Hey H-T, whats going on. First things first I just want to wish everyone a safe, happy and healthy Holiday Season this year. Also, thanks in advance for aiding me of my problem.

Im having problems picking out wheels for my cars. I have a 1991 Civic Si and a 2000 Civic Si. I purchased some Enkei replica wheels that ended up not fitting on my car because they werent hubcentric. I bought the rings and the rings didnt fit the wheel correctly. I got so fed up that I sold the wheels.

Basically I wanted to know this, when searching for wheels to buy, what kind of offset and width can I go for? I love wheels that are 14"s-16"s 6-8" wide. Keep in mind I DONT have coilovers, just a spring and strut combo. The most im willing to do modification wise is to have my fenders cut. As of now I'm not looking to spend $1000+ in suspension components to make wheels due to the fact that the build on one of my cars has made quite a dent in my pocket.

How wide can I go and what offset am I looking for?

**EDIT** Basically I just want to know what my options are for my set-up....

THANK YOU and GOD BLESS everyone.

 

Your old wheels sound like you got a large bore then got the wrong size hubcentric rings.

A correct wheel size is something like 15x7 40 offset. I believe Civics are 67.1mm bore but I might be wrong. You can go with whatever width and offset you want just depends how much work you want to do to the fenders. But going with too low an offset can negatively affect handling. also the wider the tires the more tramlining, pulling, etc. When you run low offset you are forced to run some extra negative camber as well which multiplies the tramlining and pulling and reduces the contact patch in a straight line. Extreme camber alo affects tire wear.

IMO get wheels that fit right.

BTW a 205 tire is plenty wide for a small fwd. The quality of the tire of of far more importance than the width. A good summer tire in a proper size will be fine.

 

I would first decide on what size tire you want and then decide on the size of rim. Each tire has a different 'approved rim width'. Ideally, you would get a width in the middle of the approved range.

There is really no noticable advantage of going wide unless you are chasing hundreds a seconds off a lap time. Best to go with a more common/standard tire size that both fits your vehicle properly and has a wide assortment of tires available.

 

exactly what im trying to do...find a wheel that fits right....im looking to learn more so i can decide whether a wheel is going to fit or not when shopping

i go 195 all of the time...i want 8" wide wheels but im just going to stretch the tires.

 

Yes, wider tires do not always equal better traction or faster e/t's.

I've seen guys who race 700-1000 hp muscle cars
on 8.5-10" wide slicks with skinnies up front,
and their e/t's and 60 ft times are still sick.
(while I've seen a lot of similar cars on 12-15" tires and less than 600 hp; probably WAY slower e/t's)

If there were two choices;
grippier tread pattern and tire compound...
or
much wider tires,
I'd pick the grippier tires.

Only disadvantage I can see to getting the grippier tires vs. wider tires is shortened tread life.

 

Stretched tires arent safe. They are too small for the wheel. If you expect to get any kind of performance out of them you are risking failure. Just go with a 7" wheel at the most. It fits fine and there are lots of 195/205 tires available. 205/50.15 Azenis are like $90 each. Cant really beat that for a good grippy tire.

 

thank you for your helpfull info thus far and big thanks to everyone else for the love and support.
as far as offsets, what can I run with minimal fender modification?

 

anyone else have any more advice?

looking to find out what offsets I can run on my car.

 

First of all, the best tire sizes for your car are 195/50-15 on 15" wheels, and 205/40-16 on 16" wheels. 195/50-15 fits best on 15x6 although you can use anything from 15x5.5 to 15x7. DON'T go wider than 15x7. 205/40-16 fits best on 16x7 although you can use up to 16x8. DON'T go wider than 16x8.

If you're looking to maximize your performance, get the stickiest tires you can. Some of the grippiest tires in those size are the Bridgestone Potenza RE01R and Toyo R1R in 195/50-15, and the Falken Azenis RT-615 in 205/40-16.

 

Can I fit a 15x7 or 15x8 with an offset off 15 by just cutting my fenders or do i need to invest in a camber kit?

 

You should NOT be using 15x8 wheels on your car. Don't go wider than 15x7.

 

anyone?

 

why is that? i saw a thread today of a guy who went 15x8 with his EF. also a buddy of mine went 15x8 all around on his EK hatch

is it dangerous or just too costly to prep the car to go that wide?

 

It's dangerous. Here's why.

The engineers at the tire manufacturers analyze and test the design of tires during the development process. One of the things they measure is stress in the sidewalls. That stress increases when the tires are used on tires that are very wide or very narrow; with the added stress, heat builds up, and this can lead to tire failure - everything from blowouts, to popping the bead, etc. As part of their analysis, they come up with specifications for the range of rim widths with which any size and model of tire can be used safely, and those specs are publicized on the manufacturer's website and on the websites of many tire dealers like the Tire Rack.

When used with a rim that is wider or narrower than that range, it can indeed be dangerous. Granted, that doesn't mean that every tire used on an overwide or overnarrow wheel will fail; some people may very well luck out and not have the problem. But whether the failure rate is 50 percent or 5 percent, it's a serious risk, and not worth taking a chance just so that you can use the wrong size wheels.

On an EF, he should be using 195/50-15 tires. On an EK, 195/55-15 or 205/50-15. 195/50-15 and 195/55-15 tires are usually approved for rims 5.5-7.0 inches wide, and 205/50-15 usually for 5.5-7.5. None of these sizes is usually approved for 15x8 rims.

Stick with 15x7 and you'll be fine, no worries.

 

on EF for 15x7 a offset of 42-43mm (only high quality brand or JDM made those offset) will be the max you can have if you still want to put 205-50-15....40mm is the standard for 15x6.5 rim and OEM (like blade, fat five....ect...) 45mm is the offset!

for EK youve got more room so 15x7 whit 40mm off set will be ok..even maybe 38mm!

i mesure the bore on a civic hub and give me 56mm on the micrometer!

 

thank you very much for this helpfull reply...

more about offset....whats a good offset that will fit the car problem-free with minimal fender modification?

 

is it true that the higher the offset is the closer the wheel sits in the fender?

at what number are we poking out of the fender?

 

Look at the illustrations in the FAQ topic stickied at the top of this forum to see how offset is measured.

All Honda/Acura cars have positive offset. That means that the bigger the number, the more the wheel sits "pushed in" towards the car; the smaller the number, the more the wheel sticks out away from the car. That assumes that the width of the wheel stays the same, since the wheel width affects the positioning of the outer face of the wheel, which is what you're asking about.

It depends on the car and the wheel width.

 

thanks a million youve helped me answer a lot of questions on this topic.