IMPORTANT!! Tire Sizes for Civics

[Schister66]

i have a lowered 97 Civic EX Coupe and with 16" konig rims. I can get amazing deals on Bridgestone tires from my girlfriends dad, who is a service manager at a large Chevy dealership...anyway i want to know if a 205/55Z16 or a 225/50Z16 will fit under my car w/o cutting or rubbing. I originally had BF Goodrich Euro TA's on it that were a 205/40, but i'm not sure that the larger sizes i found above will fit in the front, i know they will in the back, but anyone have any opinion? Jackasssi i'm lookin at you for some help on this one!

[GScivic7]

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

[CivicSiRacer]

The correct sizes you want for a Civic are:

185/65x14"
195/55x15"
205/50x15"
205/45x16"
205/40x17"

If you go with other sizes your odometer and speedo will be off AND if you have ABS it might not work with a larger or smaller sized tire.

[t0m4t0]

Originally Posted by CivicSiRacer

The correct sizes you want for a Civic are:

185/65x14"
195/55x15"
205/50x15"
205/45x16"
205/40x17"

If you go with other sizes your odometer and speedo will be off AND if you have ABS it might not work with a larger or smaller sized tire.

does that mean i have the wrong tires now?
i was told to go from: 205/40/17 to 215/45/17.
i heard that they would go smoother...

[CivicSiRacer]

Originally Posted by t0m4t0

does that mean i have the wrong tires now?
i was told to go from: 205/40/17 to 215/45/17.
i heard that they would go smoother...

A 205/40x17" is 23.5" in diameter
A 215/45x17" is 24.8" in diameter

That's almost an inch larger. Which in turn changes your gearing too. Making your car accelerate pretty slow AND probably will not be able to lower your car much because it is too wide and might rub.

And what would go smoother? You mean ride smoother? A difference between a 40 series tire and a 45 series is minimal.

[SilverY2KCivic]

What about 215/45 16 tire verses a 205/45? I went with the 215 since I wanted a slightly wider tire, and it seemed like ti would plus size slightly better than the 205 too... Though a 215/45 Azenis RT-215 tire is more like my old 205/50 ES100's in terms of the sidewall height, lol! Sports are pretty tall tires, probably because of their 3-ply nature. I don't have much rubbing problem with them, though they have warn smooth spots inside the wheel wells where I've had the wheels at full steering lock, but other than that they don't rub by rarely on turns, and it has to be extreme like a tight hairpin when auto-X'ing. I'm lowered pretty good as well...

[Schister66]

Ok, i did some research on the tires i want and first off they are a Bridgestone Potenza S-02 and the sizes are (They are all 16")

Tire size Overall Diameter w/ rim Overall Width
205/40 22.5" 8.2"
205/55Z 25" 7.8"
225/50Z 24.7" 8.7"

Those are the sizes that they offer in the tire i found, but i'm still looking. If anyone has any suggestions about whether or not they'll rub or whatever PLEASE post that info...Thanks

[CivicSiRacer]

Originally Posted by SilverY2KCivic

What about 215/45 16 tire verses a 205/45? I went with the 215 since I wanted a slightly wider tire, and it seemed like ti would plus size slightly better than the 205 too... Though a 215/45 Azenis RT-215 tire is more like my old 205/50 ES100's in terms of the sidewall height, lol! Sports are pretty tall tires, probably because of their 3-ply nature. I don't have much rubbing problem with them, though they have warn smooth spots inside the wheel wells where I've had the wheels at full steering lock, but other than that they don't rub by rarely on turns, and it has to be extreme like a tight hairpin when auto-X'ing. I'm lowered pretty good as well...

I tried running the 215/45x16" Azenis on my car for the later part of this season. Without alot of negative camber and the right sized wheel and offset they will rub (at least this is what happened with my set-up). Chewed the crap out of my rear fender lip and liner.

So what I did was the JDM look with 215/45x16" Azenis on 16x7" Rota C8s (40mm offset) with 205/50x15" Azenis on 15x7" Kosei K1s (45mm offset). I have -3.0 negative camber upfront and -1.5 in the rear. This works great and I have more overall grip.

