Zzyzx

It depends on the Construction of the tire. Example, I have autocrossed 2 sets of tires, one is a 205/40ZR17 (Very short side wall) the other is a 205/50R15 (Rather tall side wall)

the 17 is a Falken Ziex 512, a decent street tire.
the 15 is a Falken Azenis Sport, designed for autocross/road course.

the tire presures I used to stop tire roll over are as follows.
205/40ZR17 45 on the front and 32 on the rear.
205/50R15 40 on the front and 30 on the rear.

the reason I can use a lower pressure on the tires with Higher side walls is because the tire was made for turning (it has very stiff sidewalls) where the 17's having street tires on them used softer sidewalls to help with ride comfort.

BLKCIV01

go wit 17's it wont slow it down that much.

2k2EXCOUPE

iTrader: (11)

I honestly did not notice any change in acceleration with my 17's. I also have a 215/45/17 tire.

ZSKCivic01

Go for the 17" Konigs, they look great. I have a new silver set of Konig 17" Rated Rs on my civic and I love em. Now ill put this to you as easily as possible, "You civic is already slow." 1" larger rim size won't make a noticable difference. The plus about larger rims though is that they look better, 16" rims with lo-pro tires don't look as good in my opinion. I think that larger rims get better traction too, since the tires have to be bigger. To help you out in your decision making, here is a link to my site w/ pics of my car and rims. Not many people have these rims, I think maybe only one other on this site, so your getting something that will make your civic a little different if you ask me.

http://www.angelfire.com/ex/zachscivic

Distinctive

iTrader: (5)

run 18's.....go big