kundalini

I just bought a 2002 Civic Si Hatchback. It's my first Honda as well. I got the HB because I wanted cargo space for my photography and camping gear. But, geesh, I had no idea how much fun it would be to drive this car.

Okay, so I need to put a set of tires on it as the ones mounted now are cupped and notched pretty bad. My question is how much of an advantage, if any, is there in going to something like a 17" wheel as opposed to the stock 15"? Is there better handeling or ride comfort? I'm not planning on performance modifications on this car....... at least not until it becomes my "second" car.

If there's an introduction forum, I'll go to that later.

Thanks for your advice.


Oh, one more thing. Does the Si Hatchback make it an EP3? EP3 in part of the VIN number.

RallyeRedRider

Larger wheels will decrease acceleration, increase braking distances, and give you a harsher ride. . . all they do is look pretty.

unTuned

well, it depends on what youre doing exactly. if you put 17" rims on, with a lower profile tire, in place of the 15" rims with a higher profile tire, you will keep the same overall diameter of 'wheel' that you had before, but you will have more rim than tire than before, therefore it will be a lot less comfortable because you wont have as much of a cushion.

secondly, the larger your rim, the slight bit longer it takes to both accelerate (more rim for your vehicle to turn), and longer to stop (more rim for your vehicle to slow down).

when it comes to handling, the rim size itself doesnt usually play a huge issue. handling depends on the width of the tire (not including suspension here...). typically on a 15" honda rim you have a 185/65 r15 tire or something pretty similar to that. when you go to a 17" rim, you usually change your width depending on preference from 185 to 205-225 (width of actual tire itself from the outside of the car towards the inside) and the height from 65 to something like 35-45 (height of actual tire itself from the rim upward). the wider your tire, the better your handling is in theory and its also usually the case.

the setup i went with took me from 185/65/r15 to 215/45/r17 so the overall wheel stayed pretty close to the same diameter, but i ended up with more rim than tire now.


in short, handling will be better, but you will sacrifice comfort for it. top speed usually seems to be better (and in theory it is), but you will sacrifice acceleration. theres pros and cons, but they look way better on your car so its worth the upgrade, especially if you need new tires anyway.


and yes your car is an ep3. its a 2.0L DOHC ep3. our cars on here are mostly 1.7L SOHC em2.

kundalini

Thanks RallyRedRider.

For real?

Well, that begs the next question. If I stay with 15's and the stock tire is 195/60-15, can I go to a wider footprint without adverse effects? If so, how much.


On an aside note, Boone is a beautiful part of the world. I camp every October for a week somewhere near the BRP for the fall foliage. This year it will be in Brevard, Transylvania County. I was thinking Boone or Blowing Rock for next year.

kundalini

I just found this site today, so pardon some of my ignorance, particularly with terminology, but isn't that what a Rice Boy would do?

Yeah, but you have better beer.

unTuned

i said our cars 'on' here meaning civicforums.com. most of the guys on here have em2s. and yes our beer is yum.

anyway, when it comes to the tire width, you can only start getting generous when you have a large rim diameter and small tire height. the reason being is pretty simple....when your rim is closer to the outer edge of the tire, it supports the tire a lot more, so you can have a tire thats wider than the rim by a fair bit. when your rim is farther away from the outer edge of the tire, you have to keep it a bit more narrow for better support, otherwise your tire will pretty much just bulge outward and wont do anything for you but ruin your fuel economy, ruin your tire life, and be pretty unsafe.

if you have stock 15s, you typically want to stay with the same tire width that you get from the factory, or maybe go up by 1 size, like from a 195 to 205, i wouldnt ever risk anymore than that.

if you have 17s which the rim itself is typically wider, that alone will call for a wider tire which is why 17s usually come with 205 as the smallest size. you can go right up to 225 if you want for the reason of the rim being closer to the outer edge of the tire...or to the ground, giving more support.

kundalini

Cheers unTuned, that makes a lot of sense.

Would it be in bad form if I posted the first "snapshot" of my Si? Mind you this is from the evening that I picked up the car for a pre-purchase inspection...... not a photo shoot.



As soon as tropical storm Hanna passes, I'll clean it up and post better images.

KTciv_03

iTrader: (1)

forget wheels, get adjustable coilovers and you'll be good.

unTuned

np, anytime...feel free to add to my rep

anyway, as i was saying in an earlier post everything i said was only to do with your tires and nothing to do with your suspension. your suspension is huge when it comes to the handlin. going to a wider rim like a 17 with a bit wider tire will in itself improve handling, but you didnt seem all that set on doing that. your next option to improve the handling would be to go with either a set of adjustable coilovers like ktciv said, that way you could raise and lower your car during the seasons if need be, or change settings if you dont like the feel....or you could go with just a set of lowering springs instead. those also would help a lot with your handling. you could also install some nice after-market sway bars for the front upper, rear upper, and rear lower ends of the car too. this will stiffen the vehicle as a whole too.

if you want some serious handling, do all of the above and youre set. go with 17s with some 215s, an adjustable coilover kit like tein or eibach, and a good solid set of sway bars like megan, spoon, or dc sports.

popee

iTrader: (9)

here a forums.. for jus ep3 http://ephatch.com/

RallyeRedRider

I've put 205/55 R 15 tires on my ride. I wish they were wider, but they handle better then stock. They don't have as much sidewall, so they don't roll in the corners as much, and they are wider. One day, when I have all the $ I can spend, I'll get some wider wheels and tires. But I'm still going to stay with 15" wheels. You can get some super light weight 8-12 lb wheels that size for not too tooo much bank.

ryox82

iTrader: (4)

Drop it first!!! I have an es1 and honestly, despite what was said here I love the ride ten times better with the 17's with a very mild drop better than the stock 14 inch steelies. Maybe because I like FEELING the road better...dunno. I'll take pictures after Hanna passes if you want a look. It's pouring here and a bit windy right now!!

kundalini

Cheers, but I can't figure out how a suspension change is gonna have any effect on my cupped and notched tires.

Tires are the priority at the moment.

If I knew what you meant and knew how, I certainly would.

As a cost consideration, since I paid cash for the car, I will stick with the 15's for now and likely go with 205/60-15. This will give me a chance to figure out what I want to do by the time for replacements are due. The car is currently shod with Bridgestone Protenza tires, but my local tire/mechanic shop has quoted a set of Kumhos for $340. I don't know which series, but I'm assuming all seasons (which would be my choice). Are Kumhos respectable? Here in NC, we get all 4 seasons and I'm not wanting to change out for the summer.

One more thing. I like sleepers, so anything changed on the car will go "unnoticed". I have read a little on CAI and RSI intakes and possibly a swap out on an exhaust to boost output. Yes, I realize that these changes will affect the note coming out, but she'll still look stock.

Thanks again for your advice.

ryox82

iTrader: (4)

if you really want a sleeper, turbo it or spray nitrous. Intake and exhaust don't do much of anything for our cars N/A

lvc2

I just finished a set of 195/60R15 tires on my '02 EX coupe and liked them pretty well. I've thought about replacing them with 205s but I HATE being the slowest car on the highway every time I run into a thunderstorm.

Guess I'll have to flip a coin to decide between sizes this week. Each size has it's advantages and disadvantages.

185/65R15 (OEM)
195/60R15
195/65R15
205/55R15
205/60R15.

IIRC they are all within roughly 2% of the OEM revolutions per mile.