redtyper

can anybody answer which size are OEM rims on civic coupe '01 (the one's with many rays) 15", how wide are they? 6" or 6.5"... What is the widest tire I can use with these rims?

Machina

here's your answer

redtyper

that's about the tire, but the width of the rim?

redtyper

I plan to use 205/50 R15 tire? will it be okay for the OEM RIng 15x5.5 rim

Yuendawg

I have that same question. can we use plus sizes on OEM wheels?? and how would they look

Zolutar

iTrader: (1)

I have the OEM Enkie rims on my 01 CDN Si, I also plus sized my tires on them from the stock 185/60/r15 to 205/50/r15, they are a little wide for the tire but within limits of the tire. the main concern is 215's will not work at this rim width , wider rims would be needed. but the 205's work perfectly fine

astigmatik

iTrader: (2)

wtf, enkei makes the oem wheels? i didn't know that.
what about 205/60/15? thats almost the perfect upsize.
anyone have any experience with 205/60/15 on OEM?

Toretto

get some 17" or 18" u'll like it more[IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG]

thaita78

iTrader: (3)

Enkei OEM wheels:

Toretto

ya they sell those at dealership it comes with the sport package
or buy them separately

DarkCivic

iTrader: (1)

Do they make 205/14/50-60's?

18inchpride

iTrader: (1)

What are you talking about 205/14/50-60 MAN get some good rims they are sooo cheap on ebay and the larger dealers on ebay tend to give really really good prices on tires too!

WhiteRabbit

<< can anybody answer which size are OEM rims on civic coupe '01 (the one's with many rays) 15", how wide are they? 6" or 6.5"... What is the widest tire I can use with these rims? >>



i asked this earlier to an aquaintance.


"Hey Rabbit,

I believe you are thinking about this with the right perspective. Most people make the mistake of trying to add larger diameter rims thinking that will make their car work better, but more often than not that actually hurts performance.

The one thing you want to be mindful of is ending up with a sidewall that is too short and therefore too stiff to allow the tire to bite into the asphalt. Think of a dragster's rear tires (or a Champ car, or an Indy car, or a F1 car, etc.) - they do not use super short sidewalls because they require some sidewall flex (and the resulting distortion of the contact patch) to get all the power they produce to the ground.

The tires I run on my Civic are 225/45-13 Hoosier A3S03s (DOT radials), and although the aspect ratio (45) is relatively low, the sidewall height is a product of tread width (225) and the aspect ratio. Since the tires are very wide then the sidewall is still reasonable despite the low aspect ratio (basically ~45% of 225 = ~101.25). The result is a large, wide contact patch with enough "crinkle" in the sidewall to get the tires to bite.

The other part of my setup is the wheels - 13" x 9" 3-pc. aluminum rims. They are very lightweight (about 7.5 lbs apiece) which reduces not only unsprung weight (the amount of mass the suspension is trying to manage), but also reduces rotating mass which helps accelleration and braking. The most important characteristic though is the 9" width. I believe your stock rims are 6" wide...maybe 5"...which limits how wide a tire you can put on them before you begin to compromise the geometry of the sidewall relative to the tread surface.

In my case the 9" rims are actually a little bit wider than the tread surface which results in the sidewalls being spread out a little bit (other rim widths frequently used with these tires are 8" and most recently the recommended width is 8.5", although I know of at least on National Champion who runs 225/50-13 Hoosiers on 5" wide rims...its a pretty tight fit).

A rule of thumb is that the lateral stability of the tire is compromised as your rim width shrinks to more than one inch (25.4mm) below your tread width. For instance, an 8" rim is 203.2mm wide...203.2 + 25.4 = 228.6, which is greater than 225mm, the approximate width of a 225/45-13 tire's tread, so this would be a desirable rim width for that tire. On the other hand, a 6" wide rim is is 152.4mm wide...152.3 + 25.4 = 177.7, which indicates that a 175mm wide tire is probably the widest tire you could run on this rim before compromising lateral stability.

So, after all that we have concluded that 185 is just about the widest tire you want on your rims (whew... ).

Now let's think about the sidewall height...on your tires it is ~185 x .7 = 129.5. I could see reducing that a little bit to something around 100 mm...maybe as low as 95 mm. So to figure out what that aspect ratio would be close to you take 95 / 185 = .514...or somewhere between a 50 and a 55 ratio tire. A 50 would give you a sidewall that was approximately 92.5 mm high which is on the border of being too short, while a 55 would give you a 101.75 which is a pretty good height in terms of rip and reduced deflection.

So with a little figuring I would suggest a tire sized 185/55-14 for your car. The question is, does such an animal exist? A quick check of Tirerack.com shows that they sell three very good performance tires in that size: Michelin Pilot SX GT @ $111 (not cheap, but a very good all around tire), Pirelli P7000 @ $66 (great performers and a bargain price), and Kumho Ecsta V700 @ $95 (an R-compound DOT race tire that would provide nearly ultimate grip in the dry and decent grip in the wet, but will wear relatively quickly).

You could also try a slightly taller sidewall in the same width, 185/60-14 and still greatly enhance the performance potential of the tire over the current setup. The Pirelli P7000 is available in this size for the wopping low price of $47 per tire (Wow!). Another tire of interest in that size is the Yokohama AVS Intermediate @ $60 (old school, but tenacious grip for the price).

Another option would be to go with a slightly wider tire (not optimal with your current rims, but would give you the option of upgrading to wider rims in the future to make better use of the tires). Probably anything wider than a 195 on that rim is going to be an issue though, so I did a little checking for 195mm wide tires in 14" sizes and found little if anything below a 55 series tire. So if you were to go with a 195/55-14 series tire then you would have a 107.25mm high sidewall (much shorter than your current tires with plenty capable of delivering excellent bite). There are a slew of excellent tires available in that size ranging from the Dunlop SP Sport 8000 @ $74 to the Hoosier R3S03 @ $138 (though I would strongly recommend against the R3S03 for use on the street).

Just as an FYI - I used to run Yokohama A008RSII's (a DOT competition tire) sized 185/60-13 on a 13x7 rim. They were stretched out pretty far on those rims, but they worked great. The reason I am mentioning this is to point out that you can probably go as wide as a 7" wide rim and still make good use of the 185 wide tires...but if you have thoughts of going to a really wide rim (7.5" or wider) then the 195's will probably be the narrowest tire you could fit on those.

All things being equal, for a daily driver the 185/60-14 P7000 seems to be the bargain. I can't think of a better tire anywhere near that price, and the combination of the tire's design combined with the lower sidewall will really enhance the handling of your Civic. Next choice IMHO would be the Yokohama AVS-i in the same size, followed by the 185/55-14 P7000. These are very reasonably priced tires built with performance in mind, and all of them are available in sizes that will really make the most of your current rims.

I know you basically asked me what time it was and I told you how to build a watch, but I hope that helps.

Good luck.

Brett"