Wheel size

[ICE]

Hi guys, i've got a 97 civic coupe thats got 17" rims. Now i was told that legally u're only allowed to go 2" above ur stocks so that already makes me illegal...but how do u know whats the max size of the wheels u can physically put onto ur car...plus will alter the readings on ur odometer?

[PhatMirage]

Wether the 17" rims are legal or not depends on what state you're from. Also in some states you can get them engineered if they are not legal.

[Muckafutha]

the biggest rims that came with the coupe were 15s on the vtir. so u are fine with 17s i tink. but the catch is with the insurance companies who only allow a one inch increase in size

[Muckafutha]

oh and btw do u mean to fit big wheels until they cant be driven easily? i have seen 19s on a civic and they are dumped so low that the steering from lock to lock is prob only one round. if u go so big u prob need to flare ur guards or sumting, not to mention lower the car cos it will look like a 4wd otherwise

[Jus-10]

If you read the RTA guidelines (for NSW) all it says is that the overall rolling diameter can not exceed more than 15mm of the largest factory offered wheel/tyre combo.

There are also things like the width of the rim which cannot be more than 25mm wider and also something to do with increasing the track of the vehicle (that is affected by your offset). These 2 points aren't often looked at by the authorities...they are generall just concerned with how big your rims are, but technically you could run an 18" rim if you get the correct tyre profile, width and offset...

[A'PEXi]

ummm i had 17's, didnt have a problem with them, insurance also insured me for them with a higher excess.

[ICE]

The standard size on my coupe were 14". Neways, 17" are nice but i thought maybe 18" would make it look a touch better. I've seen people mounting on monster wheels on their civics but prob with little manouvrebility :P. Does the size alter the readings on ur odometer and ur speedometer tho?

[Jus-10]

It all depends on your overall rolling diamter...If you get the correct profile tyre and stick to the 15mm rule the Speed won't be out by much

[MRJDM]

i dont know the rules but a mate of mine got defected in NSW for having 16s on his civic.

[Psyklops]

that would have been a f-up on the cops behalf if the original wheels were 14" if that happened in VIC...is it 2" from stock up in NSW as well?

[Boost]

if you have a bigger diameter wheel than stock then it would change the odo reading. You will travel more but it will read less.
Since the circumfrence of a circle is C=2*pi*r=pi*d. But it depends on the profile of your tyre as well, If u use to run say 15" rim with 195 55 and u change to 17" rim with low profiles say 205 45, then there is little difference. But if you ran 17" with thicker tyres then it will travel slightly further than the odo reading. But it depends if it will fit under the guards / fenders or not.

[Tonkotsu Flavour]

they say you can only run 2 sizes above factory. or if your dodgy you can change the placard to read something different to run the heavy rims (17s).

just run with 15's, OR maybe just a 16 at front and a 15 at the rear.
imagine the savings in tyres....

i think 17's is excessive if the car is more for performance, and the lower profile is just stoopid on sydney roads.

[Alpine]

just run with 15's, OR maybe just a 16 at front and a 15 at the rear. imagine the savings in tyres....

That's the dumbest idea I ever heard. Who would want to run different sized rims on a car?!

[Tonkotsu Flavour]

why not?
as long as the rear tyres in in the same ratio as the front. there is no problem with running different rim sizes. most hardcore rwd cars will run 1 inch larger at rear, and same for the fwd cars, but on the front.

for performance oriented car that sees the track, this is quite common.
why run wider tyres than needed on the rear?

with a fwd you want limited weight, you dont want to be dragging around unnecessary weight.

most important thing just make sure the rears are in same ratio as the fronts, and it wont hurt anything at all.

[ekslut]

You can run different sized rims, just get the tyre profiles different sizes so that the outer size of the tyre and wheel is the same front to back. And as Tonkotsu Flavour said it is popular if you have a track car or something with a lot of power to run say 15" at the rear and 16" at the front, so you can get the wider wheel at the front for extra traction, but for everyday use, why bother?

[Tonkotsu Flavour]

yea it depends on your application
i mean a civic is not a kilowatt monster.
it can look good, but there are other cars to be showed off.

on the track is where it excels, so why not make the ol civic handle like it should

but of course if your car dosnt see a track day there is no point.

[SPEEDCORE]

You can run different sized rims, just get the tyre profiles different sizes so that the outer size of the tyre and wheel is the same front to back. And as Tonkotsu Flavour said it is popular if you have a track car or something with a lot of power to run say 15" at the rear and 16" at the front, so you can get the wider wheel at the front for extra traction, but for everyday use, why bother?

Agreed, very popular in the civic one make races to run this combo of wheel sizes ........ might look a bit odd on the street though.