inching up my tires

[Pit_lover]

Hey guys,
I recently got some 14" OEM honda rims that I plan on swapping the 13" stamped steels out for.

The14"r rim is for a 96-00 civic, and the Honda dealership tells me that the tire size should be 185/65 r14 (according to my hollander rim #).
My issue is that the 14" rim was not stock on all hondas until 1997. I am replacing rims that are 175/70 r13 and thought if I had to inch up, I would end up with a 185/60 r14... exactly like my 91 crxSI.

The 185/65 r14 tires are cheaper, but I'm not sure they are what I need.

Does anyone have any suggestions for inching up these tires?

Thanks in advance -

 

[Mr. Lin]

What kind of use are these tires going to get? I will give you the best possible answer according to your response.

 

[Pit_lover]

Pretty much just daily driving to work and back. Lots of interstate driving.
With an unmodified d16y7 in my DX, let's say it doesn't lay much rubber...These rims are a good enough upgrade for now and I won't get all paranoid of them being ripped off.

What is confusing me is that all civics with 14" oem rims pre 96 I see have the 185/60 tires on them and all 96 up with 14" oem rims have the 185/65 tires on them.
My hollander # says this rim fits 96-00 civics, and some other years of Integras...

If I go with the tire Honda reccomends (65), the tire size calculator on 1010tires.com raises the red flag on the difference in the tire's diameter. Is it possible the rim width is a bit bigger, and that is not being accounted for?

Upgrade is 14x5.5 .. unsure of my current 1996 13" stamped steel rim width.

I'm replacing 175/70r13's.

 

[Mr. Lin]

Your new wheels are 5.5" wide. In the Sticky I posted about tires, I go into detail about what the tire numbers mean. I'll quickly give you a rundown.

The first number is your treadwidth in mm. Let's do a few for example and convert them to inches to match the rims.
Here's what we know for sure:

100mm=10cm
2.54cm=1in

so...

let's start with a 185-tire:

185mm=18.5cm=7.28in. wide

Right away, you'll notice that the tire's 185mm treadwidth of 7.28in. dwarfs your rim width of 5.5in.
This should immediately raise a red flag in your mind persuading you not to get any tire wider than 185mm or else your rims will literally fall out of your tire because they don't fit snuggly.

Now that you know what you're dealing with width-wise, it's time to move on to sidewall height.

If you don't know what the aspect ratio is, it's the second number in the three-number series printed on all tires. It's a percentage of the treadwidth which equals the sidewall height (top of the rim to the top of the tire).

For example:

185/65/14
This tire has an aspect ratio of 65%, so... take 65% of 185 and you get 120.25mm of sidewall height.
This is a good size. It's definitely not a low profile tire, but it's not monster truck-sized either.
If you want to do a quick conversion, it 120.25mm=4.73in.

That's going to be your best bet.
Hopefully, I was able to explain myself well enough for you to understand. If you have questions, don't be afraid to ask.

 

[civicracing98]

mr lin your intelligence are truly amazing

 

[edog728]

lets all bow down to his tire knowledge...

 

[Mr. Lin]

Eh... I'm not that smart... I just read and learn...

 

[420GREEN]

You can run an 185 or 195/60/14, I have even run a 215/60/14.......but the 195/60's were the best, should've just switched to 15 inch rims, tires are way cheaper and perform way better..............and yes you can get a wider tire, it will not fall off the rim...............unless you drmatically lose air pressure( i.e. smack a curb, hit a brick, etc. etc.) Get what you want and can afford. The one for looks and performance are the 195/60/14..........forget those 65 series small truck tires..........Been there, done that. PEACE

 

[Mr. Lin]

You may have had a 14" rim, but how wide were they? 14x?