I have a set of 16"s that I'd like to run again on my daily driven 97 Civic, but I also use my car for carpool. I'm thinking of running 195-50-16 instead of 205-45-16 for the extra sidewall. Will it make a noticeable difference? Tire selection is limited in this size, but if it makes a difference, I'll consider the change.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pravo2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a set of 16"s that I'd like to run again on my daily driven 97 Civic, but I also use my car for carpool. I'm thinking of running 195-50-16 instead of 205-45-16 for the extra sidewall. Will it make a noticeable difference? Tire selection is limited in this size, but if it makes a difference, I'll consider the change.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No, the 0.2 inch taller sidewall won't make a noticeable difference. You can also run 215/45-16, whose sidewall is almost exactly the same as 195/50-16, but that won't make a noticeable difference either. Both these sizes have some decent tires available, although not as many as 205/45-16. All of these sizes are within 1 percent of the diameter of your stock size of 185/65-14, and any of them should work okay. Differences won't be noticeable, although theoretically you will get ever so slightly better dry cornering with the wider tire, ever so slightly better wet traction with the narrower tire, and ever so slightly better ride comfort with the two taller sidewalls. Since the differences are negligible, get whatever tire you want to get, and choose whichever of these sizes is available for that tire. Based on your location, I assume you don't need to drive on snow, so you can get the better performance of summer tires, and you'd like one that has reasonably good treadlife as well as performance. Good choices in long-lasting summer tires include the Kumho SPT in 205/45-16 ($84/tire at tires-easy.com) and the Fuzion ZRi in 205/45-16 ($81/tire at the Tire Rack), both of which offer very good dry traction, excellent wet traction, and very good treadlife. If you're willing to spend more money for even better performance in an equally long-lasting tire, consider the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 in 205/45-16 ($136/tire at the Tire Rack).

 

Thanks for the reply. I will probably end up sticking with 205-45's and I've got the SPT's on my Si's right now and love 'em. I'll check on tirerack to see what the ratings for noise are for the Fusions... one gripe about my last set of 16"s with Yoko ES100's was that they were quite loud. As my car is used for carpool (80 miles a day) I'd prefer something quieter. I'm not canyon carving with the 16"s, just miss them and want to get them back on the car