Civic Tyre Upgrade

Hi guys..The civic comes with 175/65/R15 tires right.. Would it work out well if i switch over to 205/65/R15 Michellin Primacy LCs. I ve heard that these low resistance tires offer improved mileage. is it true. What about the handling characteristics. Plus.. Wont the upsizing of tires put more rubber on road and thereby reduce FE. Wont the improvement in FE offered by the Tires be offset by the increased dimensions..?

Raja, Sorry for the late reply.

What you guess is right. There effectively would be no difference in the FE.

Handling = cornering ability - it will be better as the car will be more firmly planted on the road, with the distance between tyre outer edges increasing. Braking will also improve, with the tyres less prone to skidding, because there is more rubber on the road.

However the substitute tyre is not the same final dia as the stock tyre. You should choose 55 profile tyres rather than 65 if the tread width is going to be 205, other things remaining the same. This will minimize any odo error, keep the suspension nearabout the same geometry and not change anything else much.

Also the tyres are 30 mm wider than the stock, which may give rise to fouling between the tyre and wheel well/fender edges. Also 30 mm wider tyres will not be good to be put on the stock rims, so I guess you have to go for upgrade rims or alloys. Choose your rims offset such that the wheel is centered in the wheel wells and there is no fouling on heavy load or extreme turns.

Let us know if you went ahead and got the upgrades or still thinking about it.

There is a reason for the apparent confusion.

The Civic comes with 195 section tyres as standard and not the 175 section as suggested.

205 section tyres can be fit on the stock rims.

The ideal upsize would be 205/60/15.