Diameter of tires matter??

[WWJAI]

Alright, so I'm just starting this thread because of some comments I saw in a FS thread.

Does the tire size matter a whole lot when putting it on your car.

I have a 97 Civic HB with 15" rims and I put 195/50/15 tires on them and ran them all last summer like that.

Does the tire size make a big difference? Did I put on the wrong tires?

Thanks.

[Loud-N-Clear]

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Type your stock tire size in, then type the other tire size in and it will show you the difference in size as well as speedometer reading.

[ercchry]

smaller than stock and your speedo will be fast than what you are travelling and you will accelerate faster and use more gas on the highway due to a lower top speed, and bigger than stock is the oppisite

[WWJAI]

Thanks. Hope the website is accurate. From what I've put in, i'm only 0.3% too fast.

[jdmXSI]

hahah, im 1.1% too slow

[gpomp]

the proper size for a 97 civic is 195/55/15. the diameter of 195/50/15 is 3.3% too small and your speedo is 3.4% too fast.

[WWJAI]

Originally posted by gpomp
the proper size for a 97 civic is 195/55/15. the diameter of 195/50/15 is 3.3% too small and your speedo is 3.4% too fast.

Ok thanks alot. I guess I inputed my stock tire size wrong then. And from these facts, I put on the wrong tire size. Guess i'll have to watch my speedometer carefully.

I was under the impression it wouldn't matter too much and I went with the tire size because I wanted the height of the tire wall to be smaller.

[ercchry]

no need to watch the speedo since you will be going slower than it tells you

[Shane1]

What is an acceptable difference?

I am looking at changing my tires and one guy offered me a set that was slightly smaller.

I get a difference of 4.4%. So at speedo =100km I am doing 95.6.

is that too much off or should I try to get the right size?

[QuasarCav]

The OE size is ideal but anything +/- a few points should not cause a huge problem. There is a big difference in turning feel going from 195's to 205's on my Integra with the same tire mounted.

[gpomp]

3%

[Shane1]

Originally posted by QuasarCav
The OE size is ideal but anything +/- a few points should not cause a huge problem. There is a big difference in turning feel going from 195's to 205's on my Integra with the same tire mounted.

Yea I am going from 205/55/16 (stocks) to 215/45/17's (recommended) but these are the tires I got offered:
215/40/17.

So... any thoughts or comments?

[rc2002]

The biggest downside about getting tires that are too small is that you'll rack up mileage faster than you should.

[Shane1]

So if anything slightly bigger is better... if they fit.

Although the 'ideal' tire for the rim is a 215 do you think a 225 will still fit or would there be any issues?

[Annoyingrob]

Originally posted by Shane1
Although the 'ideal' tire for the rim is a 215 do you think a 225 will still fit or would there be any issues?
How wide is the rim?



Originally posted by QuasarCav
The OE size is ideal but anything +/- a few points should not cause a huge problem. There is a big difference in turning feel going from 195's to 205's on my Integra with the same tire mounted.
I went from 225s to 255s up front. BIG difference in feel :)