Im looking for a good summer sporty sticky summer tire. I have a 99 Si with the stock wheels. Whats a good low pro tire for the those stock rims. What are the low pro tire sizes. Any help wouldbe great. Thanks

 

You can use 195/55-15 or 205/50-15. Either of those sizes will work fine.

If you are looking for maximum grip and handling, you'll want one of the "extreme performance" tires:

Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec 195/55-15
Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 205/50-15
Yokohama Advan Neova AD08 205/50-15
Kumho Ecsta XS 205/50-15
Toyo Proxes R1R 205/50-15

The downside with these tires is that they are somewhat expensive (the Star Spec and XS are less than the other three) and their treadlife is somewhat short (figure 15-20K miles). The Tire Rack has a side-by-side comparison test of the first four, at http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=118

If you would prefer a longer-lasting (25-40K miles), less expensive tire, that gives very good dry traction (although not as good as the above) and excellent wet traction, consider the Yokohama S.drive in 195/55-15.

 

awsome thanks ill check those out. What do the set of numbers mean again..you know the 195/55- 15?

 

the numbers:

195- the width of the tire

50-the aspect ratio, ie the height of the sidwall in compariason to the width, so 50 means it is 50% of the width of the tire.

15, the size of the rim it is to fit on, you have a 15inch rim so you need a 15inch tire.

Currently I am running 195/50/15 on my Si's yokohoma S.Drives, i love them, great summer tire if that is what you are looking for, and dont want to spend alot of money.

 

Yup. Note that the best tire size depends on the car, not on the wheels. Pre-'96 Civics use smaller tires than '97-00 Civics, which is why 195/50-15 is good for his '95, but you'll want 195/55-15 or 205/50-15 on your '99.

 

what about a 225 size? i see a couple of threads in respect to that.
So in the second set of numbers which would be 50..is the smaller the number the smaller the profile or vice versa the bigger the number the smaller the profile. Whats the lowest profile available for the EM1 oem rims?

 

yup, forgot to mention that, i have a 95, so i use the 195/50 profile.

as for 225 on Si's, you probably dont want to do that, with a 225 tire you will be on the absolute minimum limits of wheel width for most tires. you can look up the recomended wheel sizes for a tire on tire rack if you want. not only that but 225 will stick out ALOT on a 6inch wheel, and you may have rubbing issues depending on what profile you have. stick with a 195 or a 205. iprefer the 195, doesnt stick out too much, where as i think the 205 bulges out too much for my taste.

and yes the lower the aspect ratio the lower the profile.

 

In addition to what cpl rampage wrote about them being the widest width the wheel can safely accomodate, the 225/45-15 size (needed to keep your speedo accurate) is a very uncommon size. I think only the Proxes R1R come in that size, of the tires listed above.

 

there are a few others then the toyos, but most are either competition tires, or extreme performance sumemr tires.

 

225 tread width tires (e.g. 225/45-15) are approved only for rims that are 7.0-8.5 inches wide. They should NOT be used on stock Si rims, which are only 6 inches wide, as that would be UNSAFE.

 

i use a 225 size tire for the strip only. I have an em1 with 205/50r15 falken rt615. for the street.