I have 99 civic ex sedan with 205/40/17 mounted, I keep hitting poles, what size do you recommend?

Question

My car originals is 185/65/14. To put on 15 and stay with original settings, they state to put on 195/55/15 but I was thinking 205/55/15 better. And as far as size 16 they state to put on 205/45/16, but I was thinkimg 205/50/16 to get more sidewall. Will the sizes 205/55/15 and 205/50/16 fit my car and keep the speedometer working normal, I heard the rule it has to fit under 3% greater or less and both sizes say 1.6% to slow, whatever that means. I live in a place with bad terrain, so potholes are on my way a lot. What size should I get, and the other sizez, will they fit my car and keep the speedometer working normal? Thanks a LOT!!!!

Answer 1

A 5% change in sidewall height is not going to make much difference if you hit a pothole at speed - none at all really. Your engaging in an excercise in futility. Really, you'd be much better off just getting the proper combination for your particular application that appeals to you (either the P195/55R15 84_, 195/55R15 85_, 205/45R16XL 87_ or 205/40R17XL 84_) and pay more attention to the road so you don't hit those potholes to begin with. But if you do hit them, obviously the 195/55R15 gives the best chance of survival with minimal damage although aesthetically it obviously achieves less in terms of curb appeal than the larger diameter options.

The original equipment P185/65R14 85S tire rotates 888 times per mile. The +1 tire 195/55R15 rotates 887 times/mile - it don't get closer than that! The 205/45R16XL rotates at 894 and the 205/40R17XL rotates at 885 revolutions/mile - again it don't get much better than that. No speedometer error to speak of at all with any of those options.

Something to keep in mind though. These larger tires do not have the same load carrying capacity as the original 14-inch tires, therefore you need to adjust your tire pressures accordingly to maintain the factory rating. Load capacity is represented by the service description in the size - for example the 85 in P185/65R14 85S is the service rating which is a way of representing load carrying capacity (the S is the speed rating of the tire of which several different ratings may be available in any given size - more later). The bigger tires all have a differnt Service Rating number than the stock tire and thus have different inflation pressure requirements to achieve the same load carrying capacity. Remember, it is the air in the tires that carries the weight of the vehicle. The tire is essentially a container for air.

With the P195/55R15 you need to run tire pressures 1 psi higher than the recommendation for the OE P185/65R14 85S - 31 front/30 rear instead of 30/29. Not a huge deal but I believe in doing this right or not at all. If you use a Euro-Metric sized tire (195/55R15 85_) you will need to run 33 psi in the front, 32 psi in the rear.

For the 16-inch tire use a Euro-Metric sized 205/45R16XL 87_ with 36 psi front, 35 psi rear. The XL in the sizd means Extra Load by the way. A standard load tire should not be used in this size.

For the 17-inch tire make sure you use a Euro-metric sized Extra-Load tire whose size will look like this; 205/40R17XL 84_. Do not use a standard load or P-Metric tire in this size (service rating/load capacity rating is 80 instead of 84) as these have a load carrying capacity some 200+ pounds lower than the OE P185/65R14 85S. Even with the 17-inch XL (extra-load) tire you need to run 40 psi front, 38 psi rear to maintain the proper load carrying capacity.

Now about speed ratings. At the end of the Service Rating is a letter which represents the speed capability of the tire. Since the stock speed rating is relatively low "S" you can use a tire with any speed rating that is the same or higher than that such as S, T, H, V, W, etc...

Answer 2

I also have a Honda in very rough terrain (Africa). It was very low when I got it and I used to scrape every bump in town. I ended putting 1 inch spacers all round maintained the manufacturers tyre sizes. That worked well..no scraping. The best bet is to look at the suspension..I am not an expert on this though.

Answer 3

i have a 92 hatch what i found works the best is 2 choices wait no 3 15inch works best and is the recommed racing size recommended racing size is 205/50r15 you also can run 195/50r15 they work and one of the best sizes is what the car comes with

Answer 4

Changing the tires isn't going to make the potholes go away. The best tire is the size the manufacturer installed when it was new.