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hi there, so im trying to decide between 215/45R17 and 215/45R16 wheels and tires for my es civic, i definitely prefer the looks of the 16 inch however the diameter of the wheels and tires is smaller than stock, which as far as i can tell will increase engine rpms at any given speed and make the speedo less accurate (mine already says that im going about 3mph over the speed i actually am, so this would make that worse still). my least favorite thing about this car is the 1st gear being extremely short and 5 gear also being too short (3100rpm @ 59mph) both of which would be exacerbated by the smaller diameter 215/45R16. i had a look at 215/50R16 but there are barely any tires sold in that size over here and none of them were sporty at all. is there anything i can do to combat this or will i just be stuck with it?

 
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here is a comparison between the stock 185/70R14 and the 16s

 
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you are stuck with what tires you can find, so choose the wheels that offer you the best tire choice.
I can barely find tires to my 1995 miata... 14"

 
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3100 rpm at highway speeds is normal, it's a Japanese car

 
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That's perfectly normal. The only thing you could do to change it is the gearing, and the only trans with longer gears (final drive specifically) is the HX I think? But good luck finding one of those, they're super rare

 
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yep i can imagine haha and unfortunately the 17s do suit better but i dont like how they look so ill just deal with it i guess

 
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yeah i think ill mess with gearing when i k swap cause ill already have the engine out and all the rest, can you modify the gears of a transmission or do you have to buy one that has gearing you like?

 
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yeah true true but i cant imagine that being great for fuel econ, especially cause these new wheels and tires are going to make it about 100rpm higher too

 
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also, is there any way i can fix the speedo inaccuracy? because it is a bit annoying

 
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It's fine, they get good mileage. They're designed to run at that rpm at highway speeds

 
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driver habits makes a much worse impact in mileage than high RPM...