[CivicSiRacer]

Originally Posted by Schister66

Ok, i did some research on the tires i want and first off they are a Bridgestone Potenza S-02 and the sizes are (They are all 16")

Tire size Overall Diameter w/ rim Overall Width
205/40 22.5" 8.2"
205/55Z 25" 7.8"
225/50Z 24.7" 8.7"

Those are the sizes that they offer in the tire i found, but i'm still looking. If anyone has any suggestions about whether or not they'll rub or whatever PLEASE post that info...Thanks

Isn't the S02s being replaced or outdated? I'm surprised you can still buy them. Well a stock Civic size is around 23.3" in diameter. So you want to get as close to that as possible.

If you go with the 205/40x16" you would effectively lower your overall gearing and your car would accelerate quicker AT THE PRICE of running at higher rpms on the highway.

With my setup now (205/50x15") at 80mph my car is buzzing along at 4000rpms. With my 215/40x16" Kumho 712s I had a few years ago at 80mph I was buzzing along at 4500-5000rpms. Pretty annoying.

[Schister66]

no the S-02s aren't getting discontinued as far as i know, but the Falken ZIEX ZE-502's are being discontinued. I'm trynig to find another tire in that price range for my car with the same tread pattern and i want, but don't need a Z speed rating. I want the tire to be rock solid. Anyway i have to call the dealership today (Monday) to see what tire Bill can get me a discount on. Do you guys think that 8.7" wide is too wide for my Civic? Remember that the 205's are 8.2 in wide.

[CivicSiRacer]

Originally Posted by Schister66

no the S-02s aren't getting discontinued as far as i know, but the Falken ZIEX ZE-502's are being discontinued. I'm trynig to find another tire in that price range for my car with the same tread pattern and i want, but don't need a Z speed rating. I want the tire to be rock solid. Anyway i have to call the dealership today (Monday) to see what tire Bill can get me a discount on. Do you guys think that 8.7" wide is too wide for my Civic? Remember that the 205's are 8.2 in wide.

In my opinion they are too wide.

Ask for the sizes I stated above.

[Schister66]

The tire sizes you listed above are only a little smaller than the one i just listed...the 225/50 is 24.7" tall and 8.7" wide and i'm pretty sure that will fit under my car, but i will have no traction in the winter since the weight is displaced over such a wide tire. Does anyone live in ND or MN that would sell me a set of steelies w/ tires? Close to Grand Forks preferably. anyway, back to the tires i want...does anyone know of a good tire that will have awesome grip, a nice, aggressive tread pattern, a Y or Z speed rating and cost under or around $115 per tire? So far Bridgestone Potenza's, GoodYear Eagle F1's and Falken Ziex are the options.

[CivicSiRacer]

Originally Posted by Schister66

The tire sizes you listed above are only a little smaller than the one i just listed...the 225/50 is 24.7" tall and 8.7" wide and i'm pretty sure that will fit under my car, but i will have no traction in the winter since the weight is displaced over such a wide tire. Does anyone live in ND or MN that would sell me a set of steelies w/ tires? Close to Grand Forks preferably. anyway, back to the tires i want...does anyone know of a good tire that will have awesome grip, a nice, aggressive tread pattern, a Y or Z speed rating and cost under or around $115 per tire? So far Bridgestone Potenza's, GoodYear Eagle F1's and Falken Ziex are the options.

Aggressive tread pattern doesn't mean anything. Look at the BFG Scorchers. Those are CRAP tires.

But you want a tire that is all season right? Or just mainly rain and dry roads? or just snow?

[Schister66]

I want a tire that handles well on dry and wet roads, but i have my Euro TA's for the winter, but they suck big time in snow. I'm more looking for an all around summer tire, but in North Dakota that's kind of dumb...whatever! I can't go through more than 4'' of anything anyway. My car is a snowplow in the winter and i don't have coilovers. Lowering springs all the way! So even if i had good winther tires it would be all for not...ya know. What is a good performance tire that will stick to the road, handle well, be stiff as a board (like a Z rated tire) and it still needs to look cool.

[CivicSiRacer]

Some here's my list of recommended dry and wet days:

Kumho 712s
Kumho ASX (more all season)
Toyo T1S (great level of dry grip)
Toyo Proxes 4 (I have these now and I'm really happy with their wet and dry grip)
Toyo FZ4 (got me through the blizzard of 1999)
Yokohama ES100 (lots of sizes)
Falken Azenis (one of the stickiest street tires and pretty good in the rain at full depth to about 4mm)