The Short Version
- The Honda Life is 4×100 with a 56 mm bore, unchanged from the JB5 in 2003 to the JC2 in 2012.
- The Honda Z is 5×114.3 with a 64 mm bore. On a kei car. We opened the factory page ourselves because we did not believe it either.
- Nothing swaps between them. Different hole count, different circle, different register.
- The Z is mid-engined, which is probably why.
A Kei Car on 5×114.3
Kei cars are 4×100. That is the rule, and the exceptions we have found so far — the Cappuccino and the Minicab at 4×114.3 — at least kept four studs.
The Honda Z (PA1) does not. Its factory page reads PCD 114.3 mm, 5 holes, hub bore 64 mm, on 15×5J at +45 with a 175/80R15 tyre. That is a full-size car’s bolt pattern on a 660 cc vehicle.
We checked it directly rather than relying on the research pass, and it is what the page says, on both the standard and turbo grades.
The explanation is probably the layout. The PA1 Z is not a rebadged Life — it is a genuine mid-engined design, with the engine and transmission under the rear seat driving a viscous-coupling four-wheel-drive system. It is a different vehicle underneath, and it got different hardware.
Factory Specification
| Car | Chassis | Period | Grade | Wheel | Tyre | PCD / Holes / Bore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honda Z | GF-PA1 | 1998.10–1999.02 | Standard 4WD 4AT | 15×5J +45 | 175/80R15 | 114.3 / 5 / 64 |
| Honda Z | GF-PA1 | 1998.10–1999.02 | Turbo 4WD 4AT | 15×5J +45 | 175/80R15 | 114.3 / 5 / 64 |
| Life | JB5 | 2003.09–2004.01 | C 2WD | 13×4.0J +40 | 155/65R13 | 100 / 4 / 56 |
| Life | JC1 | 2009.10–2010.11 | C 2WD 4AT | 13×4.0J +40 | 155/65R13 | 100 / 4 / 56 |
| Life | JC2 | 2010.11–2012.06 | C 4WD 4AT | 13×4.0J +40 | 155/65R13 | 100 / 4 / 56 |
The Life Is the Boring One, and That Is Useful
Three generations of Life — JB5 in 2003, JC1 in 2009, JC2 in 2012 — all return 4×100, 56 mm, 13×4.0J at +40. Two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive alike. Nothing changes.
Note the 56 mm bore, which is not the 54 mm you find on most kei cars. It is a small difference and it will not stop a 54 mm-bored wheel — a smaller bore on the wheel is the problem, not the hub — but if you are ordering hub rings, 56 is the number.
Note also the 4.0J rim, which is narrow even for a kei car. The Life is a shopping car and Honda specified it as one.
Do Not Cross-Shop These Two
The Z and the Life were sold in the same era, in the same showrooms, at similar prices, and they look superficially like siblings. They are mechanically unrelated and they share no wheel hardware whatsoever.
If you own a Z, the wheel pool you are shopping is 5×114.3 at 64 mm — which is the Honda passenger-car pattern, so it is actually a large pool, just not a kei one. Civic and Integra wheels are the right family; Life and Alto wheels are not.
Sizing
The Z’s 15×5J at +45 on a 175/80R15 is a tall, narrow, deliberately off-road-flavoured setup. If you want to change it, keep the diameter — the ride height depends on it — and go to 15×6J at +40 to +45 on a 185/65R15.
For the Life, 13×4.5J to 14×5J at +40 is the practical window, and the same kei tyre-availability caution applies as on any 13-inch car.
Importing
The Honda Z ran 1998–2002, so cars built through August 2001 are US-eligible now and the last year follows to 2027. The Life JB5 onward is 2003 and later, so it is a 2028-and-beyond proposition; the earlier Life generations we did not check may be eligible.
As always with kei vehicles, federal import eligibility and state road registration are separate questions.
What We Could Not Verify
- The Honda Z’s Super Collection and Turbo Super Collection grades from 2000 onward. Their wheel size matches on the index; we did not open their pages to re-confirm PCD and bore.
- Life generations earlier than the JB5, which we did not search for.