Author Topic: Buying winter tires for my civic  (Read 3034 times)

MrSal

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Buying winter tires for my civic
« on: September 03, 2016, 07:33:57 PM »
There are some deals around for winter tires this weekend with all the discounts and rebates going on....

My civic has 185/65/15 I believe but I was going to Down size to 14"s is that okay?

If I downsize to 14" do the other specs remain the same or would they change? Bigger side wall?

Syonyk

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Re: Buying winter tires for my civic
« Reply #1 on: September 03, 2016, 08:04:10 PM »
There are some deals around for winter tires this weekend with all the discounts and rebates going on....

My civic has 185/65/15 I believe but I was going to Down size to 14"s is that okay?

If I downsize to 14" do the other specs remain the same or would they change? Bigger side wall?

First, if you go down to 14s, you'll need to buy new wheels (stamped steel is fine).  HOWEVER - make sure they'll fit!  Depending on the car, there may or may not be room to go smaller with wheels and still clear the brake hardware.  I can't help you there, but a tire shop should be able to look at it and let you know.

Otherwise, yes, you'll need to change the other dimensions to make it the same rolling radius (otherwise it'll throw off your speedometer/odometer).

185 is the width of the tread.  For snow, you want the narrowest you can get.  If you have a choice of widths, go with the narrower one.  They cut through the snow better.

65 is the sidewall height, as a percentage of the width.  This is the one you'll need to mess with.

And 14/15 is the wheel size, in inches.

To give you something similar to the 185/65/15s, you'll want something like a 185/70/14, or 185/75/14.  Both will be close.

Or, a 165/80/14 if you can find something like that.

nereo

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Re: Buying winter tires for my civic
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2016, 06:02:25 AM »
I like Syonyk's synopsis, but I'm curious, why would you want to go down to 14"s?  Is there a major price savings involved?

Syonyk

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Re: Buying winter tires for my civic
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2016, 06:36:17 AM »
Usually.

13s are even cheaper if you can get them to fit.

nereo

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Re: Buying winter tires for my civic
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2016, 06:40:57 AM »
Usually.

13s are even cheaper if you can get them to fit.

Interesting.  I'd never considered going down to 14"s and just accepted the prices on 15"s as the cost of owning that particular car.
I do shake my head and chuckle when I see people paying top $ to cram 17" shiny rims on cars that come stock with 15"s (or the ridiculous 20s on SUVs now-a-days).

Syonyk

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Re: Buying winter tires for my civic
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2016, 09:47:51 AM »
Often smaller wheels don't fit.

But about a decade ago I got a set of 4 brand new 13s installed for $120 out the door. Sales plus coupons.

MrSal

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Re: Buying winter tires for my civic
« Reply #6 on: September 04, 2016, 09:58:07 AM »
I like Syonyk's synopsis, but I'm curious, why would you want to go down to 14"s?  Is there a major price savings involved?

For winter tires its common it seems to down size. gives more traction

as for buying new wheels i was going to do it anyhow because i dont want the hassle of having them installed every season ... the cost will be paid off in about 18 months.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Buying winter tires for my civic
« Reply #7 on: September 04, 2016, 10:08:39 AM »
I like Syonyk's synopsis, but I'm curious, why would you want to go down to 14"s?  Is there a major price savings involved?

For winter tires its common it seems to down size. gives more traction

as for buying new wheels i was going to do it anyhow because i dont want the hassle of having them installed every season ... the cost will be paid off in about 18 months.

Here it is common to have the winter tires on boring but solid steel rims.  Pretty rims are for summer.  Spring and fall, pop the wheels off, pop the other wheels on, spring change get them aligned, done.  Good time to check the brakes too, while everything is off.

Syonyk

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Re: Buying winter tires for my civic
« Reply #8 on: September 04, 2016, 12:18:26 PM »
I'm a fan of the look of gloss black steel wheels with aggressive snow tires.