.m., picked up the wheels, chatted for a bit, and then headed back. Since we hadn’t eaten all day, we stopped at Denny’s to grab some food before fueling up the truck and driving the remaining 4 hours home to Vegas.

Denny’s was not such a great idea.

We got home around 2 a.m. and headed straight to bed. Of course, we were both extremely excited to see the wheels on her car, but I had now been up for almost 24 hours straight and didn’t have the energy to put them on. Plus, I had to work the next day, so I needed some sleep.

The next day, as soon as I got off work, I rushed home like the wheels were for my own car. When I arrived, we immediately threw them on. Earlier that day, I had told her to thoroughly clean and wax the wheels with Chemical Guys MaxCoat Wheel Guard, so when we bolted them on, they were absolutely blinging.

We headed out for an initial drive and photo shoot. It was love at first drive. The lightness of the wheels is crazy — I couldn’t find the exact weight, but some sources claim 9.5–9.8 lbs each, which is easily believable. They feel noticeably lighter than my TE37s.

Yes, my TE37 is a 15×8 and I’m comparing it to a 15×7, but the 15×8 TE37 weighs 10.5–10.8 lbs.

So here is what they looked like. Specs are 15×7 +35 with a 225 tire. They fit perfectly, no rubbing issues and the iconic bronze complements the car perfectly.

BUT WAIT… There is more! Don’t forget the Konig Dekagrams she ordered.

The specs of the Konig’s are. 15×7.5 +35 and she’s using some of my old federal RSR 205/50 for the time being.

And here’s a few more of the RE30’s in the day time.

In conclusion, even though the process was incredibly frustrating, I’m over the moon that the love of my life enjoys modifying cars as much as I do. It’s awesome to share the same passion and see the happiness the car brings her.

The best part is that I’m here to teach and guide her along the way, even though I sometimes get a bit short with her. I have to remind myself that she is only asking the same questions we’ve all asked before when we first started getting into cars.

Some of you might be thinking that getting RE30s is basically the same as getting TE37s. I get it. Remember, though — we picked up the RE30s used, and they have a few specific flaws that I would be able to spot instantly, even if someone tried to hide them. I still feel the TE37s are a much higher-profile wheel than the RE30s.

After putting the Konigs on her car, Angie breathes a little easier. She doesn’t have to worry nearly as much about the car or wheels getting stolen as she does when the RE30s are on it. Despite the lack of “name brand hype,” she genuinely likes the way the Konigs look on her car.

I can see us keeping both sets of wheels and switching them up every now and then, like a lady’s handbag.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it.

This blog is really just about documenting my automotive adventures and the day-to-day car stuff I’m working on. Sometimes I’m doing things that are really interesting to people, and other times it’s dumb stuff like trying to decide what wheels to put on my girlfriend’s Fit.

Either way, I’m sure there are some people out there who will enjoy this and be able to use the article to help guide them while building their own Fit.

I’m also curious to hear what you think about the wheel choices she made. Would you have chosen something different? Let me know in the comments below, email me at Billy@functiontheory.com, or DM me on Instagram @functiontheory.

Thanks for reading, Billy

HONDA FIT UPGRADES (J’s muffler, Takeda cold air intake, and camber bolts)

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