heres the deal, i have a turbo h22a civic making a hair under 300 horsepower, right now i dont have traction until 4th on my 205/45/16's.

there just all-season falkens on the rims but this is my daily driver and i need a tire that is gonna last me for awhile.

Ive been trying to search, but everyone knows how horrible the search function is.

im lowered about 1.5" i have the 16x7 inch buddy club sf rims they have a 42offset.

whats the chances i can fit a 225/45/16 in the fender wells? i can roll the fenders thats not a problem im more worried about the UCA rubbing.

thanks for the help

 

The reason why you are spinning so much is because your tires are all-seasons. If you had a sticky summer tire in the same size as you have now, your traction issue will be a lot better. Wider tires do no always mean more traction. You can still get higher mileage summer tires that can last up to 40k miles.

 

Yup. Width is not a major factor in traction; a stickier, narrower tire will just about always give you MUCH better traction than a wider, less sticky tire. If you want better traction, you need stickier tires, not wider tires.

The best 16" tire sizes for your car are 205/40-16 or 195/45-16. Don't get 205/45-16 or 225/45-16, both of which are TOO BIG for your car.

The stickiest street tire you can get for your car is the Falken Azenis RT-615 in 205/40-16, $98/tire with free shipping from Discount Tire Direct. However, it won't last very long - typically 10-12K miles.

If you want a longer-lasting tire, you'll need to sacrifice some traction to get the extra treadlife. The Yokohama S.drive should last you 25-40K miles. It comes in 195/45-16, $94/tire with free shipping from Discount Tire Direct. However, it won't grip as well as the Azenis. But at least it will give you better traction than Azenis, along with decent treadlife.

Since your main complaint right now is your lack of traction with crappy all-seasons, I recommend getting the Azenis, and living with the fact that you'll need to replace them every 10-12K miles. (If you decide you're unhappy with the treadlife, you can always switch to the S.drive when the Azenis wear out and you need to replace them.)

 

im running bfg kdw 2 215/40/16 on a oz superleggara 16x7 ET+37
and 195/45/16 on the back

 

That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, unless you got stuck with the wrong size tires and two of them wore out before the other two, and you're just trying to wear out the other two till you have four matching tires.

 

Would 195/50 or 205/50 16" tires not be a healthy choice?? they would be a hair taller. Which would give a better sidewall for comfort.

Was debating switching to 16's.

As far as this thread. I have 205/50/15 falken azenis tires. And they hook ok on the street. Suck at the strip for some reason.
They will wear somewhat quick especially if your spinning them alot.

While driving though the traction is tremendously better. If it rains alot there you may consider a spare set of wheels with all-seasons on them. The Azenis don't like heavy rain.

 

thats the thing i live in mid illinois and it does tend to rain alot here, and for me it would be to much of a hassle to swap rims every time it rains out. i dunno i might look into some s-drives

 

yeh
215/40 on the front
195/45 rear
:O

 

I have 215/45/16 azenis on my car and they clear fine. although I'm running +45 offset wheels with a 15mm spacer up front. 215 is the widest i'd go with a 7" rim.

 

my 16x7 are 42 offset, did they rub without the spacer? do you need extended studs with the spacer?

 

No, not for a '94 Civic. The outer diameter is too large, and will create all the usual downsides with oversized tires - throwing off the speedometer/odometer, making the car accelerate slower, and possibly rubbing.

If you are looking for better ride comfort, the way to do it is to get a smaller diameter wheel. When you get larger wheels like the 16" size, it reduces the height of the sidewall. If ride comfort is a priority, ditch the 16" wheels and use 15" wheels with 195/50-15 tires, or 14" wheels with 185/60-14 tires.

Those are too big for your car. Stick with 195/50-15.

LOL! Whenever someone says you need all-seasons for rain, you can tell that they don't know much about tires!

The best tires in rain are summer tires - either the top-of-the-line "max performance" summer tires, or the budget-priced "ultra high performance" summer tires. They will do much better than all-seasons! All-seasons are designed for snow and frigid cold, not for rain; they do okay in snow and okay in rain and on dry pavement, but the trade-off for the added flexibility for winter conditions is that they don't grip as well in above-freezing temperatures as summer tires do.

Also, even among the supersticky specialty tires, the Azenis is notorious for rain traction (as well as for rapid treadwear). Now that competitors have introduced tires that grip better, wet and dry, last longer, and are similarly priced, the Azenis is no longer competitive. Maybe Falken will come out with a replacement soon.

The S.drive is a summer tire, not an all-season. It's an excellent choice if you want a longer-lasting summer tire that does well in rain. On dry pavement, it's still decent, but it won't grip as well as the supersticky tires like the RE01R or R1R. Can't have everything in a single tire.

If you intend to use these tires in the winter, then you need all-seasons. More likely, though, you probably have a separate set of winter tires, so you don't have to worry about that.

Those are too big for your car. And they have ZERO advantages over the 205/40-16 Azenis, only disadvantages (like poorer acceleration and throwing off your gauges, as well as a higher price).

 

Good info and knowledge. 2 things most expected from nsxtasy. And sorry for the misinformation. It doesn't rain much here so it is not a concern of mine either way.

And I don't feel a 205/50 is too big. Reasons: 1) the guage doesn't matter to me 2) I want a taller tire to change my gear ratio. With a B16 tranny on an H22 motor it feels and performs better. I plan on 225/50 bfg's at the drag for similiar reasons until I can get a 23" slick.
Maybe on a D or stock B the acceleration would become something to be concerned with.

I do DD my car when its running. But I have a separate car for that so my civic is my toy.

But nsxtasy is definately the tire guru and his advice should be held in a higher respect than most here.

 

They are fine. this b16 trans with a 4.785 final drive and h22 motor goes through the gears pretty quick.

 

i agree that size works fine wider tire is always better and bigger tire is also better if your gears are tooo short... i have a k24/rsx 5 speed tranny and the bigger the tire the better cause i still feal the gears are to short wish i had a longer 5th and 6 speed has the same final drive so its usless to buy if your looking for longer gears... you do have to have the power to back it up cant do that on a d15z1... stock tire diameter on hondas makes the spedo wrong check it with your gps... i went to bigger diameter than stock and it fixed my speedometer being to fast...

yes the tires are more expensive but you also get more life out of a tire with more diameter... but all in all great info here!!! especially from nsxtacy

 

The Azenis suck on the drag strip because they have really stiff side walls. They are meant for autocross not drag racing.

Also they seem to do just fine in the rain, I live in Seattle and we get plenty of it. As long as you have tread and they are not bald or some thing you should be just fine in the rain

 

Not true. The width of a tire has very little importance when it comes to performance. The main determinant of performance is the tire's design, reflected in its compound, tread pattern, and construction. A stickier but narrower tire will always give better grip than a less sticky but wider tire.

Not true. By comparison with other street tires, the Azenis is one of the absolute worst tires in the rain. What's worse is that they come with less tread depth when new than most other street tires. Yes, you can drive them in rain, but their grip won't be as good as other street tires.

 

I totally agree with you there, pretty much every other tire out there will preform better in the rain. Notice in my post I said that as long as they still have meat on them you should be fine, I didnt say they are a fantastic or ever mediocre tire in the rain just that you will be fine. I have driven alot of tires that are way better in the rain but I am never worried about driving on the Azenis in the rain which we get alot of 150 days a year worth I think.

I would assume to most people it would be obvious that these tires were not designed to be a fantastic rain tire......although H-T constantly surprises me