[madison38]

I just purchased my Touring AWD today and will be outfitting it to match this one that New Century Honda in Glendale, CA put together. When I went in for my first test drive the day the shipment arrived, the dealer was starting to build the truck in the picture (which is a Sport with the Adventure Package).

I fell in love with the look but wanted an upgraded trim level. After not having any luck finding an EXL in Modern Steel, we started test driving the Touring model and found a lot to like. Tonight I went down to test drive the Sport Model in the photos to see how I liked the ride quality of the wheels and tires and to my surprise, they were able to find me a Touring AWD three hours away. So my new decked out Passport will be here on Friday.

These wheels are the Black Rhino York 18" Rims with Nitto Ridge Grappler tires. I was impressed by how smooth these hybrid tires handled on surface streets and on the highway on my test drive today. The Sport model seems to have a little less sound dampening so I was able to hear a slight hum over the factory tires, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected from the look of the tire. I'm looking forward to the Touring model I bought having an even quieter ride.

This is a direct bolt on replacement for the factory wheels, with no suspension adjustment required. If anyone is looking for full sized spares, or wants to upgrade their Sport or EXL wheels, I'll have a set of Touring wheels up for sale very soon.

 

[madison38]

I'll actually have the vehicle in hand tomorrow and will post more photos and details ASAP. Since this was the dealer's design, I don't have all of the details just yet.

 

[madison38]

Hello david and congrats, that is the exact Passport I am hoping to get, do you know what Dealership New Century got it from? Also, If you are interested in selling just ONE of your take-off tires and wheels, I would be interested as I want a full size spare when I head up to the Bishop/Lee Vining...

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Thanks, Steven. I'll enquire where they sourced it when I pick it up tomorrow.

I'm planning to check if the wheels fit in the spare tire well when I get it home. If it does, I might hold onto one myself and then yes, I'd be looking to sell the other three. If not, I'm hoping a Ridgeline or Pilot owner might like to step up to the full set.

 

[madison38]

Very nice. What size tires are those? Thx.

Thanks! These are 265/60R18 Nitto Ridge Grappler in the aggressive orientation.

 

[madison38]

Hey, like a lot the look of your wheel/tire package. I've been looking at something similar. What is the width of your wheels? By looking at Black Rhino's website they only seem to have 18 x 8 for the York, which seems to me to be a bit narrow for 265 mm wide wheels. Also, at 60% height you're overall wheel diameter is bigger than original. Did you had to tweak the speedometer?

Thanks, these were spec'd and installed by my dealer and they did calibrate the speed-o. Personally, I think the factory wheel diameter is too small for the fenders, and this scale of wheel and stance feels like what the body of the Passport wants.

Based on most of the online calculators that I've looked at, we're in the sweet spot for this tire, have a look at this calculator for example. But you're right that Nitto lists it as a little too narrow. I haven't noticed any ride issues, in fact this is almost as smooth as the factory tires. We'll see if I have any troubles long term.

 

[madison38]

Honda Sense wouldn't know about a slightly larger wheel. It would think you are traveling slightly slower than you actually are. The ACC would still monitor the car ahead and increase/decrease relative speed accordingly. At least this is my speculation.

My adaptive controls seem to be behaving normally with the larger wheels.

With respect to taller tires rubbing on full turn stop, that is a concern and I don't plan on lifting. I'll take some clearance measurements before making a decision.

My wheels exhibit a very slight amount of rub, not to a point that I am concerned. I've posted photos in the "Post Your Aftermarket Wheels" thread.

 

[madison38]

I'm currently keeping the small factory spare, but I'm planning to get matched spare before any long haul adventures. I've been toying with the idea of trying to get a larger wheel in the spare tire well under the floorboard, but I'm leaning towards carrying the spare elsewhere depending on the situation (attached to a trailer etc.).

 

[madison38]

Off topic but how’s this one tow? ~what weight do you tow and how’s she handle

I'll be hitching up a small rental camper trailer for the first time tomorrow. It weighs very little, I think around 800 lbs dry.

I'm only planning to tow an off-road teardrop camper at the most in the near future, but it's nice to know I have the option to go bigger if the need arises.

 

[madison38]

I ordered the Bully wheels and the Terra Grapplers and am having them installed next week. Will post pictures once installed.

Can't wait to see them!

I'm trying to decide how I'm going to manage a full size spare. Eventually I'll be mounting it to my camper trailer but in the mean time I'm not a huge fan of my options. @Jondz 's roof box is the most eligant solution I've seen, but I'm not crazy about lifting the tire overhead. I'll be curious to see what you might try.

 

[madison38]

Looks great! I've been very happy with my Nittos so far.

 

[madison38]

I will upgrade to Nitto grappler 265/50/20 soon.

My Ridge Grapplers have been the first Nittos I've ever owned and so far I've been very pleased. They are smooth running and were nearly as quiet as the factory tires for the first 2k miles. Since then I have noticed a slight increase in road noise, but not to the point where I consider it a problem. I only noticed because I had the radio off for a bit of highway driving the other day and noticed that they are singing a bit more than when they were brand new. With the radio going, you'll never know you have such an aggressive tire under you.

I've now driven on and off road, in rain, light snow, sand, and some mud and the Ridge Grapplers have been excellent in all scenarios, I can highly recommend them. I'm hopeful that they will be a good fit in the factory rims because the Passport really does deserve an aggressive tire.

 

[madison38]

You raise an important point @swenpaylay and I'm grateful for your reply. A tire choice is a balance of compromises between various capabilities and limitations and each driver needs to weigh the style of driving they encounter against the strengths and weaknesses of the tire they select.

Nitto does an admirable job of disclosing the strengths and weaknesses of their offerings. Here is the chart for the Ridge Grappler:

Terra Grappler G2:

and the NT421Q Premier All Season Crossover/SUV Tire:

Your experience is certainly consistent with their claims and is definitely something that must be taken into account when selecting a tire. For my usage (primarily Southern California highway driving with weekend soft-roading excursions), the slight decrease in on-road performance is worth the increase in off-road capability. Obviously these charts need to be taken with a grain of salt as they don't indicate any actual hard data and can't be used to compare to another manufacturer but for comparing the different Nitto tires relative to each other, I find them helpful in understanding what the trade offs will be.